Top 10 tips for marketing your aesthetic business

If you’re thinking about making the leap and setting up an aesthetic business for yourself, it’s important to consider how you can differentiate yourself from your competitors.

Here are 10 key steps that, if you do them well, will help your aesthetic business stand out from the crowd.

1. Optimise your website

Your website will often be the first point of contact prospective clients have with you. In this regard, it’s  your ‘shop window’, and a reflection of your business. Think about the impression you want people to have about your business. Distil it down to a few key adjectives that you’d like to define you – knowledgeable, competent, professional, friendly, helpful, etc – and make sure your website is all those things.

2. Make the most of social media

Whether you’re a fan or not, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, etc are great tools for building a personality for your brand. Posting regular and relevant content is great way to keep in contact with your clients, and encouraging them to share and interact with your posts is a great way to broaden your reach – and potentially find new clients.

3. List in directories

Well-written directory listings that really showcase your business, and make it easy for people to contact you, are a must. Make sure your business is listed in all the most important directories, including the generic (Yellow Pages, etc), but also any good industry-specific directories you can find.

4. Consider joint ventures

Think about which kinds of companies may be open to opportunities to work together, and make contact with them. For an aesthetic business, companies that work within the beauty industry but offer different treatments are a great place to start (nail bars, hairdressers, etc). Organising joint events or having reciprocal offers for your respective clients are two simple ideas you can both benefit from.

5. Create extra special offers

Everybody likes to feel they’re getting a good deal, but it’s easy for people to feel jaded by the same old 10% off deals. Create unique and irresistible promotions – perhaps taking the opportunity to introduce people to a treatment they haven’t had before – and market them wherever you can.

6. Advertise wisely

Whether sticking to local printed publications or investing in online and other media, make your message count. People are bombarded by advertising all day, every day, so make yours memorable! Striking imagery goes a long way in print, so if you can afford to use a great designer it should be well worth the investment. Consider including a special offer code so you can track the advert’s success.

7. Encourage referrals

This is something that many of your less marketing-savvy competitors may not consider. Think of some great ways you can incentivise your happy clients so they have even more reason to recommend you to people they know.

8. Use emails

Maintaining an up-to-date client mailing list is free, yet extremely valuable for your business. Sending out regular updates and offers by email (but not so often that people unsubscribe – around once every two weeks is a good guide) is a great way to stay in touch with your clients and let them know about any new treatments they may be interested in.

9. Embrace blogging

Posting weekly content on your own website not only lets Google know your site is being regularly updated, but also provides plenty more information to help the Google bots when it comes to ranking your site for relevant search terms. Blogs are a great way to easily add new content, and if you can, try and make yours so interesting that people feel compelled to share them!

10. Post in forums/information sites

Creating profiles and making regular useful contributions to aesthetic forums and information sites is a great way to build your credibility as an aesthetic professional, and boost the reputation of your aesthetic business.

 

Find out more

The Aesthetics Knowledge Hub is a great place for you to find answers to frequently asked questions. We recommend having a look at the Business and Marketing Knowledge Hub. Here you will find out key information on the aesthetic industry.

 

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3 great reasons for dentists to take a Botox training course

Are you a dentist looking for more from your career? Perhaps you’d like to continue using your practical skills and aesthetic eye, but in a new way – and increasing your income in the process?

At Cosmetic Courses, we’ve spent the last 15 years training dentists in Botox and Dermal Filler techniques. Some were looking to offer aesthetic treatments part-time alongside their existing practice, and others were looking for a complete career change.

If you are a dentist thinking about your next move, read on to find out what aesthetic training could do for you.

The top 3 ways a Botox training course could enhance your career

 1. You can offer Botox treatment as an additional service to your dental patients

Some dentists we train are looking to add Botox and dermal filler treatments around the mouth to their existing portfolio, so they can enhance the dental service they provide. Treatment to add volume to lips, improve nasiolabial folds and reduce marionette lines can be combined with dental treatment to give patients a more dramatic improvement to the entire mouth area. This is probably the ‘easiest win’ as it represents a brand new revenue stream from your existing client base.

 2. You can attract a whole new clientele looking purely for aesthetic treatments

Non-surgical procedures like Botox and dermal fillers can attract new patients who would not have come to your practice for dental treatment alone. These patients may come to you for aesthetic treatment in the first instance, and once they have built up a relationship with you, may also choose you for their dental treatment. Expanding your aesthetic repertoire further to include treatments that complement Botox and fillers, for example Dermaroller and Chemical Peels, will give your patients even more reasons to keep coming back to you.

 3.  You can train up colleagues within your practice to perform the techniques

When you have completed your own Botox training course, you will be able to instruct your fellow dentists in the techniques. Lots of our dental delegates at Cosmetic Courses have gone on to train other dentists and hygienists within their practice in non-surgical treatments.

Having more colleagues trained in the techniques will not only increase your capacity to offer aesthetic treatments at your practice, it’ll give you the flexibility to go off and learn more aesthetic techniques while your colleagues ‘hold the fort’. You’ll also be better placed to respond to patient demand, adjusting the balance of your dental and aesthetic appointments to meet patients’ needs. If more people are looking for aesthetic treatments than dental appointments, you’ll be able to accommodate them – and crucially, have a constant revenue stream.

For more information on our Botox training courses, or any of our programme of aesthetic training courses, please contact the team on 01844 390110 or email [email protected].

 

 

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Spotlight on Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy

Before it came to prominence as the ‘Vampire Facelift’, Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy (PRP Therapy) was quietly being used for other applications in general medicine.

The technique has historically been used for a surprising number of clinical treatments and surgical procedures. These have included treating problematic wounds and facial bone defects, as well as cosmetic surgery.

In its latest incarnation, as an increasingly popular non-surgical aesthetic treatment, Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy uses the regenerative properties of a patient’s blood plasma to induce skin rejuvenation.

What does Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy involve?

The first part of the treatment involves taking a blood sample from a patient’s arm. This sample is then spun in a centrifuge to isolate the dense platelet-rich plasma that will form the basis of the treatment.

A numbing cream is liberally applied to the patient’s face, and the specially isolated plasma is injected into the face. This can be all over, or targeted at specific problem areas. After treatment, the patient’s skin may be slightly red, but this is usually all.

The reinjected platelets are rich in beneficial growth factors, which they release into the skin. This encourages the fibroblasts to produce more collagen and elastin over time, which helps to stimulate repair and regeneration of the skin.

After a course of Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy (three sessions is recommended), a patient’s skin will gradually begin to look more radiant and youthful as the treatment continues to work.

How about the side effects – are there any?

The beauty of PRP Therapy is that because it uses no synthetic products, just the patient’s own blood cells, it is extremely safe to administer. Most patients tolerate the treatment very well, with the overall risk of side effects such as bruising or swelling very low.

The benefits of Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy for your practice

PRP Therapy is a safe, effective rejuvenating treatment backed up by clinical data. Several studies, including one in the Annals of Dermatology in November 2011, have concluded that the treatment can activate fibroblasts and lead to new collagen formation.

It is a very low-cost treatment to perform once you’ve invested in a centrifuge, as it requires minimal supplies for each patient. A course of three PRP Therapy treatments is usually charged out at around £600, making it an extremely profitable addition to your practice.

Training in Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy can be completed in one day and costs only £295 + VAT. To find out more about adding PRP Therapy to your repertoire, please contact our team on 01844 390110 or email [email protected].

 

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