MedSpa Digital Marketing Strategies to Try–and One to Avoid–in 2023
The medical spa industry has proven to be a lucrative industry, even at times of economic uncertainty. When you consider most (if not all) of the services are not covered by health insurance, paired with the fact that most services require multiple visits and ongoing maintenance, it’s no surprise customers keep opening their wallets for aesthetic services. And it’s not slowing down anytime soon! According to GlobeNewswire, the medspa industry is expected to grow at a rate of 14.6% and become close to a 64 billion industry by 2032. The good news for you: you’re in the right place at the right time! But the bad news? You’ll be facing more competition than you ever have before. So how do you make your business stand out? Well, that’s what we’re here to help you with.
Here at Pennock, we help beauty brands grow their business through paid media. With a diverse portfolio of beauty brands–including medspas–we pride ourselves on staying at the forefront of the latest trends in digital marketing within the beauty industry.
So far in 2023, we’ve recognized some strategies already outplaying others, so we thought we would share what we’ve found (even if it means showing our hand).
Focus on advertising “gateway” services
Did you know that 60% of customers who have purchased CoolSculpting procedures have previously received injections? But the reverse of this is not true. Not surprisingly, customers are more likely to engage with an ad that promotes lower price point services that require fewer visits for full benefits (think facials and injections). The higher price point services that require multiple sessions for the full effect (such as CoolSculpting and CoolTone) are more likely to be purchased by seasoned medspa customers. If you’re looking to attract new leads, allocate at least 30% of your budget to promote your “entry-level” procedures.
Set a Target Cost Per Lead
Just like how the price point of your services vary, the cost you should be willing to pay to attract new leads for each service should not be the same. You can control this value by setting different target CPL for campaigns optimized for conversions. By doing so, the advertising platform will not spend more than this cost, leading you to a desirable CPL that still allows for a profit if the user purchases the service. Now the actual metric is something only you can determine based on your product cost, customer lifetime value, conversion rate, and profit margin. But to give you a baseline, we have found setting the CPL at 5-15% of the service price to be ideal.
The Strategy We Don’t Recommend
Even though we anticipate competition in this industry to rapidly grow, we do not recommend spending advertising dollars targeting your competitors. When users search for a competitor’s name, they have a higher intent to purchase from that brand. While these users might be more educated about medspa services, they are more familiar with other brands. And as we know in marketing, people have a tendency to prefer things they are already familiar with (even if they’re not necessarily the best option). Instead, use your marketing dollars to identify what differentiates your business–your level of customer service? Expertise in one area? Breadth of services offered? Lower price points?--and use this information in your existing ad copy.
Spend Money on Traffic Campaigns (not just conversion!)
If the familiarity principle got you down in the last point, don’t be too disgruntled. You still have an opportunity to leverage this principle by using traffic-based ads. Digital advertising platforms allow you to set your campaign goal as website traffic (as opposed to the more commonly used conversions); this goal is preferable for top-of-funnel awareness on campaigns like Google Display and Discovery Ads. These types of ads rely on machine learning (aka the beloved algorithm), tend to reach a larger population, and are more likely to have a lower cost per click since conversion is not the goal. In other words, traffic campaigns allow you to spend less to build more brand awareness–familiarity!--than you would with a top-of-funnel conversion campaign. The downside of these campaigns is you typically don’t see an immediate return, however it is necessary to continually build your brand awareness and fuel the sales funnel.
Don’t Pass Over the Men
It is estimated that men are outspending women by 13% in med spas. Furthermore, many predict that men are going to go from 10% of the aesthetics marketplace to 30% within the next 10 years, according to a recent survey by the American Med Spa Association. Men are seeking all types of services, from minimally-invasive injections (“brotox”) to more serious body-contouring services (reducing breast fat, aka “moobs”), and everywhere in between. Whether this trend is from the increase of video-conferencing or less stigma around male aesthetic treatments, including men as a target audience is a must.
Partnering with a digital marketing agency can help save you time and allow you to focus on what you do best–servicing your customers! Marketing can be a time-consuig and complex task, and it can be difficult for brands to do it on their own.
With the right partner, you can grow your business and stand out from your competition. Get in touch with our team and start making a difference in your marketing efforts.