Four Marketing Challenges Med Spa Owners Face — and How to Address Them Head on with Better Positioning
By Elisa Csiszer, Founder/Principal, Positioned Advisory Services LLC
The med spa industry has grown more than fivefold since 2010, expanding from roughly 1,600 U.S. locations to well over 10,000 today, with new locations opening at a rate approaching 1,000 a year. That kind of growth is good news for the industry and good news for patients, but it also means more competition and crowded local markets – creating challenges for owners trying to build something that meaningfully stands out.
Most clinicians-turned-business owners, including med spa owners, were never formally taught marketing or how to strategically message and market themselves. Layer in the fact that for many med spas marketing is run by the most social-media knowledgeable staffer. Then consider that most owners can’t pay for an ongoing contract with a full-service marketing agency. Suddenly it’s not so surprising that many owners are left feeling uncertain about how to better market their business in a differentiated way.
Whether you sound just like the competition (or is it that the competition sounds just like you?) – there is good news and it isn’t to just outspend the med spa across town. Rather the more effective response is simply to “out-position.”
Not sure what that means exactly? Simply put, “positioning” is all about getting crystal clear about why your business is ideal to serve your favorite kinds of clients and making the decision to become incredibly intentional about conveying that in every touchpoint.
And before you wonder to yourself “isn’t this niching and won’t it mean less growth and opportunity?” I’d point to the fact that time and time again – across a variety of industries intentional marketing to a specific target segment has meant the opportunity to improve value of the client relationship (through premium pricing, length of relationships, etc.) and increase efficiency when it comes to attracting, attaining, and even serving that said client.
Lastly, in an effort to put a pin in all potential positioning fears – I would add that while strategic positioning is about becoming magnetic to the people you want to serve most – at the end of the day – no one but you (and maybe your business partner) has the authority to turn away prospects who want your services.
So, with that “primer on positioning” let’s look at four common marketing challenges med spas often experience that could actually be the symptoms of poor positioning and what you can do to help address them.
1. Your business identity doesn’t stand on its own so prospects compare the “obvious”
Walk into many med spas and you’ll find a comparable service menu: Botox, filler, a laser platform or two, maybe a membership program.
When the service list is nearly identical from one practice to the next, prospects will make quick comparisons on obvious factors like pricing, location, or some before-and-after photos. As for established clients, they may differentiate based on their favorite service provider.
While this isn’t uncommon or necessarily bad (after all incredible Nurse Injectors or Master Estheticians can be worth their weight in gold) – it may not be ideal for the long-term posterity of your business.
Good locations, competitive pricing, and competent, personable staff are all assets. However, if you desire the ability to charge premiums, attract a specific clientele from all over town, or in the very least – avoid situations where your client’s loyalty lives and dies by their favorite provider, it may be worthwhile to evaluate and invest more intentionally in defining and crafting your med spa’s strategic brand positioning and messaging.
If you aren’t certain if this applies to your business, consider reflecting on your ability to separate two things that often get tangled: the personal brands and reputations of select people on staff vs. the brand of the business/practice (e.g. the standards and patient experience that would hold true no matter who’s holding the syringe). How well are you able to decipher between the personal and business brands, while also deliberately leveraging them in a way that aligns and feeds off of each other?
Want to really see this in action? Here’s a useful gut check: ask three staff members and three customers, independently, what makes your practice different from the med spa closest to you and then see how those responses compare to your own marketing efforts and customer reviews. If there’s a lot of inconsistency (or possibly even some blank stares) that’s a positioning problem and it’s worth closing before you spend any more effort or money on marketing.
2. The person owning your marketing is good at being on-trend, but not so good at being on-brand
In the time of social media, most owners already know they “should” be posting consistently. Fewer feel confident about what to post, in what voice, without it looking like every other med spa’s feed. Since they already have so much on their plate, they have shoved these questions to the back of their mind and handed over marketing responsibility and content creation with one or two team members (who are often also trying to do their “actual” job). Often times, these “marketing-responsible” associates have an eye for what’s aesthetic and certainly know what’s trending but unfortunately chasing whatever trending audio or format is working for someone else usually produces content that may be on-trend, but off-brand and forgotten by the time prospects are looking for your service.
Content gets easier once it’s anchored to what you have intentionally defined as being core and unique to your business. Furthermore, once it’s anchored and your messaging becomes consistent (vs. trend chasing), the impact, associations, and memorability compound; increasing the chance that the content actually differentiates and influences decision making.
Having such an anchor or intentional agreed upon strategic direction can help ensure your team doesn’t communicate on behalf of your practice in a way that would convey a “split personality” (even if multiple team members are plugging in to help keep you active online). Having strategy and structure is a must when you don’t have huge budgets and teams as it can keep you consistent while also providing a lens to ensure content is appropriate for your unique brand. Furthermore, aligning on a direction and strategy can also establish guardrails for something undeniably important in healthcare and aesthetics, which is building trust.
3. You’re running on one-off promotions even though business goals would be better achieved by attracting higher lifetime-value clients
Generic positioning has a predictable side effect: it attracts people who are choosing on the one variable your marketing gave them permission to compare — price. Groupon-style, one-off promotions serve the goal of trial, but they also may tend to attract price-sensitive, lower lifetime-value clients that didn’t choose your particular practice because of its strengths (and may not even value your strengths at all).
Loyal, higher-lifetime-value patients who are actively seeking a provider that is “right for them” tend to respond to messaging that reflects their specific goals and language back to them, rather than a procedure menu. That starts with real clarity about who your practice is best suited to serve and if you aren’t already certain – requires a strategic partner that can go deep with you to figure it out.
Practices that write and communicate to that specific person, consistently, across the website, ad copy, and in the consultation process, naturally filter for the patients who value what makes the practice different — because the messaging already told them what that is. The patients who are only comparing price may self-select out but depending on your business goals – that could be exactly the point.
4. Your marketing strategy is giving “spray and pray” energy
Most med spa owners are stretched thin, choosing between social media, paid ads, SEO, email, events, and referral programs — often without explicitly thinking about where ideal clients already spend their time. “Spraying and praying” – especially with already limited resources is rarely ever a successful strategy.
If you’re not currently tracking where new patients say they heard about you, that’s a relatively easy, lower-cost fix than any new campaign, and it will tell you more than most marketing advice will. However, don’t overlook the importance of sequencing strategic efforts in addition to tracking. Determining budget and channel decisions are easy to optimize once positioning is clear and messaging is solid because you are now locked in on who you need to communicate with and what you need to say. That’s when the magic happens. But watch out because skipping even just one step or going out of sequence can trip up an entire strategy.
The Common Thread
All four of these challenges trace back to the same conclusion – when your business’ positioning is sharp then messaging and marketing execution can flow more effortlessly and efficiently. Guesswork is removed and content and communication can become more intentional. And while none of this is as complex as most of what you’ve had to do to get where you are today the reality is that for most the fastest, best way to get to a solid, well-positioned foundation often takes an outside, in-depth, and structured look — not another round of creative content, not some long ongoing contract, but a sprint that will get you to clarity and a strategic, yet actionable plan and it’s worth doing before the next bout of marketing effort and spend, not after.
Elisa Csiszer is the founder of Positioned Advisory Services (PAS), a boutique consultancy that helps med spa owners and other clinician-founders build distinct positioning and messaging so they attract their ideal patients and clients. She brings 15+ years of positioning, messaging, and marketing experience with major pharmaceutical and healthcare brands across oncology, dermatology, cardiology, radiology, and medical technology. Learn more about our flagship consulting engagement The Clarity Sprint at positionedadvisory.com/#offerings
