Marketing advice for Spas, Salons and Massage Therapists

Celebrate Your Clientele!

September 29, 2014

Marketing your spa, salon, massage therapy or esthetics practice requires a very clear picture of your ideal target. Painting a picture of that target means listening to your clientele and remembering (noting) key points about them. These points provide marketing opportunities, and will further strengthen your relationships which engender client loyalty, which in turn helps you succeed. It’s a beautiful process, really it is.

Birthdays immediately come to mind as key points to remember. Everyone has one, even the timeless, ageless clients who appear to be untethered to the same laws of physics as the rest of us. Why not offer up either an extended service for the price of a regular session, or throw in a complementary lovely lotion or potion with a service to commemorate their event? The actual cost to you as the provider can be carefully managed to be minimal, and the good will you build in the process will be considerable.

Another example? Anniversaries. Some years back my husband and I decided to celebrate ours each year with indulgence in the form of side-by-side massages. We have two spas we love to frequent (very different, both amazing, both staffed with very skilled practitioners), and alternate between them for these annual events. After this year’s lovely indulgence, we were escorted out to a lovely sitting area and offered champagne to help celebrate our event. We enjoyed the cool, sparkly beverages as we chatted about our massages, and both felt that this final touch was lovely.

Start simple by designing a couple of options for birthdays, then making a point of asking clients when their special day is each year, then mentioning your special treatment of the birthday celebrant. They’ll be happy to give up the info knowing that when theirs rolls around they’ll be getting an email, postcard, text or phone call letting them know that you know that it’s time to celebrate.

Creating Effective Mission & Vision Statements

September 25, 2014

Mission and vision statements are important parts of any strategic business plan. They not only provide a sense of purpose and direction for your business and your employees, but can help guide decisions about your business’ future. These statements talk about where your business is now, what makes it distinct, and where it aspires to go in the future.

It seems like so many businesses either don’t understand the importance of having mission or vision statements, or they get confused about what makes a mission statement different from a vision statement. Often as I am visiting websites, I come across mission statements that are actually vision statements, or mission and vision statements that are identical. The mission and vision statements should be living breathing statements that change and grow as the business changes and grows.

Now is a great time to revisit your mission and vision statements, make sure they still represent your goals, and truly differentiate your mission from your vision.

What are the differences between a mission statement and a vision statement, and how can you create effective ones to help drive your business forward? Let’s look at the differences between mission and vision statements and talk about how you can create effective ones for your business.

Mission Statements

A mission statement is your reason for existing, your mission as a business. It talks about the current state of your business and it does it by answering three simple questions:

What? What services do we provide? What do we do? What makes us different?
Who? To whom do we provide these services? Who is our clientele?
Why? Why do we do it? What is the goal?

A mission statement should be clear and concise. And it should provide a sense of purpose and direction for you and your employees.

Example: To provide the people of Albuquerque with the finest massage and skin treatments available in a serene and peaceful environment in order to help develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

When you are writing a mission statement, keep it simple. Sit down and answer the What/Who/Why questions and then boil that down into a simple statement. One or two sentences at the most. It should be something that all of your employees should be able to understand and also feel inspired to demonstrate on a daily basis through their work.

Vision Statements

A vision statement focuses more on long-term goals and where your business is heading in the future. It is usually a more aspirational and inspiring goal that should help drive your business practices and decisions for years to come.

It answers a few important questions:

Where – Where do we envision our business 5, 10, 15 years from now?
What – What do we want our business to be?
How – How do we want to do it?

Example: To be a leader in improving the health and wellness of our community by providing inspired treatments, teaching our clients healthy practices, and fostering wellness education.

A vision statement is much more aspirational than a mission statement. You are envisioning your business’ ultimate goal. It should serve as the final point in a road map that guides you and your business from where it is today to where you would ultimately like it to be. Once again, it should be a simple statement – a living goal that inspires and drives you and your employees.

One thing to keep in mind is that these are not static statements. Your mission and vision statements can change and evolve over time, as the market and your competition changes. But, if written effectively, they should not need to change very dramatically. Good mission and vision statements will always tie back into the core values and principles that drive your business.

Here are 2 of the biggest ways that effective mission and vision statements can have a profoundly positive impact on your business.

Powerful Mission and Vision Statements Will Foster and Strengthen Your Business Culture

Powerful mission and vision statements can serve to strengthen your business culture through a shared sense of purpose and identity amongst your employees. Employees who feel inspired and like they are working as a team towards an admirable goal are going to be happier and more invested in your business.

Mission and Vision Statements Make it Easier to do Long Term Planning

Having well thought out mission and vision statements make it much easier to see the big picture when you are making decisions that affect your business in both the short and long term. Having an idea of your long-term goals will mean that any decisions you need to make about your business are easier because they need to be in support of both the mission and the vision you have already set forth.

By taking the time to sit down and focus on crafting strong mission and vision statements for your business, you are not only empowering your business in the present, but helping to set it up for future success. When well thought out and properly written, these statements can become the guiding principles in helping to grow your business and to enabling it to continue to be viable and competitive in this changing economy.

*** This article is part of our “Time for a Tune Up” series, designed to help you tune up your business practices, get ready for the holidays, and think about your business and marketing strategies, both for the rest of this year and heading into 2015. It’s not too early to start thinking ahead, and now is the time to start preparing for even more success.

The Power of Storytelling

September 22, 2014

We’ve talked a lot lately about how to build your brand, through creating a personality and voice. And one of the most effective ways to do that is with storytelling. The best brands are good at telling stories, both about their company history and their clients’ experiences. But why is storytelling so effective as a marketing tool?

Storytelling is an ancient form of communication, one in which we all have a long history. From the time we are small we are told stories as a way to inform, educate, and entertain. We are wired to crave stories and to feel like we are a part of them. At some point we’ve all been completely mesmerized by a good story.

With the popularity of social media, and the personal connections and stories that we are addicted to having daily, storytelling is even more important. Storytelling allows you to connect with your clients. But more importantly, a story allows your clients to feel a more personal connection to your business. It allows you to build a persona for your brand, to set your brand up as a relatable commodity and as an authority that your clients can turn to when they are looking for advice.

So how can you start incorporating storytelling into your content marketing? Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Tell the story of why you decided to open the business or how you went about becoming a small business owner
Talk about challenges you have faced and the successes you have had, both personally and as a business
Talk about your staff – share their stories so that your clients will start to feel a more personal connection to them
Engage your audience – ask them questions about their life, what they want to see from your business, or what sorts of activities they are interested in
Share stories from events or volunteer activities that your business or staff are involved in
Tell the stories of your clients and their interactions with you, your business, and your community

Incorporating more storytelling into your content marketing sounds like a hard task. But in reality we are all storytellers already. It’s just a matter of writing our stories down and sharing them with our communities.

The power of storytelling can help you establish your brand identity and voice. By building a more personal relationship with your clients, you’ll solidify their connection with you. And you’ll see that reflected in growing brand loyalty and increased sales. After all, people tolerate a good pitch, but they love a good story.

What Is a SWOT Analysis?

September 17, 2014

As a small business owner, you are often so focused on the day to day activities of running your business that you don’t take the time to sit down and really evaluate how your business is doing and how it compares to other businesses in the market. In order to help your business grow, it is key to get a clear idea of what your business does well and how it fits into the marketplace. A SWOT Analysis is a great tool for helping you focus on your business’ place and purpose.

SWOT stands for Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, & Threat. Through a series of questions and analysis, a SWOT Analysis can provide you with information on the strengths and weaknesses of your business, the opportunities it has in your market, and the threats it might face in that market. From there, you can use that information to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of your business, but also to uncover new opportunities. A SWOT analysis can also be used to evaluate how your business compares to similar businesses in the marketplace, which can help you craft a more effective business strategy to help your business grow.

So how does a SWOT Analysis work?
It can be as easy as sitting down with your staff and going over the following questions. It can also be helpful to involve some of your clients as well, maybe by asking them to fill out a simple survey. Here are some of the things to consider and ask from each of the four categories:

Strength – characteristics that give your business an advantage over others

What do you do better than anyone else?
What advantages does your business have over others in the area?
What do your clients see as your strengths?
What factors help you make sales?

Weakness – characteristics that leave your business at a disadvantage over others

What could you improve about your business?
What should you avoid?
What do your clients see as your weaknesses?
What factors cause you to lose sales?

Opportunity– instances or areas that your business could develop as an advantage

What opportunities do you see in your marketplace?
What trends are you aware of that could affect your business?
Weaknesses can also often open up new opportunities. How could you improve or eliminate your weaknesses?
Threats can also often be turned into opportunities. How can you take advantage of the threats and turn them around into new opportunities for your business?

Threat – instances or circumstances that could have a negative effect on your business

What obstacles is your business facing?
What are your competitors doing better than you?
Do you have a cash flow problem, or debt?

Once you have all these answers, it’s a good time to sit down with your team and evaluate what those answers mean to your business. By identifying not only what you do well, but also what new opportunities there are out there, and how you will handle threats and weaknesses, you will come up with an overall big picture of your business. From there, you can start to discuss and plan out strategies for taking advantage of your strengths and opportunities and managing your weaknesses and threats. In the end, what should emerge is a business plan based on all of this, with ideas on how to leverage this new information to strengthen your business and bring about growth.

A SWOT Analysis is a simple but powerful tool for evaluating your business. By taking time on a regular basis (at least annually) to ask yourself these questions and evaluate what the answers mean for your bottom line, it can help you not only streamline your business practices but can help you better understand where your business currently is and what it will take to get it to where you would like it to be. It can also help you come up with effective strategies for distinguishing yourself in your market.

Which Social Media Platform Is Right for You?

September 15, 2014

Social media platforms are appearing like wildflowers after a summer rain. Each promises reach into the psyche (and by inference ‘the wallets’) of their target audience. Each requires a learning curve to adopt, time to manage, and, possibly most important, each should prove its worth to you before you commit precious resources to participate. This means, of course, that jumping on the newest, shiniest, most promoted social media platform in ever isn’t really necessary. In fact, there’s time, and you should use the time they’re spending proving themselves to the world (and you as a business) to focus on what’s working for you already. All new businesses will attempt to create a sense of urgency for you, that’s how they grow. In this case, waiting a bit and then deciding if there’s a good fit is simply prudent and a good idea.

That said, modern marketing definitely includes social media in the mix. The definition of social media has broadened to include blogging, which also supports the idea of creating consistent, quality, content for SEO and general marketing purposes. You want to be seen by the search engines; you want to build a relationship with your audience – two birds, one stone, and thy name is good content.

The content piece continues into the Facebook realm. Facebook provides an opportunity to generate referrals, to nurture relationships with your audience, and to demonstrate your commitment to the art of online conversation, which can require planning and thought. People come out of left field, sometimes, and having a well-planned strategy for responding when the topic gets tricky is key. Consistency is also key. Managing a Facebook presence means you’ve dedicated resources to planning your social media marketing, to participating in the conversations that are generated by your compelling marketing, and to getting the best results possible in that particular medium. Facebook posts with less words and a really good image garner much more response, so a piece of your strategy should include capturing cool images to use. The audience here has begun to skew slightly older now that teenagers are fleeing due to their parents’ participation (and surveillance…), which means users with some disposable income are increasing – always a good thing.

Twitter provides a venue for the like-minded to exchange thoughts on a given topic, like, for example, the benefits of therapeutic massage for postpartum health. It’s a very trendy, up-to-the-minute medium, and cycles very quickly. If attention focus is your goal, you’ve only got a very small window using Twitter. It is, however, a great place to build credibility within your audience – the exchanges can be opportunities to plant a seed for a very stimulating conversation in the Twitterverse, while creating a venue on which to share expertise.

YouTube continues to grow at an astonishing rate. The audience loves to see people demonstrating services or creating ‘tutorials’ on topics germane to the audience. I could certainly have used a lesson in flat iron technique when I realized upon growing my hair out after many years of short locks that I had become wavy/curly, and seriously needed to tame those tresses! Fortunately I have a helpful daughter who stepped up and instructed me at a time I was just about to ask my stylist to ‘cut it all off!’ due to extreme frustration. My point, though, is watching something is much more helpful than reading about it for most people, and watching something that’s been created with the medium in mind, in short segments (less than 5 minutes, if possible), will generate more interest for the occasional longer piece.

LinkedIn has historically provided a venue for professionals to network. The site tends to be used for professional networking, for employers to find potential employees, and for potential employees to find potential employers. It provides a place where credibility within a given industry can be established, over time, and where the comradery feels akin to that of offline professional organizations, in my experience. From a priority standpoint, I’d be inclined to choose one or more of the first three social media options listed before spending too many resources developing a strong LinkedIn presence. It’s ideal for B2B’s, and slightly less so for B2C interactions, based upon the usual traffic and content that’s generated.

The key players in the social media arena remain, overall. The key for your business is determining which make the most sense for your goals and social media presence. Regardless which you choose, you’ll need to commit to the experience. The most successful in the social media game are those who respect it as a potential referral and, ideally, revenue generator, and develop a strong following over time. Consistency, clarity, creative content and commitment to the effort will take you a long way to garnering success within the new media culture.

Pumpkin Spice Lattes Are Out, It Must Be Fall!

September 11, 2014

On my way to class the other day I stopped at Starbucks, something I rarely do anymore in an effort to avoid too many extra calories and because I seem to be running late most of the time (I tend to over commit and then end up rushing…ahem…). Anyway, as I pulled up to order I saw that Pumpkin Spice Lattes are on the menu and I did a little happy dance because that means it must be Fall, right??

As strange as that reaction is, from a marketing perspective it means they’ve trained me, using seasonality (scarcity), thereby ensuring I will find a way to get back there again for yet another of those sinfully delicious, spicy lattes. The strategy is simple, brilliant, and one that many businesses have used, with great success, through the years.

Remember the McDonald’s Shamrock Shakes? I’m pretty sure there was nothing in them that even resembled wholesome, Irish cream, or even anything from nature as we know it, but we didn’t care. As kids, when those popped up on the menu we were super excited because a.they tasted good, and b. it meant St. Patrick’s Day was right around the corner. And while we had a broad ethnic representation in my neighborhood, as far as I know there wasn’t a soul from the Emerald Isle in sight. But we didn’t care.

And then there were the seasonal flavors at Baskin Robbins – Baseball Nut. Fresh Peach. Black Cherries Jubilee. Yumminess by season primed us to pounce when the favorite flavors arrived, consume until we were (almost) satiated, then bid them adieu for another year.

As an adult, it’s been my pleasure to enjoy seasonal foods from different local restaurants, a pleasure not unlike enjoying childhood treats around seasons or holidays. With seasonal foods, of course, it’s about availability for a short time, then the item disappears until this time next year when we’ll welcome the return of said dish and enjoy it to its fullest once more.

Seasonality translates beautifully into our spa and salon marketing efforts. Through my years with SpaBoom I’ve seen an amazing number of really wonderful spa service menu items. And then we started working with salons and realized how many options there really are for hair styling and care services, something someone not natively of the business wouldn’t have immediately understood.

A few services have stuck in my mind as particularly compelling, not always for the service itself, but often for what product the service may have incorporated. There have been blue corn scrub wraps, which are about indigenous ingredients. There have been pumpkin avocado facials, cranberry salt scrubs, seaweed wraps, cucumber facials, spicy chai pedicures, coffee scrubs and creamy, milky options designed to create suppleness.

And who doesn’t appreciate a hair treat to prime for the next season, as well? Lovely deep conditioning oil treatments help repair Summer’s havoc, and amazing, rich colors manage to capture the light and infuse the hair with depths of hue that please the eye while creating softness and health in the process.

I have a point, here, and it’s really this – What is your Pumpkin Spice Latte? Do you have one? If nothing jumps immediately to mind, consider adding a seasonal option to your service menu, one (or more) that add variety while creating a sense of anticipation for your clientele. Ideally, creating four of these, one for each season, makes the most sense, and then promote them in all of your content areas – your blog, email newsletters, on your website, social media, text messaging, and, yes, as in-house signage.

Catch the eye, capture the imagination, satisfy the craving you create, then gently remove the option at a predetermined time until next year. What’s not to enjoy about setting, then exceeding, client expectations year after year?

Time for a Tune Up Series

September 9, 2014

It’s that slower time of year, the calm before the storm of the holiday madness. Now is a great time to get your business tuned up so you’ll be ready for the wonderful craziness that the holiday season always brings. This article is part of our “Time for a Tune Up” series to help you tune up your business practices, get ready for the holidays, and think about your business and marketing strategies, both for the rest of this year and heading into 2015.It’s not too early to start thinking ahead, and now is the time to start preparing for even more success. But first, a bit of housekeeping.

We are all in and out of our SpaBoom accounts fairly regularly, but how often do you stop and double check that all your information is correct and that everything is set up correctly. Take some time this week to check on the following information in your SpaBoom account (you can find it all under the Setup tab):

Check your contact information — You can find your contact information under the Setup Tab. From there, click on “Basics” in the left hand column. Make sure your address and phone number are correct.
Are your locations correct — If you have multiple locations, make sure they are correct as well. You don’t want to lose a sale because the wrong address is showing on your website or your second location is missing entirely. You can check those (& add new ones) under the Setup Tab, by clicking “Locations” in the left hand column.
Double check your hours — Make sure your hours are correct. This is also where you can go to change your hours if you start to run extended hours during the holiday season. You can check your hours by clicking on “Hours” in the left hand column under the Setup tab.
Who has access to SpaBoom — Double check who can access your SpaBoom account. Each person who has access to SpaBoom needs to have their own login. Nobody should be sharing one. By clicking on “Professionals” in the left hand column under the Setup tab, you can make sure your professionals are correct, add new ones, or delete old ones.
Are your services up to date — Review your service menu in SpaBoom to make sure it is up to date. You don’t want to go into the holiday season with old services that you no longer offer, or new services missing from the menu entirely. You can check your services by clicking on “Services” under the Setup tab.
Take a look at your gift certificate designs — We are updating and adding to our gift certificate design library all the time. But if you don’t go in and check the offerings, you will never see the new designs. Take a moment to check what designs you are currently offering and see if there are any additional designs you would like to add. You can check your gift certificate designs by clicking on “GC Designs” under the Setup tab.

Take some time today and double check that all of this information in your SpaBoom account is correct and up to date. It will save you lots of time and hassles down the road.

That’s it for today’s tune up. Be sure to keep an eye out for the rest of the articles in our Time for a Tune Up series, as we help you get ready for the holidays and the new year.

SpaBoom Labor Day Hours

August 27, 2014

SpaBoom will be closed on Monday, September 1st, for Labor Day. We hope that everyone will have a chance to enjoy some rest with family and friends over the long weekend!

We’ll be back bright and early on Tuesday, September 2nd, rested and ready to hear from you!

Have a safe weekend!

Your SpaBoom team

Building Brand Advocates

August 20, 2014

Successful marketing is, first and foremost, about building relationships. Building a good relationship with your clients can turn them into advocates for your brand, increasing your reach and helping you to build a solid reputation and business through referrals.

But creating brand advocates takes time and effort to not only build that client relationship but to nurture it. Here are some effective ways to build a relationship with your clients and help turn them into brand advocates for your business.

Deliver Good Customer Service
I say it all the time. Good Customer Service is the foundation of every successful business. Every experience your clients have with you should be a positive and well delivered one. From the moment they first visit your website or Facebook page, call to make an appointment (or book one online), or walk through your front door to receive their service, every moment is an opportunity to deliver a positive, and consistent, experience to your clients. That should always be the first step in building a relationship with your client. Before a client can become a brand advocate, they have to be happy with their personal experiences with your business. And if they are happy with your business, they’ll go out and tell all their friends about you.

Keep Your Clients Engaged
Keep your clients engaged on a regular basis via social media, your blog, or in email. Different people want contact in different ways, so make sure you are covering all the bases. Give them content that is interesting to them (and most definitely more than just promos or specials). Offer them expert advice, ask them questions that encourage feedback and interesting discussions, or share information about what is going on with your business and your staff. If you set yourself up as a trusted resource, your clients will start to view you as an expert, and they’ll tell all their family and friends about you as well.

Focus On Your Clients
Your clients know what they want and need from your business. So take some time out regularly to focus on what your clients need or want from your business. Regularly ask them for feedback and really listen to what they have to say. Then act on it in whatever ways work best for both your business and your clients’ needs. If your clients feel like you really care about what they think and what their needs are, they are not only going to be happier, but they’re going to go out and share that with their network of people.

It’s not a huge leap from happy customer to brand advocate. Many of the things you do everyday to help grow a successful business are the same things that can help turn happy clients into advocates for your brand. But it does require a concerted, genuine, and focused effort on your part. Building and maintaining good relationships with your clients is key to creating a successful brand, and satisfied clients who are happy to advocate on your behalf with their family and friends.

Finding Your Brand’s Voice

August 8, 2014

We all have a voice. It represents who we are as individuals. Your brand has a voice as well, based on its personality and style, and it is important for it to be a consistent voice. But, just like you don’t speak the same to everyone in our daily lives, you don’t want your brand to do so either. And that is where tone comes into play. While your voice is always a consistent one, tone changes based on both the situation and the person you are speaking to.

So let’s talk a little bit about finding your brand’s voice first and then we’ll focus on determining tones.

Your voice represents who you are as an individual. For your brand, it will represent who & what your brand is. What that voice sounds like will depend on what your brand’s personality is, and we’ve already discussed creating a personality for your brand. It represents your style and helps your brand stand out in the sea of competitors. Finding your brand’s voice goes hand in hand with finding your brand’s personality, and so the same questions will come into play again:

Describe your business or brand with one adjective. Is it luxurious, trendy, hip, upscale, contemporary, etc?
What is the spirit of your brand? If you had to define the essence of your business in one word, what would you choose?
If your brand was a person, how would you describe him/her?
Who is your audience?
How do you want people to feel about your brand?

Once you’ve defined your brand personality and voice, it’s time to think about tone. Tone is very distinct from voice and probably the most important part of communications with your clients. You would not use the same tone to speak to your three year old as you would to speak to a business leader in your community. And your brand should not be using the same tone for everyone either.

Tone is tailored to the specific situation and individual to whom you are speaking. It is the single most important thing for making your communications not only feel authentic, but also empathic. Hit the right tone with your clients and you will come across as not only relatable, but also like you fully understand not only where they are coming from, but also what they need.

Determining your different demographics is the most effective way to determine what your different tones should be. So take some time to think about the different demographics of your business and the differing situations in which you need to communicate with different groups of clients. Your communications with your VIP clients should sound very different in tone than the communications with your summer Teen Spa clients. But your brand personality and voice should shine through to both groups.

Defining your brand’s voice and tone is the single best way to humanize your brand. This means you can better communicate with your clients (& potential clients) and makes it easier to start and maintain a conversation with them. Nail those two things and you are well on your way to building a relationship with your clients.

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