Whether you are an individual practitioner, med spa owner, or med spa professional, increasing the number of clients you see and retain takes time, effort, and strategy. Regardless of your strategy, there are still potential mistakes that your med spa could be making that could be costing you more patient acquisition, and ultimately, more revenue. In this article, we detail five key mistakes your med spa could be making that could be preventing you from reaching your revenue and patient acquisition goals.

You’re hiring the wrong people and not investing in your staff

Your med spa’s success begins within your practice structure. Consider factors like:

• Staff: An amazing staff is one of the biggest indicators of med spa success. Both your administrative staff and treatment providers should be an integral part of reaching your practice goals. This begins with staff being knowledgeable of treatments, providing exceptional service, and guiding the patient throughout their med spa experience. Invest in your staff by providing them with the gold standard in training for treatments like injectables.
• Consultation: The importance of a client consultation cannot be understated. The consultation allows you to set realistic expectations with patients about cost, results, experience, and the upkeep of their treatment. Make sure your client knows that your services are results-driven by providing them with this detailed information. Beyond being able to educate a patient during a consultation, this can also be a great opportunity to upsell other treatments.
• Conversion: Perhaps you have a client who is coming in for a facial consultation to address signs of aging like fine lines or wrinkles. They may be interested in basic treatments like chemical peels and microdermabrasion. The consultation is the perfect opportunity for you to educate and discuss alternative and more profitable options with your patients, like Botox or dermal fillers, to help you increase both revenue and patient satisfaction.

Your business model doesn’t align with your goals for your med spa

As in any industry, it is crucial that your med spa is backed by the foundation of a business plan that incorporates careful planning and great strategy.

• Competition and Target Market: The medical aesthetics industry is growing more than ever, and while this can be beneficial for your medical spa, it also equates to more competition. It is important that you evaluate your local competition and the strategies they are implementing to drive patient growth. Most importantly, make sure you know your target market and their demographic. This knowledge will allow you to develop a strategic marketing and outreach campaign that will help you stand out from the competition.
• Treatments: Whether you are just starting out or have an established spa, it is important that you are offering and promoting treatments that are in-demand in your local market. By knowing what treatments are in-demand for the particular patients you want to target, you can effectively choose product lines, market certain treatments, and make the most of the services you choose to offer. Optimize your practice and your marketing channels for treatments that drive revenue, as well as patient growth and potential like injectables, nonsurgical body contouring, and nonsurgical enhancement treatments.
• Growth goals: When starting a practice it is important to set realistic revenue goals and timelines. We’ve spoken with countless new medical spas that expect profitability within their first month, or have unrealistic or nonexistent revenue and client goals when opening up their medical spa. How fast do you want to see your practice grow? While patient growth and retention are always important, it is crucial that you invest in sustainable growth that is supported by knowledgeable staff, adequate resources, and client satisfaction. This begins by evaluating revenue and patient target goals. By setting expectations of the amount of monthly and annual revenue you want to see, you can effectively strategize which treatments your facility should be prioritizing, as well as how to effectively drive the appropriate amount of patient acquisition your practice should be seeing.

You’re ignoring online opportunities

One of the first places your potential clients will go when searching for information about a treatment or provider is a search engine like Google. For this reason, it is important that you are highly visible to your potential consumers. For immediate visibility, utilizing a PPC campaign can be one of the most effective ways to get immediate bookings for the treatments you want new patients to come in for. It is also just as important that you rank organically on search engines for the treatments that you offer in your area. By optimizing your website and treatment pages, you can expect to see an increase in calls and bookings from organic traffic over time.

‍You aren’t utilizing social media

The best med spas and individual practitioners are using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to grow both their following and clientele. Popular platforms like Instagram have over 1 billion users per month, and many of these users are utilizing the platform to learn more about services your med spa is likely offering, including BOTOX, fillers, lip injections, skin care treatments, and more. If your med spa is not on social media, it is crucial that you begin developing a social media strategy to increase your spa’s visibility and patient acquisition rate.

While optimizing all social media platforms is the ideal way to use social media to your advantage, it is crucial that you are present on at least one platform, like Facebook or Instagram, in some way. Social platforms have become one of the most prominent drivers of patient acquisition, as more and more users utilize different platforms to find providers, look at reviews, and learn more about treatments. A great social media strategy can increase awareness and clientele for your spa and your practitioners.

You aren't focusing on client retention

The best clients are the ones who keep coming back. Make sure to invest efforts into your current clientele to increase retention rates. Loyal clientele are your best sources for referrals, reviews, and upselling. By using direct channels like email or text marketing to inform your current patients about new treatments, events, or specials your med spa is having, you can ensure an increase in bookings and revenue. By only focusing on new patient retention, you are missing out on current customer opportunities that can drive your revenue goals.

Leads are getting stale

Patients expect quick responses anytime they have a question about a treatment or booking. Be sure to instill outreach strategies on your social media and website so that you don't miss out on a potential patient. Texting patients via HIPAA Compliant Texting enables you to text and answer questions regarding treatments and book appointments quickly.

You aren’t utilizing an effective pricing strategy that attracts new customers

The right deal could bring in the hesitant customer that your spa needs. By offering things like strategic flash sales, specials, first-time patient specials, events, and competitions, as well as using popular platforms like Groupon in a targeted way, you can both increase brand awareness surrounding your medical spa and see an influx of new patient acquisition. Many med spa professionals worry about the financial loss of offering sales or working with promotional sites like Groupon, but when done effectively, these channels can propel patient growth and help practices reach their revenue goals. “Flash sales are one of the most effective ways we get new patients into our practice,” says one med spa manager in Las Vegas. “By offering limited specials, we were able to schedule 10 new consultations in just a few hours. Those consultations then turned into same-day treatments once customers came in." Talk and strategize with your team about deals you can offer that both promote your spa’s visibility and garner new patient acquisition.

Make the most of your med spa

Owning a medical spa can be extremely lucrative, but it is important that you take the right steps to seal the deal on your practice’s success. By avoiding the mistakes listed above, you can ensure your med spa thrives in an already competitive environment. By avoiding these mistakes and developing a solid medical spa marketing plan that is tailored to your med spa’s goals, you can set yourself up for success. Not sure where to start? At Med Aesthetics Group, we are experts in aesthetics and digital marketing, and have helped med spas avoid some of the aforementioned pitfalls by developing targeted marketing campaigns. Our team of marketing professionals can help manage all of your digital marketing channels, therefore increasing your med spa’s visibility, patient acquisition and retention, and revenue. At Med Aesthetics Group, we allow your practice to reach its potential. Our unique services like PPC, SEO, social media, and email and text marketing will help propel your practice to where it needs to be and will set you apart from the competition. Want to learn more? Get started today by giving us a call or booking a free demo.