Biggest Marketing Flop

[Aviram]

another vote for the yellow page ad FLOP! and what an expensive one, phew.

I'd say my greatest success has also been website, and referral program.

 

[sunlightsky]

Like Sandy, we've never paid for advertising, and probably never will (at least as long as we have our massage practice...our future is another story).

However, we've still had ideas that flopped LOL.

We've done weekday specials. (They're still on our website, but they're fixin to be taken down.) We've done Early Bird specials to fill that first 4.30pm spot (we do weekday evenings). The only ppl that called on that (2, if I remember correctly) wanted lunchtime appointments or evening appointments--obviously they hadn't read the website. So far the only hit has been the Friday Happy Hour, save $15 off a 2-hr massage--about 3 ppl have taken us up on that. I got one person to do a Lymphatic 1-hr (save $20 off that), and that was it. I have a referral credit, refer 3 ppl and get a free hour, but that hasn't happened. A couple of ppl refer, but it's been 1 or 2 here and there. I give them the option to save up the time credit, or to tack on the 20 mins onto their next session.

Flyers didn't work. Free chair massage (waaaay back when I did it) didn't work.

Successes: Reschedule/Frequent Flyer discount--schedule your next appt on the same day you get a massage and save $ off your next appt (as long as it's within a certain reasonable time period from that date...nothing 3 months from now or anything). Another success was when we offer a student discount ONLY to those going thru some kind of medical-type school: MD, DC, DO, LaC, ND, PT, RN, etc. We had a few takers on that one--it was a nice discount, but nothing that left us feeling like we let ourselves get taken advaneforum.xxxe of.

Skip the paid advertising if you can.

Hugs,
~Jyoti