If you’ve been running a med spa for many years or you’re just starting out, you have seen firsthand that it takes a lot to be successful. You have to have an amazing team, welcoming office, an on-point product mix, and a strong way to build your patient base. On that last point, your med spa marketing efforts can and should play an enormous roll in attracting new clients and helping to retain them for repeat treatments.
But to be frank, online marketing ain’t what it used to be. Though to be fair, here in the waning days of 2021, what is, amiright? The game has changed and in order to be successful, it takes a more robust and calculated effort than it ever did before. Here are some ways medical spa marketing has become more challenging in recent years, and some thoughts about staying competitive.
1. More Organic Competition
Being easily found in a Google search is still your most important online asset. Ten years ago, if you had a decently optimized website and added a bit of content every month, you were probably in pretty good shape rankings-wise. But now, you’re battling two factors. First, there are more practices offering nonsurgical aesthetic services than ever before. And second, more of these practices are willing to invest big money in extensive online marketing efforts to reach the top spots on Google.
What can you do to continue to be found on Google? The good news is that there are still plenty of online marketing tactics to keep you in the hunt. It starts with an up-to-date website that is technically solid and that is appealing to users. From there, you need to be adding tons of engaging content, including blog posts, infographics, videos, before and afters and more so that once a user lands on your site, she stays for a long time and is convinced to take the next step and contact you.
2. Google Ad Restrictions
While this isn’t a new concern in the medical space, Google has become more and more aggressive in policing some of its rather dubious healthcare advertising policies. As any med spa offering PRP knows, Google considers this to be a “speculative medical treatment” and won’t let any website that mentions it advertise on their platform. You heard that right, even if you are just advertising fillers or microdermabrasion on Google, if your site mentions PRP, your ads will be denied.
That’s just one example of Google Ads policies that prevent advertising or limit the audience you can advertise to. As you probably know, there’s no sense in fighting Google. Your best approach is to work with an agency knowledgeable in the pitfalls who can create ads that have the best chance of being approved and reaching a wide audience.
3. Facebook Ad Policies
This social behemoth has similar policies to Google in terms of what can and can’t be advertised on their platform. Note that we say similar – it’s a whole other set of concerns and a whole other set of hoops to jump through. Fun, right? Facebook’s concern as it pertains to medical advertising often centers around the perception of targeting users based on a medical condition. “Treat your wrinkles today!” – disapproved. “People with wrinkles can get them treated today!” – A-OK. It’s a subtle difference but determines whether your ads will run or not.
Similar to Google Ads, the best approach is to work with an agency that knows how to get ads approved, and what needs to change if an ad does get disapproved.
4. Privacy Changes
We’ve covered this a few times in recent months but all of the major online players, including Google, Facebook and Apple, have either already implemented increased user privacy protections or have plans on the books. What it means for your advertising is that it’s harder to track how new patients are finding you, and you may have a harder time staying in touch with prior clients online.
The key to succeeding in this ever-shifting landscape is to be candid and proactive about user privacy. No lurking in the shadows to gather info. It’s all about telling patients and potential patients that you would like to keep in touch, and offering them incentives to continue to be contacted. Here’s an example: a popup on your site saying “Get a custom experience on our site by answering a couple questions and signing up for our email newsletter!”
5. Social Sameness
This is a tough one. We’ll be clear – no aesthetic practice can be successful without an engaging social game on Facebook and Instagram. But in the nonsurgical aesthetics space, we often find that it’s very difficult for one med spa to differentiate itself from others in the market. For better or for worse, a certain “generic aesthetic vibe” has developed on social media, all about showing “beauty” in the latest trending filters while adding a healthy dose of “you go girl” sass. It’s becoming a bit cliche.
To create and maintain a unique perspective on social media, we encourage aesthetic practices to dig deep. What is it that you’re offering that your competition isn’t? Is your office vibe full of humor and practical jokes? Are you all about evaluating the technical aspects of every new device you can get your hands on? Pinpoint what makes you unique and make that the focus of your social media. The patients and prospects who share your passion will reward you as rabid followers.
6. Device/Brand Overload
It seems like a new aesthetic medicine device comes out every week. It’s hard for a seasoned provider to keep them straight, and we’re here to tell you that, aside from a few big names, most of the brands at your med spa sound like gibberish to the average consumer. Sure, you have your makers of BOTOX, CoolSculpting, and JUVEDERM who get the importance of branding and advertising support. But be careful how much time you spend trying to tout the benefits of Micro-PLUSH, i-Complexion, or NowTone. (Yes, we made all those up!)
The best approach to the proliferation of nonsurgical devices and treatments is to focus on results. Show and tell patients and prospects about what they might be able to achieve. Focus on the condition and the results, and less on the means of achieving those results.
7. Better At-Home Treatments
It doesn’t matter how many times you tell your audience that at-home treatments simply can’t match the quality of results achieved by med spa professionals. They will still hear about “the latest thing” and see who’s carrying it nearby. They will still get an eye cream tip from a friend and “just have to try it.” They will still see a celebrity promoting the latest snake oil to “safely remove sunspots” and order it for overnight delivery.
While the vast majority of these treatments and products are poor substitutes for what your practice offers, generally speaking at-home treatments and technologies have improved in the past 10 years. And so has their marketing. If someone can get 70% of the results you can offer, but they can do it without leaving the house and for less cost, that math might make a lot of sense for their pocketbook.
The best way to stay competitive is to first acknowledge when certain skincare fads are trending and give your honest assessment. Why might they be worthwhile? What are the limits? The next thing to do is explain why professional, in-office treatments can deliver better results and better value. Lastly, make it as easy as possible to have a treatment or try a new product at your office. This might mean extended evening or weekend hours, introductory specials on new services, or free next-day product shipping.