Massage Therapy Marketing

Networking is essential to a massage therapy marketing plan, but it is not enough on its own. To establish a massage therapy business, the therapist will need to do more than just ask friends to tell their friends and post a message to Facebook pals. The therapist can depend on very happy clients to let others know—but again, it is not as simple as it seems. For every ten people who leave the office satisfied and promise to help spread the word, one will bring in another client. Over time, all those new clients add up; but in the beginning they are not sufficient to earn a living for the therapist.

The therapist needs to develop a well-rounded massage therapy marketing plan. Since the new practitioner has just finished school and does not have enough clients yet to provide a living, the marketing plan will have to be creative. Most beginning therapists just do not have enough money in their budgets to place print, Internet, radio, and television ads. In order to have an impact, ads must run for a period of time and appear in more than one medium. Otherwise, the money is wasted.

The massage therapy marketing plan must depend upon how well the therapist can demonstrate his or her skills by giving away services for a short time.

The therapist should make a list of places where people feel stressed, tired, or in pain. These places can be senior centers or assisted-living homes; thriving, high-pressure businesses; hospitals; and sites of marathons or other sports competitions. The list can be expanded by adding places where people go to take care of their bodies, such as health food stores, beauty salons, wellness centers, and health clubs.

The therapist might trade a massage with a graphic artist for the design of a flyer. The flyer should focus on the therapist’s long-term interests instead of the fact that he or she has just gotten licensed. For example, “As a competitive gymnast, I learned how the body moves at a young age. This interest led to studies in kinesiology, anatomy, and massage.” The flyer must include contact information.

The flyers can be left at target markets. One way to persuade a potential market to accept the flyers is to offer to do free 15-minute massages one morning, afternoon, or evening. When a business agrees (and some will not), the therapist should supply a stack of flyers that tell when he or she will be on-site. An easel with a poster might also be used. The therapist must understand that providing the space is a gift and should not expect the company to advertise, supply snacks, or do anything else to further the therapist’s business. Either before or after the event, a gift certificate should be presented to the company owner or manager as well as to any employees who are especially helpful to the massage therapist.