“What is the secret to getting more ideal clients into my spa business?”

It’s a question we here at Kirsten Foss Coaching field frequently: “Why are other spa owners more successful than me? Is it because they went to business school, or have more money to play with?”

While it would be nice for us to say that there’s a magical secret ingredient that generates a consistent client flow (and, in turn, consistent revenue!), the fact of the matter is that it’s simply not the case… and neither is it the case that spa business owners who go to business school or have more money are automatically more successful! Instead, there are a series of factors that make or break how successful spa business owners are at new client acquisition. 

One of those factors is lead magnets.

As my spa marketing manager, Delia, and I have discussed in prior episodes of Spa Business Mastery, lead magnets are one of the most underutilized tools when it comes to getting ideal clients into spas. 

Let’s dive into what lead magnets are and how you should be integrating them into your existing marketing systems:

What is a Lead Magnet?

Firstly, let’s recap what a lead magnet is: also known as an “opt-in”, a lead magnet is a way for ideal prospective clients to opt-in to your email list. This is usually done by way of offering a freebie, exclusive deal, or other limited-time offer in exchange for the ideal prospective client’s permission to be added to your email list. 

“The purpose of a lead magnet is to get more of those ideal clients interested in your services and what you offer so that you can start communicating with them on a regular basis,” Delia explains.

A lead magnet is a core part of your client acquisition marketing and can be easily automated across multiple platforms (not just email marketing!), which we’ll get into a bit later. They’re so effective because they tap into the mentality that prospective clients hate being marketed to, but love buying; because of this, giving them a freebie or great deal right off the bat puts them in the mindset to want to book or buy from you in the near future!

When spa owners ask, “What is the secret to getting more ideal clients in my spa business?” another one of the reasons why we advocate for lead magnets is that you’re ensuring that you’re attracting ideal and qualified clients that are crazy about what you offer! Types of lead magnets include:

• The Evergreen Lead Magnet: An evergreen lead magnet remains static and relevant to your spa’s services or retail offerings. These are the easiest type of lead magnets to start off with, as they don’t require swapping-out as frequently as the two below
• The Seasonal Lead Magnet: These types of lead magnets are perfect if you have a service that will be running for a few months (or a few months of each year). This commonly includes acne programs or seasonal facial programs. Free or discounted consults are one of the most popular forms of seasonal lead magnets
• The Time-Sensitive Lead Magnet: Online or in-person spa events are the perfect examples of times when a time-sensitive lead magnet would work in your favour. Lead magnets for these examples could be a free or discounted limited-time ticket price

Lead magnets frequently take the shape of landing pages, which is a one-off page attached to your website on which prospective ideal clients will fill out their information before receiving their freebie or exclusive offer via email.

How Lead Magnets Make Your Marketing Automation Bulletproof 

Your lead magnet is part of your automated marketing system: upon a potential client subscribing to your email list, the ideal email marketing sequence will kick off with a welcome series, which is a series of 6 - 12 emails that are automatically kick-started upon sign-on. This is known as the “nurture sequence”, which is a welcome series that should focus primarily on education, sharing more about your biz, and planting the seeds of why they should trust you as an expert in your field.

This ties directly into how email marketing is one of the easiest ways to communicate what’s happening in your spa, regardless of whether the client in question has purchased or booked from you yet: it is more consistent than social media, as it doesn’t fall prey to outages nearly as often, and effectively targets both existing and prospective clients who may not be on social media.

It’s also more effective than in-person spa conversations: because in-spa conversations require you to have had a client book first, estheticians in my spa owners-only Facebook group, Spa Business Mastery, also report frequently forgetting (or feeling awkward about!) starting those retail or service-based conversations. Email marketing eliminates that awkwardness by removing the need to have the conversation face-to-face.

“What is the Secret to Getting Ideal Clients In My Spa Business?” Incorporating Lead Magnets Into Your Marketing! Here’s How

Now that you’ve been briefed on the magic of lead magnets, here’s how to make a magnet consistently drive traffic to your email list:

• Facebook: 
• Post about your lead magnet weekly from a different angle each time; include a direct link to your landing page and ensure you focus on how it will solve your prospective ideal clients’ problems
• Pin one of these posts to the top of your page so that it’s the first thing new visitors see
• Create a graphic with a call-to-action to use as your Facebook cover photo
• In the “About” section of your page, add your landing page link and description
• Don’t be afraid to cross-post these posts to your personal profile as well for maximum visibility

• Instagram: 
• Add your landing page link to your business page’s bio
• Like Facebook, create weekly posts from different angles about your landing page with a call-to-action to find the link in your bio 
• As a bonus, these posts can be the same as Facebook! Just remember to leverage hashtags on Instagram and that direct links are not clickable on Instagram posts
• Whenever a new prospective client follows your page, you can automate a welcome message that includes a link to your landing page (which can be done for your Facebook page as well!)

• Website:
• Incorporate a pop-up with a direct link to your landing page (but remember to delay its timing, since no one wants to receive a pop-up 0000.1 seconds after visiting a website)
• Seed your lead magnet in your blogs
• Create a specific lead magnet section or featured image on your site

• Email:
• Add a direct link to your landing page in your email signature with a description (for example: “Receive a FREE….”
• Add a call-to-action in your email blasts for your email list to spread the word about your lead magnet

• Podcast:
• If you’re a guest on a podcast, be sure to use this opportunity to both mention it during the show and include the link to your landing page in your bio

• Networking Events:
• Add your landing page URL or QR code to your business card to hand out at events

•  Paid Ads:
• On social media and/or search engines, paid ads can also drive traffic to your email opt-in and can complement your organic marketing efforts

If you need more brand awareness for your business...you need a lead magnet. 

Look at it as the entry point for new clients coming into your spa business at a very low customer acquisition cost to you, especially if you choose to advertise your opt-in organically.

Need help getting the ball rolling on your lead magnet? Contact us today.