COVID-19 Recovery: Why Spas Need to Up Their Email Marketing Game

Hello, spa owners! How are you holding up this week? If you live here in North America, then you’ll know that economies are beginning to reopen (or are planning to reopen) personal services, which includes the spa industry… meaning that you’re still either in reopening limbo or are scrambling to prepare safe and effective ways to open your doors (and market your spa business in a COVID-19 world!)

These past couple of months, pivoting effectively has been at the heart of each and every one of my live trainings: changing your spa model in the wake of COVID-19, reevaluating your financial goals, prepping your spa for a safe reopening, redefining success as a spa business owner during times of crisis, and why you should be avoiding gift cards (and other retail pitfalls) during COVID-19 are all examples of the spa business adjustments I’ve spoken about during the coronavirus outbreak.

One of the biggest shifts I haven’t focused on yet, however? With COVID-19 hitting our industry hard with closures all over the world (plus being some of the last businesses to reopen), it’s become clear to me that, despite strong pre-coronavirus sales, the spa industry was not at all prepared to adjust parts of their models to online services and retail sales. Why? Because no one likes change, especially when it comes to two things: how we market and how we communicate.

Up until COVID-19, the majority of the spa industry has been relying on in-person, in-spa conversations to communicate updates, education, and promotion. The issue? The “I’m going to be seeing these clients in person anyway!” excuse just isn’t going to fly anymore. For years, you’ve heard spa business coaches like me, Daniella Woerner and Maxine Drake bang on about how digital marketing, digital communications, and digital services need to be pushed to the forefront of our business plans… and now is the time to pivot in order to leverage your sales, improve the consistency of your revenue, and bolster both the retaining and gaining of clients.

And one of the quickest, easiest, and most effective ways you can start doing that? By turning your attention to email marketing.

Why Email Marketing Should Be Your First Stop for Education, Promotions, and Client Communication

Email marketing has myriad benefits, including, but not limited, to:

• Hyper-targeted audiences, meaning that you can send those promotions to exactly who is most likely to buy in.

• Easy integration with other media, such as your website or social platforms. The result? Increased traffic to those areas!

• Cost-effective, intuitive platforms; many email marketing platforms offer drag-and-drop templates, easy-to-personalize merge tags, and free subscriptions based on your business needs.

• Clear-cut metrics, making it simple to analyze what’s working well and what needs improving. (In fact, here’s a list by Mailchimp that details every email marketing benchmark by industry! The beauty industry currently rests at an open rate of nearly 17%!)

• A platform that allows you to deliver personalized, educational or promotional content faster than blog-writing would.

Plus, the stats don’t lie. In email marketing:

• Marketers who utilized segmented email campaigns reported as much of a 760% increase in revenue.

• 59% of respondents say email marketing influences their purchasing behaviours.

• 80% of business owners believe email marketing positively influences client retention.

• 99% of consumers check their email daily.

The #1 Rebuttal from Spa Owners? “But Kirsten, I’m Already on Social Media! Doesn’t That Fill the Same Digital Marketing Role?”

No. 

No, no, no.

While social media marketing is a fantastic component of digital marketing, email marketing is an invaluable method for spa owners to communicate with all clients. Why? Because:

• Not all followers will see your posts.

• Beyond that, not all followers will be on the same platforms you’re currently using.

It’s as simple as that! Not using email marketing is throwing away the opportunity to hone in on a targeted audience that is ready and waiting to consume your content.

While social media marketing and email marketing are the perfect combination (especially if you use your email marketing to direct traffic to your social media platforms by reusing your Facebook Lives, linking directly to your platforms, etc.), one can’t replace the other. And if you’re new to email marketing, or know that you can be utilizing it better? Well, follow the steps below to get yourself started!

How You Should Utilize Email Marketing as a Spa Business Owner

• Stick with the 80/20 rule. What does that mean? Well, we never want to be too “sales-y”; being sales-y right out of the gate is like showing up to a party and only talking about yourself. We never want to be those people, right? Right. An easy way to avoid this is by providing 80% educational content and 20% promotional content. Not only will your audience not be put off by an immediate sales pitch, the education you provide will make clients trust and respect your authority in esthetics, thus shortening your sales cycle because your audience is now “warm” (read: familiar and trusting of you) rather than “cold” (read: brand-new and skeptical of your business!) 

Author Gary Vaynerchuk details this powerful strategy in his book, “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World”. It ranks as one of my top must-reads!

• Use it as an opportunity to shed your old way of doing things. No one likes change; it’s a fact of life. However, the spa business owners who have come out on top during COVID-19— including my coaching and digital marketing clients— are the ones who have embraced email marketing as a new way of communicating, educating, and promoting services to clients. Spa businesses have thrived by sending out weekly (or, at the minimum, once-monthly) email newsletters to connect with clients and promote virtual services and eCommerce offers.

• Start email list-building. Most of you have an email list already and don’t even realize it! Whether you’ve had an opt-in in the past (like “Enter your email here to get 10% off!”) or freebies in exchange for emails, you have the start of your email list. The benefit of having an email list rather than social media audiences are that, as mentioned in my first tip, your sales cycle will be shorter because these people are already at least somewhat familiar with your business… which means great things for your revenue!

• Test, test, test. Like with every marketing tactic, be sure to consistently be looking at what can be improved! For example, a few months ago I saw my open rates declining and I instead adjusted my sending time to be 10PM PT on Tuesdays… and guess what? A 10% increase in opens! Reviewing your metrics even once a month will be enough to tip you off to what you should be adjusting until you find your sweet spot.

Why Email Marketing Matters, Whether Your Spa is Reopening Right Now or Not

Whether your spa is reopening as we speak or you’ll still be focusing your efforts on eCommerce during your physical location’s closure, now is the time to pivot to email marketing: the spa industry was one of the first to close and will be one of the last to reopen and, as COVID-19 is forecasted to stick around for the majority of 2020, we as spa business owners need to be equipped to promote, communicate, and educate effectively regardless of the situation.

Feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of diving into email marketing, or are experimenting now but aren’t sure what (or how) to optimize? Reach out today for hands-on help or join my free spa owners-only Facebook group to connect and communicate with spa owners just like you.

I want to hear from you: are you currently using email marketing?