Imagine a potential patient stumbling across your med spa’s website or social media account for the first time and immediately booking an appointment. Sounds great, right? Unfortunately, it’s rarely that simple. While this scenario may happen every once and a while, the truth is, new patients almost always need MULTIPLE interactions and more information before committing to your practice.

Instead of hoping that primed patients magically appear, your med spa needs a targeted marketing strategy that meets prospective patients at their current level of interest and awareness. It also needs to guide them to investigate or commit further.  This is where the aesthetics marketing funnel comes into play.

Whether it is their first time hearing about your practice or they have considered you in the past, the marketing funnel can help would-be-patients progress along the path to booking with your aesthetic practice.

We’ll begin by looking at a breakdown of the marketing funnel.
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A marketing funnel is a framework that maps a patient’s progression through graduating awareness stages of your practice. It guides a patient from their first impressions through conversion.

The three main stages of the marketing funnel are awareness, consideration, and conversion. The needs of your potential patients are different at each stage.  Because of this, you will need to first decide what stage you are targeting, before determining what marketing strategies will be most effective.

We will go over the three funnel stages, discuss the type of patient in each stage, and suggest how you can tailor your marketing to guide prospects down the funnel to booking. 

The top of the funnel, the widest marketing pool, generally focuses on patients' initial interactions with your practice.  This stage is completely focused on building brand awareness. It should present your practice as a promising solution to your potential patients’ aesthetic needs. 

Marketing at this stage should paint a scenario of patients in a “need state.”  Your services should be presented as a potential cure. Your presentation needs to be attention-grabbing, whether you go with an entertaining or emotional approach.

Video content is GOLD at this level. Your social media marketing needs to be fine tuned to show quick snippets of patients' stories and their positive results. Videos made for TikTok or Instagram can often be repurposed to other channels such as your website.
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Make sure to build your content to prominently display your med spa’s name/logo. You’ve done your job if viewers come away with an impression of your med spa’s brand and personality. 

Remember, well-executed top-of-the-funnel marketing builds recognition, trust, and brand awareness, not necessarily immediate bookings.

The next level of your funnel narrows down to focus on potential patients in the consideration phase. Already somewhat aware of your practice through the top funnel, this group is primed to receive more specifics about your services. 

Prospective patients at this level are looking for further information about your practice. They want to know more about your services. They want a view into your practice. They want to see how you compare to other practices in your market.

A targeted email campaign can be the perfect channel for this stage of the funnel. After potential patients have opted-in, you can send out a series of educational emails that detail specific treatments, introduce your injectors and highlight their specialties, or provide other informative content. Emails are ideal as they allow space for more information than other channels, while still remaining visually pleasing and easily digestible.
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Your marketing in the consideration stage should aim to set you apart from your competitors. It should highlight your services and encourage would-be patients to learn more about how your practice can help them.

Potential Patients who have made it to this final conversion level of the funnel are primed for action. They are likely ready to set up a virtual consult, book over the phone, or come into your practice. 

The conversion stage should encourage immediate action. These marketing ads should contain clear calls to action with easy links to book, straightforward information forms, or a number to call. 

Do all you can to help your patients through any remaining barriers or reservations.  Promotional offers, discounts, or creative incentives can be a deciding factor at this point. Limited-time promotions can be especially effective as they give patients an incentive to book NOW. 

Patients still not ready to come in to your practice? Complimentary virtual consults can remove travel barriers or nerves they might have about physically coming into your practice.
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Don’t miss out on opportunities to convert new patients. When potential patients have reached the conversion stage, give them every opportunity to book with your practice!

If a patient has moved down the funnel through the awareness, consideration, and conversion stages, you may think your work is done. However, experienced practices know the importance of continuing marketing efforts within your existing patient base. 

At this stage, your marketing should aim to keep your patients engaged and regularly rebooking.

For example, you can keep your practice at the forefront of your patients' minds with a timely email or text. Regularly send promotional offers on services patients would likely be interested in. For example, a quick marketing text letting your patient know about a holiday sale can be all it takes to get your patient back it to your aesthetics practice. 
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Even better, encourage your patients to become ambassadors for your practice. Ask and incentivize patients to post about your practice on their social accounts and write reviews to build your online reputation.  Remember, word of mouth recommendations go further than any other marketing effort.
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Lastly, keep your patient community thriving by regularly posting patient content, discussion questions, and contests/promotions on your social accounts. 

The marketing funnel doesn’t end with your patient’s initial booking. Keep your patients engaged through continuing marketing efforts.  

You wouldn’t expect blindly thrown marketing darts to bring in new patients. Instead, strategically use the marketing funnel to coordinate your marketing efforts.

By learning and utilizing each stage (awareness, consideration, and conversion) you can meet potential patients exactly where they are and help them progress to the next level of commitment. Enjoy increased revenue and bookings for your practice through effective use of the aesthetics marketing funnel.