massage and bodywork professionals

a community of practitioners

Marketing Advice

I'm a new massage therapist. I recently graduated in May then got certified in Ashiatsu, following that I began working at a gym. I started out doing pretty well the first two months, but the last two months have been completely dead. I have tried everything to advertise myself - I started by doing tons of chair massage (for free) to promote myself, as well as Ashiatsu demos ($5 for 15 min), I did an email blast to all of the members, I've tried doing specials and promotions, I've used the company's facebook page, I've even set up my own facebook page, but haven't had much luck.

Do any of you have suggestions or other marketing tips that seem to work? I really would like to grow my client base and venture out on my own, but am not sure how to go about doing this.

Views: 404

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jed Heneberry on September 18, 2012 at 8:53am

Heather,

What kind of specials and promotions have you done?

Here are some quick thoughts:

  • Find a study on the benefits of massage that would apply to the clientele at the gym
  • Donate short sessions to the personal trainers or other staff members so they can be your advocate to the clients
  • Offer free 15 or 30 minute sessions to new members with an opportunity to upgrade to more time for $
  • Offer packages of several massages at a discount
  • Market a massage for gym members who have upcoming events/races/games/competitions
Permalink Reply by Hannah Levy on September 18, 2012 at 1:20pm

Hi Heather,

Just to add to Jed's advice:

- along the same ideas as above, you can partner with the gym to include a discount of some sort when new members join the gym. Like a $X off one hour massage for new gym members. This way, new gym members see massage as a benefit of gym membership.

- I second Jed's advice about working on the staff and personal trainers. They should be part of your word of mouth campaign.

- maybe you can work with the gym and personal training staff to package a training and massage promotion. for example: 3 sessions of personal training and one massage session for $x. This way, you can try to reach personal training clients and appeal to them after their hard workout sessions.

- Also, it sounds like you might benefit from expanding your marketing efforts to include reaching out to non-gym members in the community. You can reach out to other local businesses and have them mention you through their social media, you can network with business owners in the community and invite them in to experience a session with you. You might even be able to arrange a referral program with the gym for them to lower your rent $x for each new gym member you refer to them. This way you are gaining clients and furthering your partnership with the gym.

- If you are a member of ABMP, you can send Body Sense magazine to your clients (free). This digital-only publication educates clients on a lifestyle of health and wellness. You can use this as a way to keep in touch with your existing clients and as a gentle reminder for them to book another session with you. www.abmp.com/bodysense

It seems as though you are doing a lot right - including email blasts and social media. Maybe the last few months of summer was just a slow time with vacations and so on. Now that the fall is approaching, hopefully your efforts will start to pay off. Good Luck and let us know how it goes!

Permalink Reply by Heather Ripley on September 25, 2012 at 7:44pm

Hi Jed,

Thank you so much for the advice, I really appreciate it. After I posted this, I ended up getting really busy at the gym. I made an Ashiatsu billboard and posted a note on it, stating that demos are $15 for 15 minutes. I initially tried giving it away, but found members were expecting a free massage. As of last weekend, I now have over 20 clients trying to schedule with me!

Thanks again...I also saw your post about trying a new modality for low back pain...you should check out Ashiatsu. It's an amazing modality. :)

Jed Heneberry said:

Heather,

What kind of specials and promotions have you done?

Here are some quick thoughts:

  • Find a study on the benefits of massage that would apply to the clientele at the gym
  • Donate short sessions to the personal trainers or other staff members so they can be your advocate to the clients
  • Offer free 15 or 30 minute sessions to new members with an opportunity to upgrade to more time for $
  • Offer packages of several massages at a discount
  • Market a massage for gym members who have upcoming events/races/games/competitions
Permalink Reply by Heather Ripley on September 25, 2012 at 7:58pm

Hi Hannah!


Wow!!!!!!! Thank you for the wonderful advice! It is all really good!! I am definitely going to look into all of your suggestions.  I have been giving the personal trainers and sales staff free demos of Ashiatsu. I also sent out an introductory letter to all of the personal trainers, giving them my cards to give to their clients, with a coupon for $10 off their initial massage. I absolutely LOVE the idea of combining personal training and massage as a package. In fact, I was working on some other ideas for packages and promotions, however our manager informed me, as well as the other LMT, that we can no longer discount massage. :( This kind of throws a wrench into my plan of trying to get clients to rebook and to attract new clients. I will be looking into seeing if it might be possible to do some massage gift packages as well as working with some local businesses as you suggested.

Thanks again!



Hannah Levy said:

Hi Heather,

Just to add to Jed's advice:

- along the same ideas as above, you can partner with the gym to include a discount of some sort when new members join the gym. Like a $X off one hour massage for new gym members. This way, new gym members see massage as a benefit of gym membership.

- I second Jed's advice about working on the staff and personal trainers. They should be part of your word of mouth campaign.

- maybe you can work with the gym and personal training staff to package a training and massage promotion. for example: 3 sessions of personal training and one massage session for $x. This way, you can try to reach personal training clients and appeal to them after their hard workout sessions.

- Also, it sounds like you might benefit from expanding your marketing efforts to include reaching out to non-gym members in the community. You can reach out to other local businesses and have them mention you through their social media, you can network with business owners in the community and invite them in to experience a session with you. You might even be able to arrange a referral program with the gym for them to lower your rent $x for each new gym member you refer to them. This way you are gaining clients and furthering your partnership with the gym.

- If you are a member of ABMP, you can send Body Sense magazine to your clients (free). This digital-only publication educates clients on a lifestyle of health and wellness. You can use this as a way to keep in touch with your existing clients and as a gentle reminder for them to book another session with you. www.abmp.com/bodysense

It seems as though you are doing a lot right - including email blasts and social media. Maybe the last few months of summer was just a slow time with vacations and so on. Now that the fall is approaching, hopefully your efforts will start to pay off. Good Luck and let us know how it goes!

Permalink Reply by Jed Heneberry on September 26, 2012 at 8:11am

Great to hear! Keep up the good work!

That's two recommendations for Ashiatsu. Looks like a winner so far.


Heather Ripley said:

Hi Jed,

Thank you so much for the advice, I really appreciate it. After I posted this, I ended up getting really busy at the gym. I made an Ashiatsu billboard and posted a note on it, stating that demos are $15 for 15 minutes. I initially tried giving it away, but found members were expecting a free massage. As of last weekend, I now have over 20 clients trying to schedule with me!

Thanks again...I also saw your post about trying a new modality for low back pain...you should check out Ashiatsu. It's an amazing modality. :)

Jed Heneberry said:

Heather,

What kind of specials and promotions have you done?

Here are some quick thoughts:

  • Find a study on the benefits of massage that would apply to the clientele at the gym
  • Donate short sessions to the personal trainers or other staff members so they can be your advocate to the clients
  • Offer free 15 or 30 minute sessions to new members with an opportunity to upgrade to more time for $
  • Offer packages of several massages at a discount
  • Market a massage for gym members who have upcoming events/races/games/competitions
Permalink Reply by Toni Picone on October 1, 2012 at 1:46pm

I have a co-op  with a local boxing/kickboxing/mauy thai gym as part of their new membership package they get one free 1/2 hour session of Thai Massage right at the gym in the boxing ring. I schedule the free sessions at the gym's busy times and always get members asking me what I am doing and wanting a massage. I have a "Friends and Family" promotion for members and their families. I am now working with the Golden Gloves Champion in my state with cross promotion. I offer his team and members of his gym the same free 1/2 hour session and rate. I have space on the back of my cards and use that space for offering specials and promotions along with a newsletter geared towards fitness and massage which has a promotions section I use as a coupon for discounts to my business. The cards serve as gift certificates as the client has to bring me the card to get the promotion as well as advertising my website and contact info. 

I see that some of the other advice has been working for you. Good luck in all that you do.  

▶ Reply to Discussion

RSS

© 2024   Created by ABMP.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

Sign in to chat!