Are you just getting by in your massage business or are you thriving?

If you're a massage therapist or small business owner, how do you get found in the noise?

Online presence has become even more important this past year, with trends of finding therapists online continuing to rise in 2021. It takes some time to establish your online presence but increasing your brand awareness could very well double your income.

Branding

Branding is probably the most important marketing tool you'll need to create before you establish your online presence.

Branding is more than a logo.

While our first thought about branding is a recognizable logo, it's more than that. Your brand is the personality of your business - it's how your clients perceive you before you've had a chance to talk with them.

It's colors, typography, style, and tone too. Your images and colors should flow from one marketing platform to the next. It should be reflected in your location, business office, clothing choices, and massage rooms.

If we described branding in one word it would be "experience."

Branding is your client's experience - from their first introduction to your business.

If the tone on your website is cheerful, your clients will expect you to be friendly as well. If you have images of a spa setting and they come in to find bare walls and medical charts, they're likely to feel disappointed before you get your hands on them. The tone you portray online sets your client's expectations.

When creating your brand, think about what you want to accomplish in your business and what clients you want to attract, and tailor the client experience to that. Then form a service path that walks you through your client's experience from their first introduction to your business online through their first session and beyond.

Having a written business plan, marketing plan, and style sheet that details all your branding colors, typography, and general rules for advertising and interaction can help you manage your branding.

Website

Your website is your secretary. It answers all the FAQs about your hours, rates, and products, and explains what you can do for your clients. It should be well-organized, easy to navigate, and work to keep visitors on your site longer.

Most websites will have 4-5 visible pages. These are pages that your audience can see and navigate. Then there are hidden pages. These behind-the-scenes pages give you something to link to within your website. The visitor can view them but can't navigate directly to them. It's an organizational strategy to make sites user-friendly.

Pages your site absolute needs:

• Home page - Tells your client how to navigate the site and what they can expect from your business
• Contact page - Shows your client how to get in touch with you. This should display phone numbers, email addresses, business locations, and social media links.

Additional pages that are important:

• About page - A common misconception is that the About page is about you, the business owner. Clients are curious about who's working on them, but they're more curious about what you can do for them. Use this page to list your skills and how they can help your clients reach their wellness goals.
• Service page - Keep the customer's experience in mind when writing descriptions for services. Engage the five senses.

Other visible pages could be necessary, such as a blog or policy page. I highly recommend that you have a lead capture form on your website to build your email list, avoid auto-play for music or video, and map out your website on paper before you create it.

Optimize your website for mobile.

Your website may look great on your computer, but does it translate to mobile? A quick Google search will show between 50 and 70% of all sales and website views are from mobile devices. Techjury.net says that 80% of the sites Alexa returns are mobile-friendly.

If you're not optimized, you're being left in the dust.

Integrate your sites

If you have an active professional association website, a scheduling site, a products site, a regular website, and a Facebook page, it can be confusing for your clients. Do your business - and your potential clients - a favor and make your website your main source of information for your business.

Professional organization websites are a great starter, but they're not practical for running your business. If your website doesn't support scheduling or commerce, link your third-party vendors in to minimize the potential for your clients to be confused.

Think about purchasing a custom website. A great design is focused on the client experience and accessibility. And if you can make more money per hour with your hands-on clients than it would take to hire a designer, then hire a designer. Websites take hours to write and design. Professionals can save you time, money, and headaches.

Social Media Networking

Have you ever heard the sayings, "your network is your net worth" and "it's not what you know, it's who you know?"

Networking is a key ingredient in business success, but the way that's being done has changed with the coming of the internet. The world has become a small place, and it's easier than ever to expand your network.

The basis for networking is finding people you have things in common with and talking about those things.

People love to talk about themselves when you ask the right questions. If you're looking for physicians to network with, find those who work with the same patients that you do. If you're into sports therapies, but really enjoy basketball and want to work with basketball players, find physical therapists and sports physicians who focus on basketball.

Kick up a conversation with them; send them a message acknowledging one of their accomplishments and why that impresses you, but don't try to solicit business from them yet. Your goal is to build a relationship.

If you're using social media to network, you need to make your personal profile shine. The more you message new contacts and comment on posts, the more people are going to click on your profile. Include your website in your intro, use your featured photos to your advantage and update your cover photo to reflect your business goals.

Mobile Apps

Mobile apps keep you in front of your clients. It helps you stand out from other massage businesses, builds loyalty, boosts your brand recognition, and improves your customer experience.

Some business management software, like MindBody and 17Hats, comes with a feature that allows your clients to access their accounts. They can send emails and alerts and allow clients to see rewards and upcoming sessions. 17Hats makes it easy to set up a service path and create a workflow that is automatic.

If you want to go the extra step and spend a little extra money on marketing, you can have an app built for you. These can get pricey depending on the company you use, but if you're a DIY-er, there are no-code and low-code options for small businesses.

Directories

I am a believer in directories. If you're not on Massage Network, do it now! There are many free options on the world wide web for listing yourself and your business. Massage Network is a niche directory (coming soon) that focuses on therapists, making it easy for massage consumers to find a therapist that matches their wellness goals.

Hundreds of general directories are out there. Well-known listing sites like Yelp, Google, Yahoo!, Bing, TripAdvisor, MapQuest, and Foursquare are the more popular options and have high traffic ratings.

The more directories you're on, the more likely that you are to be found. However, do your research to determine what sites are used by your ideal clients so you're not spinning your wheels and wasting time creating or claiming listings that don't reach your target audience.

If your local chamber of commerce is active, look into purchasing a yearly membership. Fees are usually low for small businesses. Chamber of commerce offices have a directory of businesses that they refer to, and often these are listed on the chamber's website or in a printed booklet. Networking events and opportunities are usually available through the chamber as well.

Conclusion

Online "presence" means that you have to be present in some sense. For directories, you can list it and forget it but for social media, you need to be actively cultivating relationships with your clients and prospective clients.

Start by being mindful and intentional about your brand and interactions. How do you want your business to be perceived? What type of clients do you want to work with? If it feels overwhelming, you can always contract out, but updating your online presence will take your business from surviving to thriving.