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Originally Posted On: https://spreeberry.com/blog/how-to-promote-a-massage-therapist-business.html

 

As a massage therapist, it’s important for you to be able to attract clientele to your business. These types of services are much needed in the world and bring people closer to a more balanced lifestyle. Spreading these gifts is a huge service to others.

However, being a wellness practitioner is still a business. And one of the trickiest parts about business is getting clients. That’s where marketing and promoting come into play.

Learning how to market your massage business will help you reach the right people. Keep reading for this guide on how to promote your massage therapist business.

 

Understanding the Basics of Marketing

Before we get into how you can start successfully marketing and promoting your massage therapist business, let’s break down the basics of marketing so you can do this as effectively as possible. The first thing you want to understand is that your goal is to figure out what your clients’ needs and wants are. Then you need to speak to them in your promotion material.

So how do you figure this out? You do some market research to identify the prominent pain points in your target audience. This sentence might sound like a bunch of jargon but it’s a lot more simple than you think. This basically means that you need to know which specific problems the people you want to serve are having so you can offer your solution.

Knowing what your clients care about is essential for promotion. Because it won’t matter how often you advertise your business if you aren’t saying the right things. Make sure you do a little diving into your customer base to figure out the depths of their challenges, desires, and needs.

there are plenty of ways to do this and it doesn’t have to be complicated. Firstly, you can get feedback from previous clients. Figure out what they were struggling with before they came to you and then use this in your marketing. Also, gather information from your ideal clients when they speak candidly. This might be on a social media comment thread, a forum space like Quora or during general conversation with them.

The more information you know about the population you want to target, the easier it will be to say the right things when you’re promoting. You also need to know where your clientele might be hanging out so you can show up there. This is something you’ll find out while doing market research.

How to Promote Your Massage Therapist Business

Now that you understand the basics of how marketing and promotion work, you can start spreading the word about your business. With the information you’ve gathered on your ideal client, you’ll be able to say all the right things and show up in spaces they frequent. Read on for the best ways to promote your massage therapy business.

Start a Blog

Many people think that blogging is dead but it’s actually still one of the best things to include in a digital marketing strategy. 77% of people who use the internet say that they read blogs. Blogging is a great way to position yourself as an authority in your industry.

A blog allows you to create long-form content that your ideal clients are searching for. Remember those pain points we mentioned earlier? Think of your blog as a way of being able to address those pain points in written form.

One of the things that makes a blog successful is getting the SEO (search engine optimization) part right. You’ve probably already done your market research and you know what your audience is looking for. Now you can use tools to help you turn these topics into keywords that people search for on Google.

For instance, someone may be looking for “how to relieve lower back pain”. You could create a blog dedicated to this entire topic and if you optimize it, someone will stumble upon it and hopefully will become interested in your services. Always include a CTA (call-to-action) in the blog to invite them to take actions like learn more, book a consultation or schedule a call.

Make sure your content is high-quality and provides answers and solutions to peoples’ questions and concerns. The more targeted content you create, the higher the chance of people visiting your blog and massage therapy business website. Overall, blogs are a great tool for promotion and attracting potential clients.

Create Content for YouTube

Similar to a blog, creating long-form video content gives you a chance to attract people to you. Starting a YouTube channel is a great idea for someone who wants to content with their audience via video. You can still educate, inform and entertain your target audience with long-form content by taking this route.

Consider starting a YouTube channel and creating topics around the things people are searching for. The perks of YouTube is that it generates a ton of on-platform traffic for you to leverage (more than 1 billion unique visitors per month). This means that people can find your videos by searching somewhere like Google or Bing as well as using YouTube’s search tool.

 

Make Creative Videos for Social Media

Social media is the perfect place to advertise your massage therapy offerings. People now use social media platforms as resources for answering questions, being entertained, and connecting with businesses specifically. Having a social media presence will position you to become visible for the individuals that use these apps─ which is around 4.5 billion users worldwide.

Video content has become one of the most dominant and effective forms of marketing for online businesses. And the great part is most platforms have integrated video features to support this. Here are some ways you can start showing up with video on social media:

• Create entertaining TikToks
• Go live on Facebook or Instagram
• Use Instagram or YouTube stories
• Make cool Instagram reels

Get creative with these video options to capture the attention of audiences across multiple platforms.

Run Paid Ads

If you’ve been on the internet for more than five minutes, you know that paid ads are everywhere. Paid ads are one of the quickest ways to gain new leads for your business.

Most platforms offer the option to run paid campaigns. However, if you want to start off with one or two popular options then check out Facebook or Google ads.

Sometimes this might seem like an expensive option for smaller businesses. But it is effective and can have a great ROI if you learn how running successful paid ad campaigns work. A quick reminder for seeing results with this method is that you can manage your ad spend more by getting good at targeting your audience better.

Make Carousel Posts on Instagram

Instagram is a good option for wellness professionals to build social media presence on. Another great way to practice social media marketing for your massage therapist business is through carousel posts. Recent studies have shown that carousel posts on Instagram generate the most engagement.

Carousel posts are basically multi-image posts that can hold up to 10 pictures. Users can scroll through each of the images in just one post. They’re a great way to stretch out an idea or piece of information within short-form content.

Start a Podcast

As you can see, creating different forms of content is a great way to promote your massage therapy offerings. Podcasting is another effective option for reaching your ideal client. If you like to talk about your practice and industry then this is a good route for you.

Nowadays it’s easier than ever to start a podcast that can be listened to and downloaded by millions. Most streaming platforms will allow you to host your podcast in front of their audience. There are also platforms that are dedicated to podcasting and make the process of recording, editing, and uploading a seamless experience.

Run a Giveaway

The truth is people love winning contests and receiving free prizes. You can use this to your advantage by running an online giveaway. The giveaway doesn’t have to be complicated so it should be easy to setup.

Start by figuring out what you want to offer participants. You might be raffling or a free massage or consultation. After you’ve chosen the prize, setup the rules.

If you want more people to see and join in with your giveaway then be sure to add rules that boost visibility and engagement. For instance, give instructions for participants to tag two other people and use a special hashtag to enter the giveaway. Encourage people to participate by sharing the prize, rules and deadline across all channels and platforms.

 

Build an Email List

An important part of promoting your massage therapist business is being able to create strong connections with your clients. Email marketing is a great way to do this.

Building an email list gives you the opportunity to show up right in your customers’ inboxes. Most businesses use this time to share certain things that they wouldn’t in their public promotions. You can brand intimate share stories, special deals you may be running or even limited-time offers that only your list will be able to experience.

Sending direct emails also increases the chances of your potential clients seeing your content. This is a great way to get closer to your audience and sell to them in a more authentic way. The ROI for email marketing is $36 return for every $1 spent.

You can start by setting up an account with an email marketing provider then share your link in various places that you promote. Use CTAs like “If you like this post, sign up for our weekly newsletter” to direct people to your list. Giving away freebies like eBooks or other downloads in exchange for people’s emails is a highly effective way of growing an email list.

Do Text Message Marketing

While we’re on the topic of showing up in your audience’s inboxes, let’s add in text message marketing. SMS (texting) marketing is similar to email in that you can create more personal and long-lasting relationships. It’s also more of a chance that people see your messages because most people check their phones frequently throughout the day and use text as a primary way of communication.

Join a Business Directory

If you want to already be where your clients then a business directory is the perfect choice. Business directories are setup to organize and gather everything in one place for clients to browse through easily. Adding your business to a directory allows people to find you when they’re looking for what you offer specifically or something similar.

Land Publication Features

Journalists are always looking for new amazing stories to cover. If you know your services help people live better lives then consider pitching yourself for a feature spot in a publication.

You can start with your local media outlets if this seems like a large feat. Check out the magazines and city newspaper sections that would make the most sense for your story. These might be publications that are focused on health and wellness or therapeutic practices.

Identify the right journalists or editors to reach out to and get some relevant pitches together. You’ll want to highlight why your story is a good choice for them to cover. You can do this for larger nationwide publications as well to leverage a reader base that may already be interested in your offerings or something similar.

Do Podcast Interviews

Just like being featured in a newspaper or magazine, doing live interviews allows you to increase visibility for your massage therapy business. Podcasts are a popular form of media outlet in the digital world. Approximately 51% of the adult population in the US listens to them.

You can pitch your business in a similar way as you would with written publications. Target podcasts that are already talking about what your ideal clientele wants to hear and reach out to them. It’s important to make sure you’re finding podcasts with relevant topics and overlapping audiences such as a fitness podcast focused on holistic training practices.

Try Influencer Marketing

In the world of online business, having people with large platforms promote and vouch for your services can lead to great rewards. Influencer marketing is a way to practice this idea.

Influencers are people who have built significant followings on social media and use their platforms as tools of impact for their audience. Some influencers have millions of followers and some have a few thousand. No matter the size of their audience, pay attention to these key factors:

• Do they create content relevant to your niche and services?
• Is their audience engaged and interacting regularly?
• Have they successfully partnered with other brands in the past?
• Are they honest and willing to give genuine reviews of your offers?

These key questions can help you make sure you’re connecting with the right influencers. Once you’ve found some good matches, reach out to them with a structured deal.

Do Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is another way to get people to talk about your business. Unlike influencer marketing, there doesn’t have to be upfront monetary gain. Typically affiliates promote a company’s products or services and receive a commission from sales.

You can find affiliates just like influencers. Find people that are already running a brand that aligns with your services. Try searching through relevant hashtags on social media and look through people that are posting and engaging under the posts.

There are also affiliate marketing networks and marketplaces like Fiverr that can help your search. It’s also a great idea to ask previous clients. This is a great way to add a loyalty program structure to your business.

 

Start a Loyalty Program

Speaking of loyalty program─ here’s a great idea that serves two purposes. Starting a loyalty program can help promote your massage therapist business and help with clientele retention.

The idea of a loyalty program is that previous clients can receive rewards for referring new clients. Providing a great customer experience definitely helps boost word-of-mouth marketing. But you can help encourage clients to share even more by adding incentives.

Host Live Local Events

If you want to attract local clients to your massage therapy offerings then running events is a perfect idea. People love getting a chance to peak at what they could experience as a customer. It could be a great opportunity to introduce, educate and inform them of your practices.

Consider hosting small in-person classes related to their pain points. You could also focus on just hosting a fun event and invite people to see your massage spa for themselves. Remember to take safety precautions and keep attendance to state standard maximum.

Host Webinars & Online Classes

Another way to get people together to promote your massage therapist business is via virtual events. Many people are still hesitate about going to live events due to the pandemic. Giving them the option of attending online allows them to experience your business while remaining safe.

There are plenty of online events you can host. Here are a few types of events to consider:

• Webinars
• Classes
• Conferences
• Group consultations
• Seminars

Choose the best event that will highlight your massage therapy offerings. When you offer value in this way, people become more interested in your business and want to learn more about your services.

Answer Questions on Forums

Many people go to online forums to get their questions answered about various topics. This is a chance for you to position yourself as an authority and attract potential clients.

Go on forum sites like Quora and Reddit and give helpful, in-depth answers to people’s issues. Building a name for yourself on websites like these can spark interest and move people to visit your profile and massage therapy business website.

Partner With Local Businesses

Sometimes your clients are the people who walk into the neighboring business. They may have pain points that both you and another business both address. Building out a network of referral partners helps to connect clientele between both solutions.

Find local businesses that you think your clientele would frequent. Reach out to them and let them know what you offer so they know when to refer your services. For instance, there may be a doctors office nearby that can refer patients with back pain to your massage therapist business.

The best way to go about this is to make sure there is an equal exchange of value. This means that you should also continue to refer clients to relevant services and products when needed as well. A referral partnership helps boost trust in clientele since they are being referred by sources they have relationships with already.

Post Flyers and Business Cards

Grabbing attention of local clientele is essential to tap into for your massage therapy marketing. Sometimes a little traditional promotion is needed and highly effective for this case.

Create eye-catching flyers and post them around the neighborhood along with your business cards. There’s a good chance people will pick them up and contact you if you’ve communicated your solution to their pain points clearly.

Use Car Wraps

We’re accustomed to buses being used for promotional ads for different companies. But you don’t need an entire bus to use this method for your massage therapist business. Consider doing a car wrap to advertise your services.

Car wrap advertising involves you covering a vehicle in a vinyl cover to display promotional words and images. They’re customizable, longlasting and cost-effective. Car wraps are also removable so you can easily interchange them with different ads when needed.

Turn your vehicle or an affiliate’s into a portable promotion for your business. Be sure to consider placement and size for your important info such as company name, address and phone number.

Try These Promotional Techniques for Your Massage Therapist Business

Marketing and promoting any business effectively often comes down to trial and error. Luckily, there are plenty of options for you to choose from when it comes to spreading the word about your massage therapist business.

Try some of these ideas and watch your business start to take off. If you’re interested gaining new clientele, contact us at Spreeberry to have your business listed on the directory.