One email or social media campaign per month can promote new treatments or events or invite lapsed patients in for a free skin review
Keeping on top of clinic marketing can be a daunting prospect for many aesthetic practitioners—even those who may have the additional support of a PR agency or internal marketing role. The burden of clinical work and constant business management priorities tends to put communications and PR campaign planning and evaluation sessions by the wayside. The aesthetics industry is hyper-competitive, and with multiple clinics now in the same town vying for the available pool of customers, clinics cannot afford to fall behind with efforts on marketing, promotion and positioning. Aesthetic customers are increasingly aware and discerning, so can easily be lured away to competitors if they do not encounter regular touchpoints from a particular business and across multiple channels (such as the website, newsletters, social and traditional media). In this article, I will outline key strategies to help keep clinic marketing plans up and running with minimal stress.
» Creating quality, engaging and on-brand content is a critical success factor in any clinic PR and marketing strategy … it requires proper planning and resourcing «
Review business objectives
Any marketing effort done in isolation will never truly deliver the desired business results. PR and marketing work best when multiple activities are tied to the broader business strategy and objectives. To maximise your valuable time, energy and money, take time at the start of your marketing planning process and on a quarterly basis throughout the year to consider your overarching business objectives, such as:
- Does the business need to grow, or just maintain? If you are aiming to grow, set realistic targets and deadlines against which your PR campaigns can work to deliver results
- Will there be new developments in clinic, such as new brands, new treatments, more staff or additional premises? Consider when these will be phased into your business and plan backwards for any launch campaigns (at least 3–6 months in advance)
- Are you looking to enter any strategic partnerships to diversify and support your business? Examples could include a key opinion leader spokesperson with a brand or manufacturer or creating a brand partnership with a complimentary product to boost clinic sales. Evaluate when and how to announce these, and how to work collaboratively to maintain visibility
- Are you looking to establish more of a leadership position, or tackle any key competitors? Are there any competitor milestones you need to defend against, such as a new clinic launching nearby? Or are there opportunities for you showcase leadership and heritage—maybe a business award, clinic anniversary or launching a new brand, product, technique or service that nobody else in the area has?
Organisation is key in marketing, outlining objectives and planning events
Map these business objectives out at a ‘macro’ level—sketching out when you aim to achieve them across the year. You can then layer in your planned marketing and promotional activities in line with the business objectives and key timings, ensuring you never feel ‘caught out’ with nothing scheduled in your plan. Do not forget to consider budget allocations—investment should maintain a consistent baseline all year (never dropping off entirely), with potentially added budget required periodically to support big activity pushes like a new brand launch event or social media advertising campaign.
Start big and drill down
Now that you have the ‘big picture’ of what is needed within the business across the year, you can focus on what your PR and marketing needs to be doing on a monthly basis. Visual aids are always useful—perhaps a calendar wall planner with different coloured post-it notes or pens to map out business objectives, key activities or clinic focuses/events, and of course any specific campaigns or topics you plan to push out across your communications channels. Brainstorm with your suppliers or clinic team what could be included across your channels each month, for example:
- Environmental milestones or trends: New Year, Christmas, Valentine's Day, spring skin, bridal season, summer skin, back to school, winter skin, weight loss, etc
- Treatment/product focus: What core products or treatments do you want to profile each month that align with the time of the year and also your business objectives? Do not forget any new launches or your signature treatment, or any special treatment offers you want to reinvigorate
- Clinic milestones: Your clinic's ‘birthday’, awards season, new premises launch, new staff, staff birthdays, events, charitable activities and congresses are all good touchpoints for your brand.
» PR and marketing are an investment and need to demonstrate value. Ultimately, if your blogs are not driving traffic, customers are not opening your newsletter or nobody is clicking on your social media posts, then you need to be aware of this «
Content is king
Creating quality, engaging and on-brand content is a critical success factor in any clinic PR and marketing strategy, although it can often cause lots of headaches. It requires proper planning and resourcing, but many practitioners feel a sense of panic and worry, trying to think of something good to post across all channels every day… The secret is to map out in detail what the monthly marketing content looks like across your key channels: events, website, social media, blogs and newsletters. Ensure you have a bank of good quality images of you, the clinic, your brands, stock images, the more you can stockpile in advance the less you will experience the daily ‘posting panic’. While this can feel time-consuming at the start, in the long run it will save so much time, energy and stress. Additionally, detailed planning at this stage will increase the chances of you eventually being able to delegate this work within your team or to an external supplier, if you have not done so already.
For each month, brainstorm and plan the content topics for at least:
- One patient newsletter: try to keep a consistent structure so it is easier to plan the content in advance and be sure to include links to your website in your newsletter. If you can send at around the same time each month, this can help with client expectations and time management
- At least two clinic blogs: try to come up with the titles and angles of these now to keep you focused. For optimum search engine optimisation, you should aim for 500 words minimum and post to your website
- One email campaign or social media advertising campaign: what do you want to promote that month and drive action for? Maybe a new treatment, for lapsed patients to come in for a free skin review or to promote an event, etc.
If you do not have an external social media management provider, you should also map out a monthly framework for approximately two to three social posts per week on your channels to include:
- A generic ‘library’ of information, tips, advice and inspirational images
- Promotional posts tied to specific events or promotions that month
- Treatment information and before/after imagery
- Personal touches, for example, flowers from a patient or good patient feedback.
Teamwork and delegation
Now you should have a comprehensive overview of what your clinic marketing looks like over the course of the year. If you have a team or clinic manager, consider delegating some of the responsibilities to them as part of their role—perhaps to compile the newsletter or write one blog per month based on your plan. Additionally, this plan could give you a strong brief and overview should you wish to engage an external PR or marketing supplier. Having clear actions and deadlines will help ensure that the marketing becomes an integral part of everyone's function in the clinic, rather than an add-on or a burden that keeps getting forgotten.
Keep track of success
PR and marketing are an investment and need to demonstrate value. Ultimately, if your blogs are not driving traffic, customers are not opening your newsletter or nobody is clicking on your social media posts, then you need to be aware of this. Undertake regular reviews of your website analytics, as well as your customer relationship management system and social channels to identify engagement, interaction and ultimately what is being delivered in terms of revenue. If something is not working effectively, it is best to find out early on and adjust your strategy accordingly until you get it right.
Conclusion
Aesthetic business owners often find it difficult to focus on creating effective PR and marketing alongside all the other commitments and priorities of running their business. However, with some advanced preparation you can cut the time and effort in half, as well as enabling the load to be shared by your team or suppliers. In a competitive market, PR and marketing are essential to attract new business and to help maintain existing customer loyalty. So, if you truly want to grow your business and bring in more revenue, marketing must become an integral part of your business.