With the current economic climate, it is essential to maintain multiple revenue streams in your business to guarantee practice success. In addition to providing touch therapy to your clientele, you may find it beneficial to retail products in your business. These products can be the same products you use during massage sessions, which can make for an easy upsell, or they can be other health- and wellness-related items like relaxation CDs, eye pillows, aromatherapy sprays and skin-care products.
While it is key to discuss product offerings with your clients when they are at your place of business, it is also important to promote merchandise during your off-hours when no clients are around. One way you can inform both existing and potential clients about the products you offer in your massage practice is by utilizing social media.
Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are the most popular social networking sites to promote your retail offerings, although you can certainly use Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat and other networks to also highlight the products you feature in your practice. These sites allow you to target people outside of business hours, as well as share information on specials and new offerings in a viral manner-providing additional exposure to you and your practice.
Introduce a new product
If you have just started offering products for retail in your practice or recently added a new product to your line, let your social networking audience know. If you haven't already established a presence on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, this is your first step. Setting up a page on one or more of these sites is fairly simple, and will allow you to connect with likeminded individuals as well as those you want to target with your service offerings.
When introducing a product on these social networking sites, include a picture and list the benefits of the product. The best way to suggest a product to your clients is to let them know how it will extend the benefits of your massage sessions between visits. Because they view you as a trusted health care professional, your clients will be more likely to listen to product recommendations you have. When choosing products to offer in your practice, make sure to only supply and suggest products to your clients that you honestly believe in and will help with any issues they are experiencing, whether in regard to pain management or stress relief.
Once you start creating a buzz about your latest product offering, collect testimonials from clients and share them on any social networking sites you have a presence on. Make sure to obtain permission from clients to use their testimonials for advertising purposes, and to thank them, you can provide those clients with discounts on products or provide a complimentary add-on to a massage session. Testimonials add a human element to marketing products, and once your audience sees how the products you offer are helping other clients with similar issues, they'll be sure to stop by your practice and check them out in person.
Sales and specials
If you are offering a discount on products, share this information on your social networks. Let your audience know about the sale of your products and where they can take advantage of this offer. Also, provide an end date to the sale, so there is more call to action in your post. You can even add a phrase like "Limited time offer" to encourage clients and potential customers to buy the product now.
To garner extra attention to your announcement, you can ask Facebook fans to like the post or your Twitter followers to retweet the post. You can take this a step further and ask your social-networking audience to say something it loves about the product for a chance to win a free gift basket or gift certificate to purchase products at your practice. By doing this, you are engaging your audience and creating positive word-of-mouth about the products you offer in your massage business.
In addition, if you ever offer holiday discounts or seasonal sales on products, push this information out via your social networks. If your business website has an online store, you can provide discount codes to your social networking audience that they can use to purchase products from your online store at their convenience. By offering this option, users can shop at their convenience and you could potentially be making a profit at all hours of the day.
If you are tech savvy, film a video featuring the different products you offer, discuss their benefits and even show the proper application and use of the product. This educational video is helpful to clients, and you could post it to YouTube and share on your social networks to increase exposure of you and your products. If you decide to produce a short video, make sure to introduce yourself and include information about your practice (phone, website, address) at the beginning and end of the video.
Social networking is not only a great way to network with colleagues, but is an ideal tool to engage with your client base in an informative and educational way. Informing people about the products you offer and their benefits not only enhances your image as a health care professional, but it shows your clients that you're interested in providing products that will help them feel better. Utilizing your social networks allows you to connect with an unlimited number of people-with no additional financial cost.
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