No longer the exception, most of us are using mobile phones to conduct day-to-day activities from looking for products and services, booking appointments, and getting advice. If your spa or massage practice isn’t ‘mobile’ these days, you’re missing opportunities. Find out some of the key ways to mobilize your practice to boost customer engagement and profits.
Has your spa or massage practice gone mobile? It’s time you did.
If you want to be where your spa and massage practice clients and prospects are a good part of the day, you need to go mobile. The Pew Research Internet Project reports that 63 percent of cell phone owners use their phones to access the Internet as of May of last year. Another 34 percent mostly go online using their phones and not other devices such as their desktop or laptops.
With your clients increasingly relying on their mobile devices to access the Internet for activities beyond sending and receiving a text or email - 49 percent get directions, recommendations, and other location-based information - optimizing your marketing and customer relations is no longer an option.
Start with your Website
Your mobile strategy should begin with your website. Use Google Analytics to see how many visitors are already coming to our site from a mobile device to check on services, special promotions, or retail product availability. Take a look at your site from a mobile device to understand your experience you are providing mobile users. Text-heavy content requires visitors to zoom and scan continuously to read everything. Busy design and challenging navigation can drive visitors away. Better to develop a mobile-optimized website for viewing in a mobile browser on the smaller screens of mobile phones and tablets. A mobile website features a simplified design that emphasizes visuals over text, fast page loads, and the ability to book a reservation, purchase a product or sign up for specials in just a few steps.
Get Local
While you are optimizing your site, be sure to keep content local. Mobile users, as noted above, frequently perform local searches. Optimize your mobile website for your local zip codes and neighborhood names. Make sure to include your address, a local map, and directions to your spa or massage practice. Also, check to see that your business comes up on Google Map, Yelp, and other popular geographical search results so mobile users can find you.
Mobile App aids Interaction
A mobile app is something else you might want to consider as part of your mobile strategy. The app sits on a mobile device's home screen, enabling your clients to access it freely.
Apps make it easier to reward loyal customers, too, since you can easily offer exclusives or specials to clients who use the app to rebook or order products.
Mobile Operations
Mobile apps also can help you run your operations, which can boost client relationships. Cloud-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems mean you can look up a client’s record from anywhere on your mobile device to answer a question or advise a team member on a product to use for a massage or skin treatment. You can take payments from a mobile device, which can be particularly useful if you plan a mobile massage at an event or client site. You even can be out of the office and conduct a video chat with your team if something comes up, and face-to-face communication will help resolve the issue.
Look at your spa or massage practice and decide how to mobilize it for improved marketing, customer relations, and business efficiency. Your clients and your business are counting on it.