5 Massage Therapy Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Business

Your massage therapy marketing strategy is your key to getting clients in the door. Without the proper strategies in place, it can be difficult to attract new clients. In this blog, we’ll cover five of the most effective ways to build your massage business. These include:

1. Creating a website
2. Listing your business in online local business directories
3. Listing on review sites
4. Using social media
5. Partnering with local business

Here are some tips on best practices for applying each of these methods to attract more clients.

1. Create a Website

In today’s digital economy, most consumers start looking for companies on their smartphone, making a website a cornerstone of a winning massage therapy marketing strategy. A well-designed massage business website should possess a number of essential elements, including:

• A mobile-friendly design that makes it easy for smartphone users to view your site
• A well-designed SEO structure which makes it easy for search engine robots to index your page on the right keywords
• A list of your massage services
• Contact information for your business
• An online scheduling system, such as ClinicSense’s Book Appointment feature
• A page about your business
• A page about you including your credentials 
• Testimonials about your clients

For best results, include content covering topics and keywords of interest to your target market. For example, you might offer blog and video posts with tips on how massage therapy can help with common health issues.

2. List Your Business in Online Local Business Directories

To begin expanding your online presence beyond your own website, list your business in online local business directories. For example, Google My Business makes it easier for local customers to find you through Google Search and Google Maps.

When listing your business in online directories, follow best practices for formatting your name, address and phone number (NAP), such as:

• Double-check all information for accuracy
• Use only one phone number per location
• Update outdated information
• Use the same information consistently across all digital properties

Conducting an audit of your online listings, such as local directories provided by local newspapers and magazines, can help ensure compliance with these guidelines.

3. List Your Business on Review Sites

Listing your business on review sites such as Yelp provides another way to help online prospects find you. Make sure your information on review sites is consistent with your listings on digital directories.

Designate a time to monitor your reviews. Establish guidelines for responding to negative reviews. As a rule of thumb, you should acknowledge the issue, apologize if called for, explain the situation and offer some type of resolution, such as a discounted session. In some cases, it may be best to invite the reviewer to a private discussion.

4. Build a Social Media Following 

Social media provides a powerful set of tools for amplifying your online presence and gaining new massage therapy clients. Social media platforms allow you to list information about your business, connect with prospective clients, share content and promote offers. You can use social media as a free resource or use paid ads to expand your outreach.

When using social media, follow best practices, such as:

• Use profile descriptions consistent with your website
• Limit the number of characters in profile descriptions to those allowed for a given social media platform
• Use keywords to help your audience find you
• Use quality images formatted to the right dimensions for a given platform
• Include links to your website on your profiles
• Share content with your following regularly
• Engage in relevant Facebook groups
• Include calls to actions such as "Book Now" in your posts to drive traffic to your website and promote appointments

5. Partner with Local Businesses

Supplementing your online promotions with local business partnerships will increase the effectiveness of your marketing strategy. Local business partners can point their brick-and-mortar customers your way as well as increasing your online outreach through their own digital properties.

Look for local businesses which share your target audience in their customer base but aren’t selling competing products or services. For example, a local gym, florist or salon may be good candidates for partnerships. Create a list of top potential partners and approach them one at a time.

To attract potential partners, take an approach which emphasizes mutual benefits for your partner as well as your own business. For example, you can offer partners a commission for sales generated from referrals. Alternately, you might offer to promote them to your own clients, particularly if you have a large email list or social media following. You can also point out the goodwill they can build with their clients by promoting your services.

You and your partner can extend several different types of offers to customers. For example:

• You can offer 10% off for all first-time clients coming from a local gym
• You can offer a discounted massage session for every customer of a local florist who buys a certain bouquet for Mother’s Day
• You can offer gift certificates as a bonus for customers coming from a local salon

Test different types of offers to see which ones draw the most customers. Once you hit on a winning formula, use it with a wider range of promotional partners.

Improve Your Massage Therapy Marketing to Increase Your Revenue

Create a foundation for effective massage therapy marketing through digital methods such as promoting your website, listing in online directories and review sites and posting on social media. Combine your digital efforts with local business partnerships to multiply the effectiveness of your marketing strategy.

For maximum effectiveness, a good massage therapy marketing strategy needs support from an efficient infrastructure to schedule, manage and bill massage sessions. ClinicSense automates daily tasks such as filling out SOAP forms, scheduling sessions, sending appointment reminders and processing invoices, allowing you to spend less time handling paperwork so you can spend more time with your clients. Sign up for a free trial to experience how ClinicSense can make managing your massage therapy business easier.