Making the Most of Word-of-Mouth Marketing
"You get the best out of others when you give the best of yourself."
—Harvey
S. Firestone, Founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co.
In the past months, we’ve talked about three of the major avenues
for marketing massage: advertising, public relations, and brand recognition.
This month we’re
going to dive into word-of-mouth marketing. What is word-of-mouth marketing?
Word-of-mouth marketing is something many massage and bodywork practitioners
rely on to spread the news of their work. It is a natural and powerful
way to bring in the people that will build your business in a satisfying
way. Unfortunately, word-of-mouth marketing doesn’t mean you can
simply give excellent, skilled bodywork sessions. It’s true that
doing your best work is the baseline to generating good word-of-mouth
marketing. However, you also need to give your clients some help in
actively spreading the word about you.
We know you are already a skillful, compassionate practitioner doing
excellent work. Now let’s look at the ways word-of-mouth marketing
can support the growth of your practice in an organized, effective way.
Nurture your regular client base.
Cultivating your regular clients
is essential in word-of-mouth marketing. If you give them your entire
attention during their time with you, and if they know you are thinking
of them in between sessions, your clients will be absolutely inspired
to spread the word about you. So take the time to make follow-up
calls, send them mailings with announcements and discount offers,
and thank them for their referrals. (Be sure you ask
new clients where they heard about you so you will know who is championing
your services.)
A satisfied client is your best client.
Let your clients know you value their perspective on their individual
experiences and your service in general. If they have suggestions
or even complaints, respond to them promptly, listening well and
adapting to them, if possible. Even if you can’t give them what they
want, let them know you care about their experience.
Become a valued resource.
Create an excellent, broad network of other practitioners you can
refer clients to. Also start a library of books and DVDs on massage,
stretching and other self-care topics to loan. These things will
make you an even more valuable resource in your clients’ lives and
help build your reputation as an expert.
Make it easy for your regular
clients to spread the word about you. Here’s some ideas:
Give them a few of your business
cards every so often, and ask them
to pass them on to people who could use your services.
Provide a massage
newsletter with
advice and
other practical information. This gives your clients something of
value that they can pass on to others.
Mail a postcard with a discount offer that
can be shared with a loved one. For example, instead of an expiration
date for a special offer, one of our customers said, “This gift
of health never expires. Feel free to pass this card on to a friend
if you think this offer will benefit them, too.”
Word-of-mouth marketing builds upon people’s natural desire to
share things that have helped them with the people they care about.
To read more about how to make this powerful approach work for your
business, check out the Word of Mouth Marketing Association.
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