The Massage Marketing Connection

The newest advertising trend today is the daily deal. In the US there are several large daily deal companies the two largest national brands are www.Groupon.com and www.LivingSocial.com. Many cities have their own smaller daily deal companies – in Denver we have www.weeklydeals.com, Los Angeles has www.SocialBuy.com.

The premise for all daily deal companies is the same…they act on the long used marketing technique of “you have to act fast to save money”. The deal is only available for a limited time (usually one day) and the company must sell a minimum number of the deal on the same day in order for you to share in the deal. This encourages purchasers to share the deal with a friend which virally spreads the daily deal concept to other like-minded individuals.

Groupon is the most successful of the companies so let’s use it to explore how the daily deal works…

About Groupon

Groupon, which derives from “group coupon”, is currently the fastest growing company in web history. The Groupon business model is simple, it shares a large discount (50% – 90%) with its’ online audience on a product or service in a local community.

As I’m writing this article the Groupon deal today in Denver is for laser hair removal: $99 for 4 zones— normally a $345 value. I received this information through an email I receive every morning. As you will see I am the typical Groupon customer: female, single and employed. Over the past few months I’ve purchased restaurant coupons, white water rafting adventures and discounts at a local furniture store to name a few things. The typical Living Social demographic is similar, with a slightly older average age of 35-49.

Demographics and your health care business

According to Groupon their demographics are mostly single women that work and have a fairly decent income. Of their typical subscribers 70% make over 50K and 30% make over 100K. According to their website Groupon has a high percentage of users, 68%, that are 18-34 years of age and 18% are 35-44. It’s a younger demographic and may not be the right fit for all healthcare providers. The Groupon clients are also highly educated. 50% have a bachelor’s degree and 30% a graduate degree.

Groupon also states that their readers are socially active online and off. They use Facebook and twitter regularly and 50% go out twice a week or more. 66% also state they use Groupon primarily as guide to explore their city. As an example I tried a vegetarian restaurant with my kids she may not have otherwise tried. Who can pass up a ½ price offer? Not me!

According to an article I read in Forbes magazine (August 30, 2010), one of Groupon’s most lucrative sales was a 90-minute hot stone massage at SpellBound BodyWork in Chicago. The retail price was $220, Groupon price $55 (great deal!), they sold 4,960. Groupon also states that users generally spend 60% more than the value of the Groupon – which is a big plus considering Groupon gets on average 50% of the sale.

Marketing Benefits for your massage practice

While companies are unlikely to make millions off of the initial Groupon sale, they do get exposure to thousands of local folks they may never have before. As a consumer you’ll save 50-90% off regular retail price, as a vendor you’ll get your name in front of thousands of locals you may otherwise never reach. Here are a few other benefits for healthcare practitioners using daily deals to promote their practice:

• Groupon naturally increases word-of-mouth referrals. If you see a good deal you copy all your friends on it to make sure everyone gets it together, and they do the same for you. Groupon has a built-in reward system that encourages purchasers to share the deal with friends (you get 10 groupon bucks for every friend you recommend a deal to that purchases).
• Exposure to tens of thousands of local prospects you may not have otherwise met.
• No up-front costs. Unlike many other marketing opportunities with Groupon you are not asked for money up front. This can be a perfect opportunity to market your business if you are short on cash. However, Groupon doesn’t promote just anybody. They only take companies they know will sell well so it’s important you put a good package together when approaching them.

Tips from a top-seller – Spellbound Bodyworks in Chicago

I spoke with Elle Rodriguez, owner of SpellBound Bodyworks in Chicago, about her phenomenal success using Groupon.com. She told me she had a positive experience with the Groupon campaign and does recommend it for other practitioners. “The key to making the campaign a success”, she shares, “is in retention. And you retain clients by providing the BEST service to the Groupon clients you can”. She says being able to project and balance the Groupon clients with your existing client base is a key factor to success as well as ensuring you are prepared for the volume and don’t bite off more than you can chew (she sold close to 5000 Groupons). Booking the Groupon clients during specific days and times helped her to manage the flow.

Rodriguez shares that she sees some employees of businesses treating Groupon clients with less respect than traditional clients because their services are discounted so much. “If the main attraction to Groupon is retaining new clients, having a phenomenal experience with you is key to having a successful campaign”, says Rodriguez. “Keep your staff motivated and positive and have a proactive attitude.” Rodriguez recommends practitioners know their costs and come at the campaign with client retention in mind. Many of her Groupon clients have rebooked and purchased items during their visit and she highly recommends the Groupon service to other healthcare practitioners.

No one likes to miss a good sale. However, businesses I’ve spoken to are strategic about what they offer on Groupon. What do you have that doesn’t cost you a lot of money or that has a high mark-up? Be strategic about what and how you discount and don’t lose your shirt in the process by over incenting or not having a strategy in place to retain clients.  Spellbound body works offered discounts on a hot-stone massage. Something a little different people may want to try that doesn’t have a high-cost to serve.

About the author

Founder of A Marketing Connection and The Copywriting Institute, Kelly Robbins, MA, is an award winning author, copywriter and healthcare marketing coach/consultant. Kelly is a blogger for both Chiropractic Economics and Massage Magazine and is the author of Marketing 101: Why Successful Alternative Healthcare Practitioners Specialize as well as co-author of The Practice Evolution Success Kit. She also publishes The Healthcare Marketing Connection, a free e-zine on healthcare marketing tips. Contact Kelly to receive her free report, “5 Critical Mistakes Healthcare Marketers Make that Lose Sales and Plummet Profits” at www.AMarketingConnection.com or 303-460-0285.

A few weeks ago I did a marketing workshop for the Colorado Chiropractic Association. We discussed tried and true marketing strategies as well as some of the newer methods of connecting with people such as Facebook and SEO marketing. Many of the attendees shared what was working for them and what wasn’t in today’s market.

As a marketer, I am a firm believer that every business needs a clear understanding of their target market. Choosing a niche or specialty to market to is the foundation of any good marketing. We talked about this quite a bit in the workshop. I believe the right niche contains a group of people you are passionate about helping and you enjoy learning as much as you can about their problems and needs. Your niche should also be large enough to support you, has plenty of room for growth, and you thoroughly enjoy working in it. Your passion in serving this niche plays a huge role in your success and is the place I see many practitioners struggle.

Most practitioners just don’t have a niche – which makes their marketing ineffective and costly.

In lieu of choosing a niche I am seeing practitioners

1. Put pressure on themselves and almost try too hard to make things happen
2. Are afraid to choose a niche because they are fearful they are turning away business that they could be earning
3. Aren’t sure what they are passionate about and just keep floating from here to there without putting roots down and nurturing their practice.

After targeting a niche traditional marketing then takes several next steps including completing a competitive analysis, researching your competition, finding a “competitive advantage” and then differentiating yourself from these competitors you’ve identified.

In actuality this competitive analysis contradicts what I also teach – that you should just be you and not worry about what everyone else is doing. Concentrate on discovering and being your authentic self and serving the people you are meant to serve rather than looking at what everyone else is doing and comparing your practice to theirs.

Practitioners that have successfully specialized or chosen a niche will tell you their niche is filled with people that they naturally connect with – people that love them and tell everyone they know how great they are.

I wanted to share this today because one of the chiropractors at the workshop I did called me out on this during the workshop. She has a very successful practice and reiterated the fact that she built her business not based on what everyone else (her competitors) were doing, but on what was right for her. And it worked. She said I was contradicting myself when I brought up competitive information, which I had done several times.

What’s right and what’s wrong? Is it wise to look at your competition when you are choosing a niche, specializing, or marketing your practice? Should you not pay any attention to what everyone else is doing and just do what’s right for you?

If you ask naturopathic physician (ND) Catherine Darley that specializes in sleep disorders she’d tell you she’s always been fascinated with sleep. The naturopathic way of treating sleep disorders was a natural step in her growth.

She didn’t investigate who else specialized in sleep disorders or what practices around the country were doing this in a naturopathic way. She just did what felt right to her and MADE it successful. Her passion and enthusiasm for sleep disorders is contagious to everyone that comes in contact with her.

What’s slowing down the success of most massage therapists?

The number one thing that was slowing down the success of the chiropractors that attended my marketing workshop was not having a clear idea of who their target market was and how to reach them. I can say the same is true for massage therapists as well.

I’ve done something to help you with this.  I’ve created a coaching and marketing package just to help you get that first most important part of your marketing down, the niche. The package includes:

• Ebook Marketing 101: Why alternative health practitioners specialize
• One hour mp3 recording of a previous teleseminar on choosing a niche.
• Individual workbook to help you uncover your niche
• Two, one-hour coaching calls with Kelly Robbins

You can sign-up for the Practice Specialization Package by clicking here or giving us a call at 303-460-0285.

About the author

Founder of A Marketing Connection and The Copywriting Institute, Kelly Robbins, MA, is an award winning author, copywriter and healthcare marketing coach/consultant. Kelly is a blogger for both Chiropractic Economics and Massage Magazine and is the author of Marketing 101: Why Successful Alternative Healthcare Practitioners Specialize as well as co-author of The Practice Evolution Success Kit. She also publishes The Healthcare Marketing Connection, a free e-zine on healthcare marketing tips. Contact Kelly to receive her free report, “5 Critical Mistakes Healthcare Marketers Make that Lose Sales and Plummet Profits” at www.AMarketingConnection.com or 303-460-0285.

Putting “emotion” into your massage therapy marketing is something that most marketers don’t talk about. It’s not always the easiest or most natural thing to do. The natural thing to do is for you to talk and sell to your prospects logically. We usually do this by talking about our features.

Your sales massage therapys messages should talk to your prospects like you would talk to a friend. In an advertisement, newsletter, or other mass communication you may not be able to call your prospect by their name, but there are other ways to “talk” to the reader in a more personal tone.

Here are a few different ways you can put emotion into your massage marketing messages:

1. Don’t talk corporate speak. Use terms like “you” and “your” rather than “the”. For example, “your coffee” versus “the coffee”. Be a person! People want to deal with people – particularly when it comes to their health – not a large, cold, impersonal corporation. Be human.

1. Know clearly who you are talking to in your advertisements. Picture one specific person you are talking to, not all of the people reading the ad. I tell my copywriting students to actually put a photo of this person (their ideal client) on the monitor while they’re typing so they remember to talk to that one person. The picture helps you stay focused. You are more likely to make a connection talking to one person than a group.

1. Talk to your customers and prospects like you would a friend. Be conversational. One way to check your copy is to read it out loud. Does it sound like you talk or does it sound like you write? These are different. In school we are taught to “write” scholarly, not conversationally. Throw everything you learned out the window when you are marketing – write like you talk.

1. Let your personality shine through. It’s ok to be different – people like you for it. People “see” you because of it. If you like to travel, have three crazy kids, or love bungee jumping – share that with your readers. Your personality will make you stand out from the other 3,000 advertisements your readers are exposed to each day. I say it again, be human – not a company.

1. Talk about the benefits of your services, not the features. Benefits tend to be more emotional versus features which are logical. People buy based on emotion, not logic. While it is important you include logical reasons in your advertisement to justify a purchase that should be a small part of the actual selling you do. Talk to prospect’s emotions by addressing the benefits your services provide. Talk emotionally about how it will help them, not intellectually about how seeing you is the right decision.

Putting emotion into your massage marketing is an important part of making a true connection with readers and allowing prospects to know who you really are and what you stand for. As you know, when it comes to their health people are particularly looking for someone they connect with. Be that person! Look through some of your existing ads and see how well you’ve done.

About the author

Founder of A Marketing Connection and The Copywriting Institute, Kelly Robbins, MA, is an award winning author, copywriter and healthcare marketing coach/consultant. Kelly is a blogger for both ChiroEco and MassageMagazine and is the author of Marketing 101: Why Successful Alternative Healthcare Practitioners Specialize as well as co-author of The Practice Evolution Success Kit. She also publishes The Healthcare Marketing Connection, a free e-zine on healthcare marketing tips. Contact Kelly to receive her free report, “5 Critical Mistakes Healthcare Marketers Make that Lose Sales and Plummet Profits” at www.AMarketingConnection.com or 303-460-0285.

We consist of four things: Our mental self, our emotional self, our spiritual self, and our physical self. To make a change, to shift a belief, or to touch a life, we must connect with all four aspects of a patient.

Simply throwing facts and statistics at a massage client is not going to motivate them to change a behavior – no matter how harmful that behavior is, or how beneficial making the change will be. Showing clients an x-ray alone or discussing why their energy is not flowing optimally will most likely not change a behavior, at least for the long-term.

To change a massage therapy client’s harmful behavior the massage therapist must connect with the patient on all four levels; mental, emotional, spiritual, physical.

Many of us may share an x-ray with a patient and show them how their low back pain (or whatever applies to your practice) is blocking the flow of energy – causing the physical experiences they are having. Showing the client the x-ray is fine, but you must take that to the next level. Explain to them how this blockage is what’s causing them to miss out on baseball games with their kids or preventing them from fully enjoying their work or missing out on opportunities in life.

As massage therapists, your words or the x-ray may make a strong connection for us simply because of who we are – it doesn’t necessarily cause a connection with the majority of our clients. You have to take that a step further and connect with them on another level.

There are several ways you can do this:

• Tell them verbally

• Have them touch and feel something such as an anatomical model. Use metaphors and dramatizations to actively involve the client.

• Provide them with handouts or written materials explaining their condition so they can digest the information at a later time and possibly research the information online later.

• Have them move if they are experiencing physical symptoms. If they have a hard time standing on one leg because of lower back pain, have them stand on one leg so they experience the pain again. The pain reinforces the message you are giving them.

• Have them repeat specific messages you want them to walk away with. THEY have to say it, not just listen to you.

Finally, for you to be present in all four quadrants I recommend you empty yourself before you do a treatment to allow spirit to work through you. Empty yourself so your beliefs and problems are not in the way – allowing you to fully serve.

If you experience problems with massage clients coming in for an appointment or two and then not coming back, it may be because you are not connecting with them on all four levels. Try incorporating these techniques and see what a difference they make.

About the author

Founder of A Marketing Connection and The Copywriting Institute, Kelly Robbins, MA, is an award winning author, copywriter and healthcare marketing coach/consultant. Kelly is a blogger for both ChiroEco and MassageMagazine and is the author of Marketing 101: Why Successful Alternative Healthcare Practitioners Specialize as well as co-author of The Practice Evolution Success Kit. She also publishes The Healthcare Marketing Connection, a free e-zine on healthcare marketing tips. Contact Kelly to receive her free report, “5 Critical Mistakes Healthcare Marketers Make that Lose Sales and Plummet Profits” at www.AMarketingConnection.com or 303-460-0285.

….Just be sure you learn from them

We all make mistakes, both in our business and our personal lives. In fact, we skiers in Colorado often ask each other how much we fell. Because “if you didn’t fall you’re not trying hard enough” when skiing.

I think the same holds true in marketing your massage therapy practice.

Take chances – it’s ok to make a mistake. Oftentimes it’s the best way to learn.

I am currently reading The Million Dollar Consultant by Alan Weiss. Here is what he has to say about learning from setbacks:

“You win some and you lose some. The best baseball hitters are successful about one-third of the time. The best golfers win perhaps one of every 15 tournaments they enter. Abraham Lincoln lost more elections than he won. The finest salespeople probably close about two sales of every 10 legitimate meetings.”

I find it’s easy to see the mistakes you make and dwell on them. I see some people kicking themselves or their employees and spending weeks worrying about the consequences. Dwelling on the “what if’s”. You have to let go of them and move on.  So what if no one came to a talk you gave? Don’t do it again.  Pick a different location or topic next time.

Weiss tells us “the key, of course, is not to make the same mistake twice. Whether you swing at a wild pitch, hit the tee shot into the water, lose the election through poor debating, or lose the sale through lack of preparation about the competition, the idea is to lessen the chances that the same cause will produce the same result the next time.”

The lesson here is to take chances when marketing your massage therapy practice. If you get an idea try it. You never know unless you try.

What this does NOT mean is that you should purchase advertising space or give talks and not measure and track your results. If it’s not working stop doing it. Like many things in life, such as starting a massage therapy practice, there are no guarantees.

Especially in marketing, it’s important to try new things and pursue new ventures. If it doesn’t work – stop doing it and try something else. If something is working – tweak it and see if you can get it to work better!

If you don’t try, you fail no matter what, especially when it comes to growing your massage therapy practice and healing patients.

About the author

Founder of A Marketing Connection and The Copywriting Institute, Kelly Robbins, MA, is an award winning author, copywriter and healthcare marketing coach/consultant. Kelly is a blogger for both ChiroEco and MassageMagazine and is the author of Marketing 101: Why Successful Alternative Healthcare Practitioners Specialize as well as co-author of The Practice Evolution Success Kit. She also publishes The Healthcare Marketing Connection, a free e-zine on healthcare marketing tips. Contact Kelly to receive her free report, “5 Critical Mistakes Healthcare Marketers Make that Lose Sales and Plummet Profits” at www.AMarketingConnection.com or 303-460-0285.