Just launching your new aesthetic clinic, or looking to grow your existing business and take on more clients? Either way, if you’ve put all the time and effort into creating a brilliant clinic, you’ll know exactly what you need to do next…
Right?
You’ll know exactly how you’re going to promote your clinic, who you’re going to target and what channels you’re going to use… right?
Or were you just going to take it as it comes, try a bit of this and a bit of that, and hope something works?
That’s not the best approach for your clinic’s marketing.
And that’s why you need a marketing plan.
What is a marketing plan for aesthetic clinic?
A marketing plan is exactly what it sounds like. A plan to make your marketing more focused and more effective. To make the most of your time and budgets.
It’s easy for clinic owners to think of marketing plans as big strategic documents that huge corporate companies use – something totally irrelevant to them.
But marketing plans don’t need to be complicated. In fact, they shouldn’t be.
They should be as simple and straightforward as possible so you and your team can quickly and easily see what type of marketing you should be doing.
A marketing plan is simply a guide for your business to follow. It’s a map to show you how you’re going to reach your goals and grow your aesthetic clinic.
Why does your aesthetic clinic need a marketing plan?
If you don’t have a plan, how do you know what you need to do to market your clinic effectively?
That’s the simple reason why you need to spend a little time creating one.
A marketing plan helps you focus your efforts
Sure, you can just take each day as it comes and ‘wing it’ with your marketing efforts. You could shout about your services on Facebook or you could spend thousands on a stunning new website. Or you could print a load of flyers and post them in your local area.
Which is the best way to attract new clients? Which is most likely to get you noticed by a new prospect? Which is the better way to spend your marketing budget?
A marketing plan helps you answer these all-important questions.
A marketing plan helps you identify your goals
It gives you a clearer picture of where you are and where you want to be. If you’re not sure what your targets are – how many treatments you want to do, how many clients you’d like to have or how much revenue you want to make this year – how will you know what you need to do to achieve them?
A marketing plan will help you define your clinic’s goals. And when you know where you want to be – and where you are right now – you can map out the steps you’ll need to take to get you there.
A marketing plan gives you and your team relevant things to do
Perhaps the most important reason your aesthetic clinic needs a marketing plan is because it gives you and your team the guidance you need on a daily basis.
Without one, you might be unsure what type of marketing you should do. You might not know whether to post on Instagram or TikTok, or if you should send an email promoting your latest package or a message about last minute slots.
A marketing plan removes that uncertainty. It gives you and your team a list of priorities, so whenever you have marketing time set aside, you know exactly what you need to do.
If your goal is to get 12 new clients every month, and you’re already at 14 this month, you’ll know that your next social media post will be better spent promoting higher value services from your existing client base.
If you’ve only got 8 new clients, then you might want to focus on promoting a new customer offer to get more prospects through your doors before month’s end.
A marketing plan keeps your accountable
It’s no use having big plans for your aesthetic clinic and then doing nothing about them. A marketing plan helps you stay on track.
It sets a plan for your business, and details what needs to be done… by when.
So you can always refer back to it. It’s always there, encouraging you to do what it says.
When you’re busy running a clinic, it’s all too easy to forget about your marketing. But having a plan to hand keeps marketing front of mind. When you’ve not done something or you realise a part of your marketing isn’t going as well as you hoped, you can always return to it.
How do you create a marketing plan for aesthetics?
You might think that creating a marketing plan for your aesthetics business is going to be a bit complicated.
But it’s not. The biggest mistake with any marketing plan is thinking it’s too complicated and then never actually doing one. Whatever your speciality or focus, it’s easy to get started with a simple, effective marketing plan.
1. Focus on the basics
Start with where your clinic is now – business and marketing wise. Write down what you’re doing, what’s working, and what isn’t. Then decide where you want to be. It often helps to think about WHO you are, WHO your target audience is, WHAT you want to achieve, WHY you’re different (and WHY your prospects should choose) and then HOW you need to communicate with your prospects.
2. Keep your goals simple
Start with where your clinic is now – business and marketing wise. Write down what you’re doing, what’s working, and what isn’t. Then decide where you want to be. It often helps to think about WHO you are, WHO your target audience is, WHAT you want to achieve, WHY you’re different (and WHY your prospects should choose) and then HOW you need to communicate with your prospects.
3. Use our free template
The easiest way to get started with your marketing plan is to download our free ebook – Marketing Your Aesthetic Clinic – and fill in the template you’ll find there. It has just four simple sections to fill in: your WHO, WHAT, WHY and HOW.
The simple, four section marketing plan that’s ideal for every clinic
Download our marketing plan template, follow the prompts in each of the four sections, and you’ll have a clear instant picture of exactly who your ideal target audience is, what makes you stand out, and how you can use that information to transform your marketing.
And if you’re looking for more aesthetic clinic marketing advice, our dedicated hub has everything you’ll need to help your clinic thrive.
