Referrals are one of the most powerful ways to build your client-base and grow your massage therapy clinic. Attracting clients through this method of word-of-mouth advertising is an art form that all massage therapists should learn. Essentially, you are selling yourself along with the services you provide. Building good client-relationships is at the core of a successful referral network, along with other important, useful strategies to guarantee new and existing clients keep coming back for more.
Ways to get referrals as a massage therapist
1. Word of mouth
Effective word-of-mouth marketing can be one of your greatest tools to get more clients to your massage clinic. In order to do this, you have to maintain a good client-relationship with your existing customers.
To ensure that you’re meeting the needs of your clients, asking for feedback is crucial. You can easily ask for feedback from existing clients by providing feedback forms at your clinic or website, or by offering surveys on your social media pages. These client testimonials will prove invaluable for attracting new customers.
Your existing satisfied customers are your best source of advertising, since it’s highly likely they will refer their friend or family member to you if they’re impressed with your service. To make sure you’re doing everything you can to make your clients happy, pay attention to their feedback and let your clients know that you value them. People like to feel appreciated, so giving thanks or special treatment to them is important, not only for the comfort of the client, but for attracting more clients, too.
2. Email marketing
As a massage therapist, you should be utilising email marketing to keep your customers up-to-date with current happenings at the clinic, any running promotions, or relevant blog posts and industry articles. Email marketing is important because it’s a way to foster a community with your loyal clientele and also serves as a way to generate more leads.
Email marketing works by collecting the email addresses of your past and present clients, allowing you to keep them up to date with your services and act as an authority in your field. A weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly newsletter sent to your clients’ emails is an effective way to keep your clinic on the top of their minds, building awareness of your services and increasing the frequency of visits and referrals.
There are many affordable email marketing platforms available online. A lot of them are even free.To make your email marketing work for you, remember to make it unique and a full expression of you and your clinic. It is an intimate and effective way to make your clinic stand out.
3. Social media
Social media marketing is one of the easiest and effective ways to build the reputation of your clinic and attract more clients. It allows you to act in real-time with your audience, and tailor your services to a specific clientele.
Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are great for massage clinics, as they can also integrate with your company’s website making everything streamlined and easy for customers to access your services and make appointments. For an effective social media strategy, offer the opportunity for your clients to engage in your posts and react to them. You can make your posts conversational and spark engagement by appealing to your target-audience interests and creating posts or pictures that foster discussion. However, make sure that your social media profile is consistent with your brand.
Social media is also a great tool to network with other experts in your field, potentially resulting in new clients.
4. Networking with industry professionals
Essentially, as a massage therapist, you want to talk to and engage with as many people in your industry and related industries as you can. This doesn’t mean having to attend every networking event there is – you can easily build a network local to your clinic.
Other small businesses are facing the same issues as you and would be more than happy to chat with you. Think about those businesses within your industry such as chiro and physio clinics, local beauty salons, or yoga studios.These places are where many of your potential clients would frequent, and if you make yourself known and amiable to those businesses you can set up a successful referral program between yourselves.
You may even be able to suggest leaving your business cards at these establishments in return for using their cards at your clinic. This can encourage a healthy exchange of clients which can lead to more referrals in the future.
5. Offer a massage client referral program
Referral programs benefit existing clients by rewarding them for referring a friend. It is a win-win solution since it will boost your clientele, while rewarding your existing clients with discounted or free treatments. You could offer a greatly discounted or free massage for every successfully-referred client or allow clients to earn credits toward their next massage.
For a more personal reward, you can even present your client with a handwritten “thank you” card with a small gift inside such as chocolates, movie tickets, or coupons for any products you may be selling at your clinic.
Be rewarded as a massage therapist
To become a qualified massage therapist, why not sign up for an industry-recognised course with Discover Massage Australia today? We’re committed to providing a hands-on learning experience to our students.
