Everything about your spa or massage practice contributes to your brand building. Your skills, your value proposition, and the impression you leave on others come together to convey an image of you and your business. If you ask long-term clients why they return year after year, you will find that underlying their loyalty is an emotional connection to you and your business based on their value of and belief in your brand.
Because a key component of brand building is your expertise as a professional massage therapist, you want to highlight your skills as often as you can. Doing so will solidify your position in the market and attract clients seeking what you offer. As an example, if innovative expertise is part of your brand identity, convey that in your messaging and your marketing materials. If you specialize in treating a certain medical or health condition, build that message into your brand identity.
Take steps to establish your expertise
Here are things you can easily do to highlight your knowledge as part of your brand-building strategy and give yourself and your spa or massage practice local visibility and enhanced credibility:
Volunteer your time: Investigate local events to volunteer your service as part of your brand-building strategy. For example, you could volunteer at athletic events, such as a race or triathlon. A massage before or after the athletic event helps participating athletes energize at the beginning, improve their performance, or re-energize. Contact the event coordinator to offer your services. You can set up a pop-up booth at the event and provide on-site massage services to the athletes. You can also offer your services by setting up a chair massage service or any other massage services at trade shows, expos, and health fairs.
Seek speaking opportunities: Not for profit and business organizations often look for speakers for their meetings. Search for organizations where topics related to health care, for example, will be relevant. As an example, a talk on the value of massage to help alleviate stress might be an interesting topic for a local business group. The purpose of the talk is not to sell your services but to suggest massage therapy as a way for individuals or company owners and managers to ensure the well-being of their teams. Provide tips on how companies can start in house wellness programs.
Start a blog: Blogging can be a key component of your brand building strategy. Start a blog and post something at least once a week. Your blog can focus on aspects of your treatments, changes in user preferences, case studies of clients you have helped, the value of various ingredients, and trends in the industry. Invite followers on Facebook and other social channels to sign up to receive notifications of new posts and provide links to your latest posts on other social channels. If you do not want to maintain your own blog, look for opportunities to contribute to other blogs as well as comment on posts where you have relevant information to offer.
Create a YouTube channel: It is not difficult to create short videos about your treatments and post them on a YouTube channel. Once your channel is set up, promote the videos on social channels and on your website for even greater visibility (See BIOTONE YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/BIOTONEprofessional.)
Write letters to the editor: If something related to health care appears in the newspaper, write a letter to the editor responding to the article, adding more information to educate readers. Regarding skin care, you might want to offer perspective on the use of sunscreens during the hot months of the year, for example.
Write an e-book: While authoring a book may seem like work, consider all the knowledge you have about your profession. It is easy to produce your own e-book these days. Your e-book can provide advice or teach readers how to do something for their own health and wellness. Promote your book through online channels and notify clients and prospects about it through email marketing. Make the book available for downloading on your website.
Be on podcasts: Look for podcasts that are relevant to your expertise. Send an email offering to be a guest and describe what you would like to talk about. Let your followers on social media and your clients know via email that you are going to be on show, providing the date and time.
Host webinars: Host webinars where you talk about a topic or invite guests to give a speech or interview them. Offer events for free and invite clients and followers to participate.
Your professional expertise can be a key piece of your brand-building strategy. Try one or more of these recommended ways to find out which one best suit your needs, preferences, and your time.