Imagine waking up tomorrow to discover Instagram is banned.
How would you connect with potential clients? How would you promote your services? How would you grow your business?
This isn’t a hypothetical scenario. As of this month, major social media platform TikTok faced a potential nationwide ban in the United States.
It was a wake-up call that highlighted a critical vulnerability in many beauty businesses: over-reliance on social media platforms we don’t control. At any moment, any social media platform can go extinct. Let’s talk about how you can secure your med spa marketing efforts.
Play the short…
…and watch the complete episode 27 of Marketing 100 with salon and spa industry experts John and Kayle as they welcome special guest Erin MacNeil, founder of The Spa Business Coach, to discuss building a sustainable marketing strategy beyond social media.
Continue reading below for practical insights on building your salon’s marketing ecosystem, from email strategies to client retention techniques.
Med Spa Marketing Fundamentals
At its core, a marketing ecosystem is about nurturing the relationships you already have while creating pathways to new ones.
This is especially crucial in the beauty and wellness industry, where trust and personal connection are everything.
We’re really not great salespeople, which means we’re not great marketers either, MacNeil candidly shares.
Many salon, spa, and med spa owners excel at their craft but struggle with the business side – particularly when it comes to systematic client communication and retention.
The foundation of successful salon marketing lies in understanding a simple truth: it’s far easier to retain and upsell existing clients than to convince new ones to try your services.
Your current client database is a goldmine of opportunity, but are you making the most of it?
This becomes particularly crucial during staff transitions. When providers go on maternity leave or new staff members join the team, two urgent questions arise: “How will the new provider get busy? Will the existing clients be okay with the change?”
As MacNeil explains, without solid systems for client communication and retention, these transitions can put both client relationships and business stability at risk.
Med Spa Client Experience Management
Marketing isn’t just about promotions and sales – it’s woven into every aspect of your business.
Marketing is not necessarily a piece of collateral or a flyer. Marketing is still your brand standards. The way you treat a client or a patient or a guest when they come into your studio or your spa, the way you offer them a beverage, the way you perform a treatment, what products you use, the way the room is set up – that is all marketing.
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This holistic approach to marketing is especially important in medical spas and advanced treatment settings, where building and maintaining trust is paramount.
When clients are trusting you with their faces, bodies, and well-being, every interaction becomes an opportunity to reinforce their confidence in your expertise.
Med Spa Business Growth Strategies
The challenges of building a marketing ecosystem are particularly acute in the medical spa sector.
When I look at the type of person who’s opening or owning a med spa, a lot of the time, it is a nurse injector or it might be a master aesthetician or a medical aesthetician
Many of these professionals are balancing their medical expertise with business ownership while planning for or managing young families.
This creates unique business continuity challenges. How do you maintain client relationships during maternity leave? How do you ensure smooth transitions when bringing in new providers? The stakes are especially high in medical aesthetics, where trust is paramount.
When we talk about the level of trust that’s required for increasingly medically oriented procedures… these are things that you’re trusting a medical professional to do… that trust has to really be established and maintained
This trust isn’t just about the individual provider. It needs to extend to your entire practice.
These unique challenges in the medical aesthetics field make having a robust communication strategy essential. One of the most effective tools for maintaining these crucial client relationships? Email marketing.
Email Marketing Guide for Med Spas and Salons
Despite the allure of social media, email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to nurture client relationships. Yet many salon and spa owners either underutilize this tool or use it ineffectively, limiting themselves to monthly promotional blasts that miss the mark.
Med Spa Newsletter Strategy
Email marketing is not a lost art. People need to build that skill first, MacNeil emphasizes
The key is shifting from purely promotional content to value-driven communication.
Think about your own inbox – you likely receive weekly emails from your favorite brands that you don’t unsubscribe from, even if you don’t read every single one. Why? Because you don’t want to miss out on valuable information or opportunities.
Creating personalized client communication strategies ensures your messages resonate with your audience and drive engagement.
Content Ideas for Med Spa Marketing
Here’s where many beauty businesses miss a crucial opportunity, according to McNeil:
We assume our clients or our customers know our menu inside and out or know all of our services and all of our providers. That’s not true. This misconception leads businesses to miss out on potential revenue from existing clients who simply don’t know about all available services.
When businesses finally share comprehensive information about their services and expertise, clients often respond with surprise:
I didn’t even know that you knew that, or I didn’t know that you did that service.
This reveals a significant gap in client communication that could be costing your business growth opportunities. Instead of just pushing promotions, consider:
- Sharing expert insights on trending beauty topics
- Addressing common client concerns
- Providing skincare or haircare tips
- Commenting on industry news and developments
- Introducing team members and their expertise
- Explaining different treatments and their benefits
Social Media Marketing for Med Spas and Salons
While social media marketing for salons and spas is important, it shouldn’t be your only channel for client communication.
McNeil shares a perfect example of creating engaging, timely content:
Last year, there was a really funny meme going around about J.Lo and olive oil… she was saying, ‘I don’t use neurotoxin. I use olive oil on my face.’ Every injector on planet Earth made a meme about it.
This viral moment created an opportunity for providers to reach out to their clients with expert commentary, humor, and education. All while staying relevant and showcasing their expertise.
These real-time responses to trending topics keep you connected with your audience while demonstrating your industry knowledge. It’s not about selling – it’s about engaging and educating in a way that naturally positions you as an authority.
Client Trust Building for Med Spas
In the beauty and wellness industry, trust isn’t just important – it’s everything. Whether you’re providing injectable treatments, laser services, or traditional spa treatments, clients are literally putting their bodies in your hands. This level of trust requires constant nurturing and maintenance.
The Personal Touch in Professional Services
Your hair, your lashes, your makeup, like, all of those services are highly personal, and it’s intimate. Someone is in your space
This intimate nature of beauty services means your marketing needs to reflect the same level of personal care and attention.
Brand Building for Beauty Businesses
Many salon and spa owners think of branding as just their logo, website, or social media presence. However, MacNeil challenges this limited view:
Marketing is not necessarily a piece of collateral or a flyer. Marketing is still your brand standards. The way you treat a client or a patient or a guest when they come into your studio or your spa, the way you offer them a beverage, the way you perform a treatment, what products you use, the way the room is set up – that is all marketing.
Every touchpoint with your clients shapes their perception of your brand.
From the temperature of your waiting room to the thoroughness of your post-treatment instructions, these details create the overall experience that defines your brand in clients’ minds.
In the beauty and wellness industry, where services are deeply personal, these seemingly small details can make the difference between a one-time visitor and a loyal client.
Relationship Marketing for Med Spas
One of the most counterintuitive aspects of effective marketing is that sometimes the best way to sell is not to sell at all.
Not every communication that you have in marketing needs to be selling,” explains MacNeil. “If you are providing value, whether that’s in an email or giving your opinion on something, I’m helping you in some way. You are creating that principle of reciprocity.
This approach creates what marketing experts call a “parasocial relationship” – where clients feel personally connected to your business even when they’re not actively using your services.
When you consistently provide value without asking for anything in return, you build emotional equity with your audience.
Understanding Your Med Spa Clients
Success in salon and med spa marketing isn’t about reaching everyone – it’s about deeply connecting with your ideal clients. As MacNeil emphasizes:
If you don’t know who they are, I promise you, you won’t connect. You have to know how to connect. Well, you can connect with someone when you know exactly who you’re talking to and creating content for that particular person.
Erin adds an important insight about expectations:
You’re never gonna create a piece of content that reaches your entire client base where everybody feels like, ‘wow, I connected.’ But if you can do it for the majority of the people who are opening that email or clicking on a post, then that’s the point.
This understanding should inform everything from your service menu to your communication style.
When you truly know your ideal clients – their concerns, aspirations, and preferences – you can create marketing messages that feel personally relevant rather than generic promotions.
Med Spa Business Growth Mindset
Many beauty professionals hesitate to share their knowledge freely, fearing that clients might take the information to competitors. However, MacNeil challenges this thinking:
You can’t act out of scarcity. We’re service providers, and so I want to help someone… if I’m constantly getting great content and great information, great direction from you, I’m going to think about you when I have a problem that I need solved that I know you solve.
The trust you build through building client loyalty in your spa business becomes the foundation for all your marketing efforts.
But how do you put all these pieces together into a cohesive strategy?
Marketing Action Plan for Beauty Businesses
To build a sustainable marketing system that works independently of social media platforms, consider these key steps:
1. Build Your Internal Database
- Create a robust client database that you own and control
- Develop systems for capturing and organizing client information
- Regularly update and maintain your contact lists
2. Establish Communication Rhythms
- Set up a weekly email schedule
- Create different types of valuable content:
- Expert commentary on industry trends
- Educational content about your services
- Behind-the-scenes glimpses of your business
- Team member spotlights
- Client success stories
3. Plan for Business Transitions
- Develop protocols for staff changes and leaves
- Create systems for introducing new providers
- Build trust in your entire team, not just individual providers
- Maintain consistent communication during transitions
4. Focus on Value-First Marketing
- Share your expertise freely
- Address common client concerns
- Provide solutions to real problems
- Position yourself as an authority in your field
5. Monitor and Adjust
- Track which communications get the most engagement
- Note what questions clients frequently ask
- Pay attention to feedback and responses
- Adjust your strategy based on what resonates with your audience
As MacNeil emphasizes:
Marketing is not just outward marketing. It’s really inward marketing first, keeping that place of authority, keeping top of mind.
Taking Action Now
Start by asking yourself these questions:
- How dependent is your business on social media?
- What systems do you have in place for client communication?
- How are you maintaining relationships with existing clients?
- What valuable information could you share with your clients this week?
The beauty of creating your own marketing ecosystem is that it puts you in control of your business’s growth and client relationships.
When you know exactly who your ideal client is, you can better reach them or stay top of mind because they just trust you. You’ve built that connection without having to actually spend any money.
Learn more about Erin MacNeil at www.thespabusinesscoach.com
Socials: @thespabusinesscoach
P.S. For more proven salon and spa marketing tips, don’t forget to check out the rest of our Marketing 100 series.
