Promoting your aesthetics practice: part two

A simple guide to ten key areas your aesthetic clinic or medi spa should consider for a successful aesthetic marketing strategy and strong brand.

It’s a competitive market place out there and therefore important to target the right audience with the right messages in the right way through the right aesthetic marketing strategy. (I touched on this topic before in a much earlier blog on Non-Surgical Aesthetics And Beauty Brands: Copywriting Art Or Science?)

In part one of this blog, I looked at How To Market Your Aesthetics Clinic or Medi Spa Responsibly and the ethics a practice needs to consider. So, what exactly is the recipe for marketing success? What ingredients does your aesthetic marketing strategy need?

How can you make sure that patient X is going to choose your aesthetic practice instead of the one just down the road? 10 aesthetic marketing channels you need to consider

1. A strong aesthetic clinic name
Achieving this gets harder and harder with the need for the aesthetic clinic’s name to be inviting, AND pronounceable AND available as a URL and across social media channels.

2. A unique aesthetic brand
What is your brand positioning? What makes you relevant, distinctive and desirable? What is your proposition? What is your key selling message? How can you create a professional and trusted brand that reflects your reputation?

Andrew Barrington of brand strategy agency Breakfast Town comments, “As treatments become more effective, safe, pain-free, affordable and available, aesthetic procedures will become a part of normal life. There will be more practitioners, in more channels, and the winners will be those companies who are sure of their brand proposition as part of their aesthetic marketing strategy and go further to deliver against the physical and emotional needs of their patients.”

3. A sophisticated brand identity
Aesthetic medicine is all about appearance. Your brand identity, logo and website need to look professional, slick and distinctive – even when small and barely visible on your business card or when your website is viewed on a mobile phone.

4. A well designed, well written, well optimised website
You need one that showcases your expertise, attracts business, is clear to navigate and understand, and helps you get to the top of Google. Oh, and don’t forget – it needs to be mobile-friendly. The easier it is for people to a) find you and b) interact with you, the more likely they are to want to come to you for aesthetic treatment.

One increasing problem is that too many aesthetic clinics just cut and paste copy about treatment from the manufacturer’s website. Don’t! Stop now! Google penalises you for plagiarism; your site ends up looking like all the others plus it’s lazy. (Am I blowing my own trumpet here in promoting my experienced copywriting services in this sector? OK, yes, I am – check out the aesthetic clinics and brands I’ve worked with.)

5. An outstanding set of patient reviews
Nothing builds trust and reputation than excellent patient referrals. Plus, word of mouth advertising is free!

6. A compelling variety of before and after photos
The proof is definitely in the pudding here (provided you have the patient’s permission). These show that treatment is really affordable by real people after all and that you have the medical skills and expertise to achieve real results.

7. An ongoing pipeline of fabulous blogs
Keep your website fresh and relevant by adding content. This also demonstrates knowledge and authority, whether you’re writing about the latest aesthetic procedures, industry news, staff appointments or tips on diet, health and wellness.

8. An engaging social media campaign
Posts and photos on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat – and let’s not forget YouTube – help to build your brand and engage with your audience. You can share links to blogs, run surveys, post answers to patient questions about aesthetic procedures (e.g. ‘What’s The Difference Between Botulinum Toxin And Dermal Fillers?’, ‘What Are The Options For Treating Acne?’, ‘5 Ways To Protect Your Skin This Summer’), and show those stellar examples of your handiwork with before and after photos.

9. An action-prompting email marketing campaign
Once patients have given consent to opt in to receiving marketing emails, you can let them know about new treatments or clinic news to encourage repeat business and avoid customers lapsing.

You can target customers more precisely and test out the effectiveness of different email campaigns. You can also drive traffic to your site, which helps with optimisation, and hyperlink to your online appointment scheduling tool.

10. A something-else-for-a-change
Every single brochure and every single ad for dermal fillers, skin rejuvenation, and anti-wrinkle treatment depicts a stunning looking model. There’s a great saying in advertising: if everyone zigs, zag. Why stick to traditional forms of print to promote your aesthetics business?

Stand head, shoulder, knees and legs above the crowd by doing something different. I heard a radio ad on Capital the other week for a new dermal filler. Brilliant use of a different medium for the sector!

Why not also consider guerilla marketing as a low-cost method to get your medi spa ahead of the competition AND generate free PR – pavement art, carrier bags, ads on mirrors at the local gym or on sofas or lockers – like these …

Written by Caroline Gibson, freelance copywriter, who can help you create a successful aesthetic marketing strategy and brand for your clinic or medi spa in conjunction with Breakfast Town.

E: caroline@carolinegibson.co.uk T: +44 7957 567766

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