Marketing ideas for new massage therapists
You've graduated from massage school and passed your MBLEX or massage licensing exam-congratulations!
While you may want to jump right into your own business as a room renter or open up your own space, you've got to make a plan.
First-you've got to get massage clients.
I'd recommend working for someone else to start with for a few reasons:
- You can build up your skills
- More clients coming in mean more practice with different types of people.
- It helps you determine if what you think you want to do - modality, specialty, client base-is actually what you DO want to do.
My entire plan in massage school was to do house calls. That was blown out the window on my very FIRST massage outcall. The client exposed himself. I didn't feel safe.
End of THAT plan.
So, 1st, get good at something.
Really good at it. Make a name for yourself at wherever you work. You want clients asking for you and that cool thing that you do.
I specialize in barefoot massage and am known as the expert in Cincinnati. Yes, there are other therapists. I've trained most of them. 🙃 They better be good, too, because I taught them well.
I digress.
Specialize, or niche is the key to success. Get good results, whether it's relaxation, pain relief, long lasting results, etc.
Obviously, you don't wanna be stealing clients from your place of employment. There's a whole non-compete law that goes into effect soon, making some of that null and void.
However, the company you might currently work for did the marketing to get said clients. If clients want to follow you to a new place and ask for your info, that might be ok.
But you should not market yourself by handing out cards at your current place of employment for your own new massage studio.
Social media marketing -important for new massage therapists.
You need a massage room somewhere:
𐫰room rental
𐫰room share
𐫰your own place
𐫰your house (I'd be cautious of this for safetly purposes)
Know the benefits of what you do.
Talk about it to friends, neighbors, fellow gym rats, your hair stylist, nail tech.
Have someone take good quality photos or video. Your phone will do dandy. Get rid of all the background junk and make your room well lit (or moody, but just not dark and dingy).
Do NOT use stock photos if you can avoid it.
Show behind the scenes, like how you get ready for a long day.
Video yourself doing that cool thing and make your clients mentally drool and say, "I need that NOW."
Post this content everywhere your ideal client hangs out: FB, Insta, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat.
Keep a list of your massage clients with their email. Share useful content on a regular basis.
You've got cool skills that make people feel better. So as a talented massage therapists, showcase your skills at other locations that make sense.
We're talking gyms if you want to do sports massage.
Health fairs if you want that crowd. Maybe even corporate chair events?
(I did that for a while and did get a long-term exec from a big name company coming for table massage from a chair massage gig. I also put up flyers at Whole Paycheck, to zero benefit.)
There's a LOT more I can talk about, but it's getting long. So you'll have to stay on the edge of your seat for the next blog post,
Marketing Tips for Massage Therapists-10 Hacks.
That's a link ⬆ Click it.
