Operating a medical spa in 2023 involves more than the standard combination of medical training and therapeutic prowess. Today, running this kind of business also means competing for customers in the online space. This is not always a familiar or comfortable challenge for therapists and medical professionals and can often seem daunting. The good news, however, is that modern methods of lead generation offer tremendous opportunities to attract customers and expand business.
Keep reading to find out how spa operators can implement medical spa marketing in Los Angeles’s competitive environment. We’ll cover specific strategies related to lead generation and will demonstrate how a medical spa operator can successfully convert new patients from the digital space.
Understanding Your Target Audience
The first step is to develop a firm understanding of customer profiles. For a business owner exploring medical spa marketing in Los Angeles, this means determining what makes a local consumer a prospective patient or client. From there, you’ll need to figure out how to target and reach those consumers through online lead generation efforts.
The following steps will help you identify and better understand your target audience:
- Assess Existing Client Base: The most efficient step is to assess and/or interview an existing client base. This helps an owner gain an understanding of what has already attracted customers. When conducting medical spa marketing in Los Angeles, this means analyzing and/or interviewing locals who have already benefited from your business and may profile similarly to others in the area.
- Assess Competitor Clients: Interviewing may not be an option when it comes to competitors’ clients. Nevertheless, do your due diligence to research what’s available to you so you can develop customer profiles based on these clients as well.
- Conduct Market Research: Market research can take many forms. Even simple surveys can be used to determine what clients are looking for in a Los Angeles medical spa. This information can, in turn, be used to profile potential targets for lead generation.
- Examine Existing Marketing Metrics: If a spa operator has already implemented lead generation efforts online, they may then be able to examine related metrics. This will reveal which targets are leading to conversions and help to hone your strategy.
- Eliminate: It is also crucial to eliminate clear non-targets. This helps to narrow down potential client pools.
These strategies all help to clarify your target audience. In turn, this makes it easier to implement the following strategies for effective medical spa marketing in Los Angeles and, ultimately, lead generation.
Strategy 1: Website Optimization
Website optimization is so important and often overlooked. Any medical spa seeking to attract clients should have a well-designed, responsive website that is easy for new users to navigate. This website should also employ the following best practices:
- Site Speed: Speed should be monitored and improved wherever possible.
- UX: Website user experience should be smooth and intuitive. Page navigation and conversion should be simple.
- SEO: Various aspects of a website can be optimized for purposes of search engine optimization. HTML should display clear hierarchies; pages should convey authority; keywords should relate strategically to medical spa marketing in Los Angeles.
Strategy 2: Content Marketing
Another key strategy for medical spa marketing in Los Angeles is content marketing. This is less technical than other forms of lead generation but can be very effective. By crafting authoritative, informative content, a spa can establish itself as a trusted option for clients. This builds and strengthens relationships and can also make a business more attractive to search engines.
The content itself can take many forms, from blog posts and infographics to videos and podcasts. The following are examples of content that can be used for marketing a medical spa in Los Angeles:
- Blog post on the trendiness of medical spa services in the Los Angeles area
- Infographics displaying assorted treatments and related benefits
- Videos showing treatments being conducted by skilled professionals
- Podcasts in which trained therapists are interviewed about their work
Strategy 3: Social Media Marketing
Social media platforms have also become crucial tools in lead generation. Through these platforms, medical spa operators in Los Angeles can showcase information about their spa directly to target audiences in specific, strategic ways. This can drive up interest and, in many cases, yield direct conversions.
The following are just some effective tips for leveraging popular platforms:
- Instagram: Post stories often. This helps to show the latest updates and keep a business at the top of users’ feeds.
- Facebook: Start a Facebook Group. This remains an excellent way to develop an online community surrounding a business.
- X (formerly known as Twitter): Engage. X is often considered the most conversational of the leading networks and is thus a place for businesses and brands to interact frequently with clients and potential clients.
- Pinterest: Show, show, show. Pinterest is all about the visuals. While it’s often associated with artistic inspiration and retail shopping, it can also help a medical spa display before and after photos as well as beautiful spots in and around your spa that potential clients can take an interest in.
Strategy 4: Email Marketing
An effective email marketing campaign can have a myriad of benefits. It can generate leads directly. It can generate feedback from clients and can also communicate business-related updates. To effectively implement email marketing campaigns, medical spas in Los Angeles will need to accomplish two goals. They’ll need to build a list of recipients and learn the art of the newsletter.
Building an email list is best done via the following methods:
- Ask clients for emails on-site.
- Place sign-up buttons on social media profiles and the website.
- Place sign-up buttons at digital checkout points.
- Advertise the email and newsletters.
Creating an engaging newsletter on a specific schedule is a more time-intensive process. That said, most effective business newsletters are worth it because they meet the following criteria:
- Each newsletter serves a specific purpose.
- The content is concise but engaging.
- The newsletter is styled attractively, easy to read and follow, and visually appealing.
- It follows a regular delivery schedule but is never spammy or overwhelming.
Strategy 5: Paid Advertising
Paid advertising is another viable strategy for medical spa marketing in Los Angeles. It will most commonly take one of two forms: PPC (“pay-per-click”) or social media ads.
A PPC campaign is one in which the advertiser –– in this case, the medical spa marketing manager –– posts an ad that directs visitors straight to a business website. The advertiser pays the platform hosting the ad for each click that the ad generates. A PPC campaign should be set up and optimized with careful consideration of a target audience and relevant keywords for ad content.
Social media ad campaigns vary somewhat depending on the platform being used. Broadly, they allow advertisers to pay for ad placement directed at specific target audiences and demographics. The ads can be optimized for specific users and direct them to take action.
Strategy 6: Local SEO & Google Business Profile
Local SEO is a strategy designed to help a brick-and-mortar business become visible to local consumers online. A spa operator or healthcare practitioner marketing a medical spa in Los Angeles will only benefit from broad, general SEO. With a local SEO approach, however, that same operator or practitioner can ensure that they are reaching a local audience of potential clients.
The best approach to local SEO is to set up a Google Business Profile account. Every business with an online presence has a profile. This is a term for how a search engine presents a business listing. With a Google Business Profile account, the business owner gains the ability to shape the Business Profile and optimize it to generate local leads.
Through Google Business Profile, a practitioner marketing a medical spa in Los Angeles can optimize the following features:
- Business name as it appears in searches
- Business location
- Visuals associated with the business
- Reviews appearing alongside the business listing
Strategy 7: Online Reviews and Testimonials
A medical spa with an online presence should make it easy for visitors to see reviews from past clients. This serves as a form of transparency that builds trust with clients. Additionally, positive reviews can be powerful tools for generating new leads.
To encourage positive reviews when marketing a medical spa in Los Angeles, you should reach out to existing and past clients and encourage them to share their thoughts on their experiences. It’s also common to offer incentives to customers who leave reviews (such as small discounts on future services).
It’s also important to have a strategy for managing negative reviews. The best practice is to respond directly to them. With a personal, empathetic response, a business can demonstrate that negative feedback is taken seriously and that it will be used to improve service. This will make a positive impression on prospective clients by demonstrating that the business cares.
Strategy 8: Referral Programs
While less technical, word-of-mouth advertising is still a powerful tool. It’s a free way to generate a loyal client base that will, in turn, spread positive insights about your brand.
Word-of-mouth advertising, by nature, cannot be directly engineered or controlled. By setting up an effective referral program, however, a spa operator marketing a medical spa in Los Angeles can incentivize local word-of-mouth outreach.
An effective referral program begins with a template. This is something a medical spa can provide to existing clients that makes it easy for those clients to share their experiences with their own networks. In exchange, incentives can be offered to the clients making the referrals.
Measuring the Success of Your Lead Generation Strategies
Any of the above-listed strategies will help with marketing a medical spa in Los Angeles. To get the most out of each strategy, it’s important to monitor their effectiveness and adjust your strategies accordingly. This will allow business owners to understand where leads are coming from and which strategies are most helpful.
While each strategy involves its own processes for measuring success, the following are some key metrics to track:
- Bounce Rate: How often a user visits a website and leaves without further engagement
- Number of Leads: How many leads are generated by a given strategy
- Engagement: Determining how targeted consumers interact with online content
- Conversion Rate: Percentage of web visitors that take action on a site
- Customer Acquisition Cost: How much is being spent per each lead generated
Key Takeaways
The eight lead generation strategies described above are proven ways to attract new clients. They work in different ways and require different methods of optimization. Altogether though, they can give a brick-and-mortar business such as a medical spa an edge in attracting business through digital platforms.
If you're marketing a medical spa in Los Angeles and need assistance with any or all of these strategies, contact Digital Standout today. We’ll help you generate more leads and ultimately grow your client base.