Here’s why this is important: You’re a brilliantly trained practitioner but if you don’t learn some basic marketing skills, you aren’t going to get any customers.
Read on to find out simple ways even a total marketing novice can attract paying clients.
You’ve got your wellness business all sorted. You’ve got a brand, a website and a perfect list of services. Now you need to get the word out there about who you are and what you do!
Not sure where to start? Here are my 5 top tips for marketing your wellness business:
Network and tell people what you do
This is the oldest trick in the book but it’s often overlooked in a world filled with 100% online businesses.
While the internet is a fabulous resource for building a brand and selling your services, it isn’t everything. Nothing beats meeting people face-to-face and making real life connections. IRL = In Real Life, if you will!
Networking can seem really intimidating but there are so many people doing it in a relaxed and informal way these days.
I would highly recommend networks like Girl Crew and Girl Tribe Gang for female entrepreneurs in particular [UPDATE: Sadly both of these networks have ceased as of 2021]. Searching EventBrite and other event platforms – even Facebook – for free and affordable networking events is a potential gold-mine.
Don’t just limit yourself to networking events where you think you need a particular niche to attend. Getting into the practise of introducing yourself to anyone, telling them who you are and what you do will stand you in great stead for when you are faced with your ideal client down the road. Plus you just never know who that person could recommend you to.
Get proud of what you do and prepared to tell everyone, even that lady in front of you at Starbucks.
Don’t rely too heavily on social media
Leading on from IRL opportunities, don’t get sucked into the idea that spending hours on social media strategies will get you everything you want in your business.
Social media at the end of the day is about being social. It’s a great way to grow a brand and to help your customers get familiar with you and what you’re about. But it’s not where most people will be buying regularly.
Try to focus on one or two social media platforms at the most and limit the hours you pour in. Think about how you can get people into conversations in direct messages (DMs) where they are more likely to ask for help and advice and move to buying from you, than just commenting on your posts.
Start a mailing list
While social media is busy and overwhelming for your potential customers, their inboxes are little sanctuaries curated just for them.
91% of people say they check their emails daily, and 66% have made a purchase online as a direct result of a marketing email.
To grow your email list make sure you’ve got one set up on your website, and that you offer a ‘lead magnet’ – a freebie that answers a particular problem for a specific person.
Once people are on your list, you’ll be able to send them lots more valuable content when you create blog posts and resources as well as letting them know when you have products and services to offer them.
Guest write for others and get seen as an expert
Marketing isn’t just the traditional forms of promotion you’d expect – a website, leaflets and adverts. It’s also about being seen as an expert in your field and becoming the go-to person on a particular topic.
A great way to achieve this is to guest write for other people’s platforms and publications, to show off your expertise. If you are in a network or community, see if they would be interested in having you write an exclusive guest post for them on your chosen topic. It will help them with content and open you up to a new audience. You can also ask to add a link to join your mailing list to the end of the piece.
Another way to get featured and seen as an expert is to sign up for PR alerts and engage in conversation online. If you’re on Twitter do a regular search on #journorequest to see if you can answer journalists and offer a contribution to a piece they’re working on.
Other handy services to round up journalist requests are things like HARO (Help A Reporter Out) and SourceBottle – where journalist queries and searches for quotes are rounded up and delivered direct to your inbox.
Social proof your way to success
Social proof is all about getting others to say how fabulous your products and services are. Anyone can say they’re the greatest therapist / PT / yoga instructor / health coach.
Having other people sing your praises will help reinforce your value and do your marketing for you.
Think about ways you can encourage your customers and clients to share your content and their experience to their own circle. This doesn’t need to be done in a formal ambassador way. It could just be asking people to tag your product or share your service on their social media. Or maybe asking to share direct messages of thanks you receive on your social channels as evidence of the praise you receive.
Always try to collect testimonials and feature these on your website and on social media too. If you’re selling a product or service online always have a few quotes in there saying how great you and your products are. It all adds up to a bigger and stronger picture than your copy alone can achieve.
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