Marketing and Advertising
Marketing and advertising in Holistic and massage therapies
We are attracting our ideal clients through our image, values, and integrity.
Interest leads to enquiries that can convert into paying clients.
Build your business.
Let people know you exist, what you are offering and how it will benefit your clients.
This is the aim of marketing.
To buy (or not to buy)
The secret of successful marketing is using effective methods.
Advertisements. –
AIDA – a classic formula used by advertisers, this stands for Attention Interest Desire Action
If you follow this formula in every ad that you write or produce, you will greatly increase your chances of success.
Attention –Grab the reader’s attention, you can achieve this with your headline.
Interest – Once you’ve got their attention, you need to create an interest in your product or service.
Desire – Convert the reader’s interest into a strong desire for what you are offering.
Action – Desire on its own is not enough, they need to act, so you need a call to action.
You need to tell people precisely what you do and how to take action.
Different Ways of Marketing Your Business
1) Mail shots (having email marketing can be a great way to contact your clients with monthly updates, mail chimp is free and easy to manage)
2) Leaflet Drops. (A great way to market your business to your local community at the beginning to get clients)
3) Facebook Instagram. LinkedIn Twitter (this is where I spend most of my time marketing my business).
4) Testimonials from happy customers. (you can put these on your face book page, website and mail shots)
5) Leads and Personal Contacts.
6) Trade Shows and Exhibitions. (Holistic and spiritual events are great)
7) The Internet (Google business page)
8) Giving talks and demonstrations.
9) Joining the Chamber of Commerce, Business Link, and local business organisations.
10) Networking.
11) Giveaways – using competitions and prize giveaways to get interest or build a mailing list.
12) Writing articles for trade or media publications or your own blog.
13) Press Releases.
14) Radio and TV advertising and human-interest stories.
15) Local Cinema advertising.
16) Open Days.
17) Posters on local notice boards and shops.
Your business is just as much about you as your business, you are a package and need to think about.
1) Your image.
2) Your professional conduct.
3) Your premises.
4) Your company name and logo.
5) Any vehicles used.
6) Your face – to – face communications.
7) Your communications over the telephone.
8) Your written communications.
9) You’re advertising.
10)Any one directly or indirectly involved with representing your business.
Planning to set up your business.
Design and print your business card ready to give out, have on display in your therapy room or shared workspace and remember to hand them out at any networking events and Holistic therapy events. Always have them on the ready to hand out to any interested parties.
On your business card include your name, business name, address, telephone number, email address, website, and logo.
Have a professional website made with your business name and logo, a picture of you and an interesting ‘about you story’. Full description of your business and the services you offer, prices, availability, how to book, promotions and specials.
Create an Instagram and face book page for your business, have your page fun and lively with pictures, offers and interesting facts.
Think about getting a Twitter account and joining Linked In for professional networking.
Getting Clients
Where to get clients.
A very good way of generating interest is to plan, deliver and demonstrate what you do to groups of people at scheduled talks and seminars. An enjoyable place to do this is Holistic/ wellness/ Mind Body Spirit Fairs where you can do demonstrations, do talks, and offer therapies.
Contact any local business groups e.g.: Chamber of Commerce, Women’s Groups and any organisations that regularly have guest speakers in.
You could also be looking at arranging to do some talks at local counselling centres and clinics with a view to offering reduced Holistic Massage Therapy or a free taster session to interested individuals.
Another way of recruiting new clients is by word of mouth, recommendations from your existing clients. As you develop your practice, you will develop your own way of working and generating clients. Refer a client promotion can be successful by rewarding your clients who refer a positive client to your business.
Your pricing should always depend on the current marketplace. Here in Cumbria, you should be looking at charging between £40.00 to £50.00 per hour, some spas charge as much as £80 and hour. You need to value yourself and your experience so that your clients will too.
Avoid the time thieves.
Time thieves are the clients that cancel last minute or don’t turn up, this is one of our biggest frustrations in our therapy work.
You can try to avoid this with a cancellation policy that charges the client the full price of the therapy treatment for not showing or cancelling last minute, requesting a deposit or full payment for the treatment before the appointment is confirmed.
Code of conduct
It is always a good idea to design your own Code of Conduct or business charter that governs how you work, about what you will and will not do, the values and principles you operate on and how you plan to conduct yourself within the therapeutic process and within your practice.
By providing this to your clients, you are promoting and illustrating your level of commitment to them and exhibiting professionalism.
An example of a Code of Conduct for a Complementary Therapy Practice
Aims
I aim to provide a high-quality professional Holistic service, which serves the needs and interests of my clients.
I aim to build professional and long-term relationships with my clients.
This will help us work together to enhance the client’s health and Holistic maintenance.
My aim is to support the client to achieve their health goals.
Values:
Integrity, honesty, professionalism, respect, courtesy, fairness, and empathy.
Guarantees.
I aim to make the greatest efforts to adhere to the treatment hours contracted to high standards.
If I should make a mistake, I will endeavour to rectify it as soon as possible to the client’s satisfaction.
Confidentiality.
I will always respect the confidentiality of the client and will not disclose any information unless required to by law.
About Code of Conduct, it is a useful tool to get the client to complete a Code of Conduct prior to commencing treatment.
An example to use with my clients, but you will find that depending on your values and work stance, your Client Code of Conduct that you send to your client may well read differently.
Client Code of Conduct
a) To always attend appointments on time. b) To prepare for the Holistic Massage session. c) To be honest always d) To agree to be challenged if my therapist feels that I am not being truthful or if I am deceiving myself. e) To receive the feedback from my therapist without argument. f) To send back all forms promptly and completed fully. g) To be willing to work on areas of my life and take on board my therapists views. h) Arrange for prompt payment of services provided by my therapist. i) To work in full partnership with my therapist. j) To be willing to look at new ways of working and to accept I may need to make health changes.
Although you may have a full practice, you should always be considering ways of generating clients.
If you are a focused professional Practitioner, your clients will achieve their health and Holistic goals and aspirations and when they have succeeded in their planned outcomes, they will move on and you begin the process all over again.
At least 30% of your working hours should be spent in increasing your practice and business.
Luckily, holistic therapies are one of the few professions, which allow you to begin very small and build up slowly without committing yourself fully. Most therapists spend between 6-12 months expanding their practices from part-time to full time before they fully gave up their previous careers. If you can commit between 4-6 hours per week in the very early stages of establishing your practice, you should be able to give fully to your old career and your new career.
You will need plenty of passion, commitment, and dedication to build your practice and you will also require the desire to help others to reach their personal health and goals. To have a successful practice, you will need to be able to network and make contacts.
Whilst you may find it daunting to have to go out and make new contacts, all you really need to remember is that the way to get people interested in you is for you to be interested in them. People can usually sense when someone is being fake with them and has no real interest in them.
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