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The competition for boosting spa clientele is fierce💥
This has made spas think of many creative ways to promote their business. One of those ways is through event marketing, with stats showing that 80% of people believe that in-person events are the most trusted marketing channel.
If you’re new to event marketing, you might think it’s like planning a big party. It is, but that’s not to say it’s not a lot of work, too! Events are a great way to blend marketing and driving sales, all while having fun. And as a spa owner, you’re uniquely positioned to spearhead events and expand the reach of your brand.
Events like wellness workshops, pop-up events, or even live streams allow potential clients to experience your spa’s ambiance, services, and expertise first-hand.
If you’re experiencing gaps in your diary and are looking for new ways to get new clients through the door, it may the right time to apply our 9 event marketing ideas to boost your spa’s clientele.
Stick around as we explore all of those ideas!
Why event marketing is beneficial for spas
Events are ideal because they don’t involve traditional, often boring advertising that your clients can’t connect with.
They’re an opportunity to make new connections, build rapport with clients, and connect on a personal level. They’re also a way to get out and about and make yourself visible to new potential clients who may not have heard of you before.
Let’s break down why event marketing helps in boosting new clients to your spa.
Direct engagement with potential clients
Spa events are all about face-to-face interactions with like-minded people who may be curious about what you offer at your spa.
Let’s assume you have an event that’s all about achieving optimal skin health. You can offer visitors a sneak-peek of the treatments and products you offer.
But it’s also great to hear from clients to understand what they’re looking for and if there are any blockers as to why they haven’t booked yet – to build a better understanding of your customers. You can ask them questions like:
- What is your skin night time routine at the moment?
- What they think of the latest skin trends, like glass skin, collagen-banking for skin health, or skinimalism?
- Have you tried any of our new treatments – if yes, which ones and what did you like the most about them?
Invest yourself in these conversations because they will help you in having a better understanding aspects like your pricing, the treatments you offer, etc. And remember, clients build best relationships with people, not businesses – the better the bond, the bigger the chances they choose your spa over others!
Showcases spa services and atmosphere
Events are a great way to show off your services and vibe. Typically, at spa events, guests get to have first-hand experience of your spa and what they could expect as a client, from the spa treatments you offer to the new products you stock.
To showcase some of your popular spa treatments, you could do:
- Live demonstrations -perform demos of popular treatments to illustrate what’s involved in those treatments and the outcomes they could get
- Visual displays – create pop-up banners or short videos with before and after photos or videos to show the benefits of those treatments
- Share testimonials and customer reviews from satisfied clients on the services you want to showcase – maybe you could have a live Q&A?
There’s also an opportunity to provide small product samples as a gift. Think of these as incentives that may lead to purchases of your spa services and products.
Build community and brand loyalty
Events can really create a sense of community.
You’re bringing together people who share an interest in wellness and self-care who will appreciate being surrounded with like-minded people.
Events will make clients feel more connected to your community and your brand. Spa events are also a great opportunity to put yourself and your team front and center so that you can build those relationships and rapport with clients.
The more they connect and feel like they belong to a community, the greater the chances you have of making them your potential customers.
Increased word-of-mouth marketing
There’s great power in word-of-mouth marketing.
When people attend spa events and enjoy themselves, they’re likely to spread the word of their experience. This means that the chances of them sending referrals your way is big – they become your spa ambassadors without you even knowing.
A report claims that consumers trust recommendations from friends and family, which tells us that it’s probably the best organic promotion you can get for your spa salon. New clients will come to your door because they trust those who’ve attended your event and have shared a positive experience about it.
9 event marketing strategies for spas
Now that we’ve discussed the perks of event marketing for spas, let’s dive into something much more entertaining – the types of events you can do for your spa business.
1. Spa open house 💆♀️🏠
A spa open house is a gathering for current and future clients, where spas open their doors and provide a tour of their services and offerings.
These events are great because people can explore what the spa offers and learn about the treatments and services in a more relaxed setting.
These events are a great way for clients to ‘try before they buy’ – they can get a feel for what you offer, what you stand for, and the customer service experience you offer, without the pressure to buy on the spot.
The more guests enjoy their visit, the more likely they’ll want to return.
2. Wellness workshops 🧘
Wellness workshops are an amazing option to position your spa as a trusted expert and authority in the spa industry. These workshops have the purpose to educate people and make them aware about the importance of their well-being through engaging talks and discussions, and hands-on sessions.
But wait, that’s not all – they’re also a great way to deliver great experiences for people, making them feel special, health-conscious and supported in what they can do to look or feel better.
As a concept, you can organize wellness workshops on a variety of themes – the key is drilling into your target market and identifying the wellness workshops they would be interested in.
- A workshop for stress management to discuss the impact of stress and practice relaxation techniques like breathing and mindfulness
- A workshop on mindful skincare habits emphasizing the importance of using natural and sustainable skincare products as part of your skincare routine
- A yoga workshop to promote longevity with breathing exercises and meditation
Of course, you can emphasize how spas can be the go-to sanctuary place to achieve that.
3. Pop-up spa events 🎈
Pop-up spa events are temporary, one-off events at unique locations.
They’re a great way to spark interest and encourage people to try out some of your spa’s services in the hope that they might become future clients.
Festivals and other high-traffic events are fantastic for showcasing your spa services to a broader audience. Depending on the event’s location, concept, and target audience, you can customize your pop-up spa to suit the demographic.
For example, you can have a pop-up event during a summer festival that is local to you and offer mini facials or treatments on the go with your spa products.
Of course, you may still need to collect intake forms ahead of any treatments (depending on what you’re offering) so using a system for your spa business that can be accessed from anywhere, from any device, is ideal.
4. Partnering with local businesses 🤝
Joint events with local businesses can be a huge success.
If you didn’t know, the most successful marketers worldwide partner with other businesses. The benefit of partnering with other businesses is a two-way win – they promote you, and you promote them. At spa events and in the long run, this strategy can widen your network, and perhaps you can be included in their email newsletter or future marketing campaigns.
How so?
Here’s a good example. Let’s say you have a spa with a focus on skincare, and you partner with a local juice bar shop. You can leave flyers for your spa business at their bar and vice versa, and even stock their juice at your spa.
For any events, you can promote both your skin treatments and the benefits of drinking healthy juices for optimal skin health – it’s a two-way win.
By joining forces with other small businesses and collaborating on events, you can promote your spa to a newer audience and tap into other’s networks.
5. Themed or holiday spa events 🌟
With event marketing, you can easily get creative and think outside the box.
People love themed parties, so why not create an event with a cool theme that ties into your spa expertise, but also enables people to have a bit of fun as well?!
You could link it to pop culture with a theme based around a TV show (Love Island?) or even a Taylor Swift-themed package for all those Swifties in your area. Of course, be careful about what you call it from a copyright perspective.
Other spa marketing ideas could tie around special days such as a Mother’s Day event, a holiday glow-up event, or even a pre-Super Bowl Sunday event.
You could also give attendees a themed pampering kit with some of your spa products as a glimpse of what you can offer at your spa.
Finally, don’t forget a themed playlist to set the tone for the event.
6. DIY spa night 🛁
People love to get creative, so another option is to host a DIY spa event.
The idea is that you offer packages that include ingredients for making DIY bath bombs, facial scrubs, or masks with some of your spa products. For example, you could mix up rolled oats, banana, honey, and jojoba oil to create an indulgent facemask that clients could apply. People attend to make their own home-made facemask or scrub and then they take it home with them afterwards.
You could tie the whole event around creating natural, organic skincare treatments. Weave in some of the products you sell in the spa, which is a great sales hook for those products and the treatments your spa offers.
Just be mindful that it’ll probably get messy! You’ll need to provide a mixing bowl for the ingredients as well as aprons and gloves.
It’s also a great event for sharing on social media platforms. Whether you make soaps, scrubs, or candles, you can share some of the pics on social media.
7. Social media contests and live streaming 🌐
Social media marketing is probably one of the best digital marketing strategies you can tap into for your spa event. You don’t even have to hold an in-person event – you could run a takeover or live stream on your social media channels instead. An online presence for spa events is a must!
For any in-person event, make sure you have a social media strategy. Attendees will want to spill the tea on their socials on what’s happening at the event – it’s almost like they’ll want to be the first ones who share the scoop.
Make sure you create photos opps for this. For example, at the entrance of your event, you can have a neon welcome sign or beautiful flower wall so everyone wants to grab a selfie and share it on their socials, without even being asked.
Another cool thing you gamify it so that anyone who attends and promotes the event is entered into a prize draw for a big prize – such as a $100 spa voucher.
You could also have a competition for best social media sharing to encourage people to get posting, such as best post or best story.
8. Birthday and anniversary celebrations 🥳
If your spa hasn’t celebrated birthdays or milestones like anniversaries, then you may be missing out on a huge marketing opportunity.
Why not host your very own birthday event?
Invite all your clients and leads to a special event at your practice. Get your clients and future clients excited by creating a marketing campaign for your event and creating special invitations, discounts for attendees, and even organizing a giveaway to re-engage clients and convert your leads.
You can offer exclusive discounts on your popular services or packages and perhaps create promotions like ‘20% off for all treatments’. Add the link to an email campaign for the clients and see those bookings start coming in.
9. Couples retreat 💆♂️💆♀️
Every spa event you run doesn’t have to be for everyone.
You can get more specific and create tailored events targeted to specific demographics – one example you could focus on is couples.
The whole event is about showing how spas can be the go-to place for couples. You can offer a relaxing setting at your spa event and suggest some of your spas packages that can be customized as a shared experience for two people.
Examples could include:
- Side-by-side massages package (for example, a shiatsu massage or deep tissue massage) and include a glass of fizz for afterwards
- A couple’s relaxation package (to relax and unwind, with aromatic candles and relaxing music and a deluxe facial massage and body massage)
- Reignite the spark spa package (this would include a welcome drink and light lunch alongside a couple’s massage)
Quick Note 📝 Couples packages don’t have to only apply to romantic relationships. You can get creative with your spa event and offer a mother-and-daughter packages for Mother’s Day, friends packages, etc.
Supercharge⚡your spa marketing efforts with Pabau
It doesn’t matter if you’re running a solo spa business or a larger one – a solid event marketing strategy is crucial for generating new customers for your spa.
But we get it – with so many tasks to juggle, event marketing can be intimidating, especially if you’re new. But, with the right marketing tools in place, you can easily attract and grow your client list for your spa business.
Pabau is an all-in-one practice management software that can support running your business and help you grow your spa clientele. It’s accessible on any device, so you can work from anywhere and take advantage of its in-built features:
🎯 Email marketing and SMS marketing campaigns
🎯 Customizable templates for emails
🎯 Create packages and gift cards (vouchers)
🎯 Lead management tool
Are you ready to get started with your event marketing strategy? – book a demo today to see how Pabau can help you with that!
