Leveraging Summer Marketing Strategies

PR consultant Julia Kendrick shares her top tips to upgrade your seasonal marketing efforts for business success

As business owners, we are aware that there are many factors driving customer spending habits. However there are certain times of the year when people may be more open and interested in buying your products and services. The finance industry has noted that the warmer months see a general increase in consumer spending; for example, a 2018 survey from a credit report provider showed 57% of Brits spend more money in the summer, which is typically £154 more a month.1 Whilst keeping on top of clinic marketing can often be a daunting prospect for many practitioners, you cannot afford to fall behind with efforts on marketing, promotion and positioning – and keeping your approach fresh to increase engagement throughout the year. Aesthetic customers are increasingly aware and discerning, so can easily be lured away to competitors if they don’t encounter regular touchpoints from your business across multiple channels (such as your website, newsletters, socials and traditional media) so planning ahead to tap into those increased spending habits as summer approaches is a smart business strategy. In this article, I will outline key strategies to help you keep your clinic marketing plan fresh for summer and targeted to maximise customer engagement.

Before you start Bear in mind that any marketing effort done in isolation will never truly deliver the desired business results – PR and marketing work best when multiple activities are tied to the broader business strategy and objectives. To maximise your valuable time, energy and money, take some time to consider your overarching business objectives, such as:

• Are you aiming for growth, or maintenance? Set realistic targets and deadlines to measure your PR and marketing efforts against these goals • Is there anything ‘new’ you can promote to existing and prospective customers?

For example, new developments in-clinic, or bringing in new brands or treatments for the warmer weather. If there’s nothing new, don’t forget to re-educate your patients on existing hero treatments and explain how these work well for summer seasons – be that body shaping, hair removal, bridal season facials for example. You need to be tapping into

those consumer needs or desires as they shift through the year • Do you want to position yourself as more of a leader, or tackle any key competitors? Are there opportunities to showcase your leadership and heritage – maybe a business award, or a clinic anniversary? Let people know if you’re launching a new brand, product, technique or service which nobody else in the area has!

Once clear on your short-term business objectives, you can layer in your planned marketing and promotional activities in advance. Don’t forget budget allocations – investment should maintain a consistent baseline all year (NEVER dropping off entirely!), with potentially additional budget required periodically to support big pushes like a new brand launch or social media ad campaign.

Marketing strategies must adapt seasonally Consumers are more likely to ‘convert’ – to make a purchase or consultation appointment – if your service offerings are aligned with things they are already thinking about or planning for. This is a fundamental marketing technique known as the ‘next best offer’ (NBOs) – where analytical data about the customer (anything from demographics, past purchases, locations, browser history) allows businesses to create highly customised offers that steer consumers to the right merchandise or services at the right moment, at the right price, and in the right channel. One example is Microsoft’s tailored email ads based off Bing search engine users, which have lifted conversion rates by as much as 70% — dramatically more than similar but uncustomised marketing efforts.2 So, in the summer, you must ensure your messaging is reflecting their current thought processes – i.e getting rid of stubborn fat in time for their holiday to Majorca or clearing their acne so they can wear less makeup in the heat! In addition, summer months can be challenging for clinics, as people are often away on holiday or spending less on discretionary items – so by planning your content marketing and PR in advance, you can help feed in educational and interesting topics to spark interest and enquiries to see you through the quieter period. Consumers are also more likely to engage with fresh messaging and information, rather than the same content pushed out all year-round.

Summertime is good for spending! Interestingly, there is consumer retail data to suggest that the weather, particularly the change in seasons, has the biggest influence on consumer spending.3 Anecdotal data from retailers have also shown that exposure to sunlight will increase the number of impulse purchases3 – so the weather not only affects an individual’s emotional state, but also drives their purchase decisions! Many aesthetic clinics will have a wealth of treatments which are ideal for ‘pitching’ to consumers ahead of and during the summer months – in particular, I’ve noticed that body shaping treatments ready for beachwear and laser hair removal for the summer wardrobe of shorts, dresses and skirts are key players to begin promoting. Travel skincare regimes, or products targeted towards pigmentation control and hydration could also be good to focus on. Of course, many of these treatments require multiple sessions before the full results are seen, so it is critical to begin your summer marketing rollout ahead of the season, so you can secure bookings as people begin thinking about their summer preparations. For your summer campaign, think of it as a two or three month strategy with fresh topics, key profiling treatments and special offers tailored to attract your customers and split the approach into a ‘prep’ month with the more long-lead treatments (body shaping, laser hair removal), the activation month (skincare kits, quick turnaround treatments like facials, lymphatic drainage) and a post-holiday month (perhaps laser facials to tackle pigmentation, dry skin treatments). Summer also has some nice awareness days and milestones you can use for more short-term social media inspiration – for example National Bikini Day on July 5 – or you could create educational content about sun safety, SPF and even direct to mole checks or dermatology services if you offer these in-clinic. Developing creative treatment packages for your clinic is also a clever way to leverage changing consumer purchase behaviour around the summer months – consider creating options with compelling pricing for more long-term prep (i.e. body shaping or hair removal treatments) alongside some short-term ‘impulse’ options (like skincare travel kits, or last-minute facials).

Content is king Creating quality, engaging content is a critical success factor in any clinic PR and marketing strategy. Now you know what treatments you’re focusing on for your summer marketing strategy, consider what this content should look like across your key channels: events, website, social media, blogs and newsletters. In addition, detailed planning at this stage will increase the chances of you eventually being able to delegate this work within your team or to an external supplier, if you haven’t done so already. For each phase, brainstorm and plan out the content topics for at least:

• 1x patient newsletter – try to keep a consistent structure so it is easier to plan the content in advance and be sure to include links to your website in your newsletter. If you can send at around the same time each month, this can help with client expectations and time management • At least x2 clinic blogs on the key seasonal topics – keep these primarily educational in tone, with perhaps some treatment information on your key offerings throughout. For optimum search engine optimisation (SEO), you should aim for 500 words minimum and post to your website • 1x email campaign or social media advertising campaign – what do you want to promote that month and drive action for? Ensure you have a bank of good quality imagery – of you, the clinic, your brands, stock images – particularly with a bright, airy and summer-focused look and feel — the more you can stockpile in advance the less you will experience the daily ‘posting panic’

Teamwork and delegation Now you should have a comprehensive overview of what your seasonal marketing campaign looks like, so if you have a team or clinic manager, consider delegating some of the responsibilities to them as part of their role – perhaps to compile the newsletter, or write one blog per month based on your plan. In addition, this plan could give you a strong brief and overview should you wish to engage an external PR or marketing supplier. Having clear actions and deadlines will help ensure that the marketing becomes an integral part of everyone’s function in the clinic – not an add-on or a burden which keeps getting forgotten.

Don’t forget to measure and evaluate Successful marketing is contingent on accurate evaluation to determine if your efforts are hitting the right note, and ultimately converting traffic into bookings, or sales. If your blogs aren’t driving website traffic, or customers aren’t opening your newsletter, or nobody is clicking on your social media posts – you need to know and adapt your strategy next time. Undertake regular reviews of your website analytics, also your customer relationship management (CRM) system and social channels to identify engagement, interaction and ultimately what is being delivered in terms of revenue. If something is not working effectively, it’s best to find out early on and adjust your strategy accordingly until you get it right!

Get ready for summer Seasonal marketing campaigns are an effective and engaging way to connect with your customers and drive both new and repeat business into your clinic. With some advanced preparation, you can plan and create compelling content across your marketing channels (website, social, PR, events) to help boost awareness and profile, whilst driving treatment demand over the quieter months.

Julia Kendrick is an awardwinning PR with 18 years of experience across top London agencies and in-house at Allergan. In 2015, Kendrick founded her own consultancy and now leads a specialist team working with industry leaders, aesthetic brands, top-level practitioners and leading clinics to deliver a unique, full-service PR and marketing consultancy specialising in the medical aesthetics, wellbeing and beauty industries.

REFERENCES

1. Felicity Hannah, 2018, <https://www.independent.co.uk/money/ spend-save/summer-finances-sun-spending-holidays-moneydebt-a8355156.html> 2. Thomas H. Davenport, Leandro DalleMule, and John Lucker,

Know What Your Customers Want Before They Do, 2011, <https://hbr.org/2011/12/know-what-your-customers-want-beforethey-do> 3. Joe Camberato, 2016, <https://www.nationalbusinesscapital. com/blog/change-seasons-spending-habits/>