# Med spa marketing ideas that don’t start with a discount Written by [Rafe Mirza](https://agentblue.io/authors/rafe-mirza) The med spa marketing ideas worth keeping each do one of four jobs: book a consult, turn a first visit into a second, get a happy client to say so, or bring back someone who drifted. Below are ideas for each job, sample messages, a few event ideas and a way to tell which ones earn their place. Discounts come last, and I explain why. ![An empty med spa treatment room with a teal treatment bed, a stool and an aesthetic device on a stand.](https://agentblue.io/images/blog/med-spa-marketing-ideas.webp) ## The promotion that filled the book Every med spa owner knows the feeling of a calendar that suddenly fills. It is a lovely feeling. It is also a terrible way to judge a marketing idea. > Example > > Picture a med spa owner in the second week of January. > > December’s holiday offer on injectables went out to the whole list and onto social media, and the book filled in days. > > Now she is looking at who came. Plenty of new faces, most of whom found her through the offer. A good number of regulars, who would have booked anyway and paid in full. > > She checks who has rebooked at the usual price. It is a short list. > > The team is tired, the month looks great on paper, and she honestly cannot tell whether the offer made her any money. I am not against promotions. I am against a promotion being the whole plan, because it measures the wrong thing. A busy week tells you people like a lower price. It tells you nothing about whether they will come back, and coming back is where a med spa makes its living. ## The four jobs a marketing idea can do Before trying an idea, I ask which of these jobs it does. If the answer is none of them, it is probably decoration. ### What each idea should lead to - A booked consult with a provider, from someone who has never been in. - A second visit, booked by a client who just had their first. - A review or a referral from a client who is happy with the result. - A return visit from a client who used to come in and stopped. Each of those jobs can be counted, which is the point. The rest of this post gives ideas for each, in the order I would work on them. ## Why the second visit matters most The American Med Spa Association reports, in its recap of its 2024 industry survey, that repeat patients average 73% of a med spa’s patients. Sources - [American Med Spa Association, 2024 Medical Spa State of the Industry executive report recap](https://www.americanmedspa.org/news/2024-medical-spa-state-of-the-industry-executive-report-recap/), 2024-11-06 Read that from the marketing side. Most of the book is people who came back, so the ideas that turn a first visit into a habit deserve at least as much attention as the ones that bring in strangers. A new client who never returns is the most expensive client a spa can have. ## Ideas that bring in consults - A page for each main treatment that answers what people ask before booking: what it feels like, how long it lasts, what the recovery looks like and who does it. - Before and after photos of your own clients, shared only with written consent, each with a plain line on what was done. - Short videos of your injector or nurse answering one common question each, filmed on a phone in the treatment room. - Partnerships with businesses your clients already visit, such as a bridal boutique, a hair salon or a fitness studio, with a simple referral card. - A complete local search profile with photos, opening hours and answers to common questions. The glossary entry on [local SEO](https://agentblue.io/glossary/local-seo) covers the basics. If you run paid ads, the idea that matters most is missing from that list: how fast someone replies when a person fills in the form. A reply that comes the next morning reaches someone who has already messaged two other spas. The glossary entry on [speed to lead](https://agentblue.io/glossary/speed-to-lead) explains why the first useful reply counts for so much. > Example > > Ad enquiry about lip filler, evening > > Hi Jasmine, it's Tara from \[spa name\]. Thanks for asking about lip filler. Our nurse injector has consults on Wednesday at 6:00 or Saturday at 11:00. Want one of those? Reply 1 or 2, or ask me anything first. > > Reply STOP to opt out of texts. ## Ideas that turn a first visit into a second This is where I would spend the first hour of any marketing week. The client is already happy enough to have come in once. You only have to make the next visit easy. - Book the next appointment before the client leaves, timed to when the provider says the treatment will be due. - Send a short check-in the day after a treatment, from the provider or someone the client met, asking how they feel. - Send a reminder when the treatment is due again, from the same person, with two times they could come in. - Offer a treatment series where it fits, such as a laser series, so the plan is agreed at the start. - For clients who visit often, consider a membership. The post on [how med spa memberships work](https://agentblue.io/blog/med-spa-membership-programs) covers when that helps and when it does not. > Example > > The day after a first treatment > > Hi Megan, it's Lauren from \[spa name\]. Just checking in after your peel yesterday. How is your skin feeling today? If anything feels off, reply here and I'll get you to the right person. The day-after message sells nothing, and that is why it works on me as a reader. It shows someone noticed. When the reminder comes a few weeks later, it comes from a person who already asked how you were. ## Ideas that get happy clients talking - Ask for a review when the result shows, which for many treatments is days or weeks after the visit, not at the checkout desk. - Ask clients to mention the treatment and the provider by name. Those details help the next person searching for the same thing. - Hand a referral card to clients who say they love the result, with a line they can pass to a friend. - Reply to every review, kindly and briefly, including the unhappy ones. > Example > > Two weeks after injectables > > Hi Priya, it's Lauren from \[spa name\]. By now you should be seeing the full result from your visit with Kim. If you're happy with it, would you mind saying so in a quick review? Here's the link: \[review link\]. Thank you either way. Ask only after the result is visible, and ask everyone the same way. Picking only the clients you think will be glowing feels clever and makes your reviews less believable. ## Med spa event ideas worth the effort Events take a lot of work, so each one should end with bookings on a sheet, not just a nice evening. - A clients’ evening for a new treatment, where the provider explains who it suits and answers questions in person. - A small skin consult night for a set number of guests, each with a short one-to-one slot and a booking sheet. - A joint evening with a partner business, such as a boutique before wedding season, with both lists invited. - A thank-you evening for regulars and members, where the next visit gets booked on the night. Whatever the format, count the same thing afterwards: how many guests booked a consult or treatment in the following two weeks. If that number is close to zero, the event was a party. Parties are fine, but they belong in a different budget. ## Ideas that bring back clients who drifted Every booking system holds a list of clients who came in a few times and then stopped. Some moved away or found another spa. Many just got busy. A short, honest message brings some of them back, and the glossary entry on [patient reactivation](https://agentblue.io/glossary/patient-reactivation) explains the wider idea. > Example > > No visit in a long while > > Hi Natalie, it's Tara from \[spa name\]. It's been a while since your last facial with us, and we'd love to see you again. Would you like me to send a couple of times next week? Reply YES, or reply NO and I won't message about it again. Send it once, and mean the last line. A client who says no and is left alone may come back on their own. A client who is chased after saying no tends to block the number. ## When a promotion does make sense I said discounts come last, and here they are. There are times when an offer is the right tool, as long as it has a job and an end date. - Launching a new treatment, when you want clients to try it and tell you what they think. - Filling a slow weekday slot that stays empty, with an offer for that slot only. - Thanking members or regulars, as a perk they get for staying with you. The rule I would hold to: never run a standing discount on your most popular treatment. Clients learn the pattern quickly and wait for it, and then the full price becomes the price nobody pays. If you do run an offer, write down before it starts how you will know it worked, and check who came back at the usual price a couple of months later. The honest catch: none of these ideas fixes a consult that does not convert. If people come in, enjoy the conversation and still do not book, the gap is in the room, and more marketing only brings more people to the same conversation. ## How to tell which ideas are working Pick a small number of ideas, run each for a month or two, and fill in one sheet at the end of each month. Change one thing at a time, or you will never know which change helped. Example monthly marketing sheet for a med spa, one row per job | Job | What to count | Where to find it | | --- | --- | --- | | Book a consult | New enquiries and how many became a booked consult, by source | Your forms, ad platform and booking system | | Second visit | First-time clients who booked again before their first visit faded | Your booking system, filtered by first visit date | | Reviews and referrals | New reviews, and new clients who name a friend or partner | Your review profiles and the intake form | | Bring back | Lapsed clients who replied to a message and booked | Your messaging inbox and booking system | The second row is the one I would watch most closely. If it is weak, every other idea is filling a bucket with a hole in it. The glossary entry on [patient retention rate](https://agentblue.io/glossary/patient-retention-rate) explains the wider measure if you want one number for the whole book. ## Where does AgentBlue fit? Most of these ideas need someone to reply, remind and check in at the right moment, day after day. In a busy spa that someone is usually also checking clients in, and the messages slip first. That is the part we run. Our [lead follow-up for med spas](https://agentblue.io/industries/med-spa/lead-follow-up) replies to ad and website enquiries and offers consult times, and bookings it makes appear in your booking system. Our AI answers 24/7, so the evening enquiry hears back in the evening. It tells clients it is an AI and hands a client to your team with the details so far when they want a person. It is done for you: we set up, connect and run it, and it is live in about 2 weeks after we receive access to your systems. ## Frequently asked questions ### How do I get more Botox clients? Make the consult easy to book and reply quickly to every enquiry, then focus on the second visit: book the next appointment before the client leaves and remind them when they are due. Reviews that name the treatment and the injector help the next person decide. ### What are good med spa event ideas? A clients’ evening for a new treatment, a small skin consult night with one-to-one slots, a joint evening with a partner business, or a thank-you night for regulars. Each should end with bookings, so count consults and treatments booked in the following two weeks. ### Should a med spa run discounts? Sometimes, with a clear job and an end date: launching a new treatment, filling a slow slot, or thanking regulars. Avoid a standing discount on your most popular treatment, and check whether promotion clients come back at the usual price. ### How fast should a med spa reply to an ad enquiry? As fast as you reasonably can, ideally within minutes during opening hours. People who fill in an ad form often contact more than one spa, and the first useful reply with real consult times tends to get the booking. ### How do I market a new med spa? Start with a clear page for each treatment, a complete local search profile and a fast reply to enquiries. From the first week, book second visits before clients leave and ask for reviews once results show, so the early clients become the base the spa grows from. ## Related resources - [Trust](https://agentblue.io/trust) ## Which idea booked a second visit last month? Fill in the four rows of the sheet above for last month and pick the weakest one to work on first. If you would rather have the replies and reminders set up and run for you, we can look at your ideas together on a free 30-minute demo call. [Book a demo](https://agentblue.io/demo) Source page: