We’re living at a time where image is everything. The aesthetics industry has grown to be one of the largest in the past few years. All this is because people want to improve their images. Aestheticians basically perform non-surgical operations on their patients. In this post, we will focus on how to market aesthetic clinics in Singapore.
There are many aesthetic clinics in Singapore. Considering that it is one of the most profitable businesses to get in, it doesn’t mean that everyone succeeds. There are many factors to consider when starting an aesthetics clinic.
Why aesthetic clinics are on the rise
Think of aesthetic clinics as any other conventional healthcare facility. There is a variety of treatments one can receive from an aesthetician. These services range from laser hair removal to skin tightening.
One of the reasons why aesthetic clinics have become popular with Singaporean is the fact that they are non-surgical. They don’t require any surgeries to perform. Many people avoid anything that is surgical because it means more expenses and more time with the medical expert.
Another reason is that aesthetic procedures actually improve the looks of patients. There was a belief that only people, mostly aging women sought these services. Nowadays people of all ages visit aesthetic clinics.
Lastly, these non-surgical procedures cause little discomfort to the patients. After treatment, people can always go about their daily activities without any trouble.
If you own an aesthetic clinic or are looking forward to starting one, you need to understand the challenges facing the industry. This will be instrumental when it comes to running the business and achieving your financial goals. Let’s have a look at some of them.
- Customer dissatisfaction
Customer dissatisfaction is a problem that cuts across almost all industries. It is a main reason why many aesthetic clinics don’t succeed. When a patient receives treatment and doesn’t see results, you are in trouble. It is even worse if the treatment causes any damage to their bodies.
Many aesthetics clinics do not prepare for such occurrences. If you are confronted with such a problem, how you react matters a lot. You must address the customers’ concerns in order to avoid future complaints.
- Competition
The aesthetics industry is fast becoming one of the most competitive. It is profitable yes, but you will have a lot of businesses to compete with. Competition shouldn’t really be a scare because one always expects it in any business. If you use the right marketing techniques, you will definitely rise above your competitors.
- Unqualified staff
I you really want to make it in the aesthetics industry, ensure that your team has the required skills.
Healthcare is a vital aspect of life. When people fall sick, they expect to be treated by a medical practitioner who knows about his job. In the same way, aestheticians need to have the experience and knowledge need to do a perfect job.
Now that we have identified some of the challenges facing the aesthetics industry, let’s shift our focus to the promotion part. You may have one of the best aesthetics team in Singapore but fail to attract the target audience. This happens if your marketing skills aren’t up to par.
Marketing for the aesthetics industry has undergone numerous changes in the past few years. One way for instance, is the reduction of ads in print. A very small part of the population still reads newspapers. Usually, it’s the older generation.
Many people prefer reading news and other stuff on the internet. If you want to market, you would naturally focus on attracting the attention to internet users. The following marketing strategies will give you the best results.
- Social Media
A majority of internet users think social media is for socializing and other entertainment purposes. With the rise in e-commerce, social media plays a crucial part in the growth of an aesthetic clinic.
If you want to easily reach out to your patients (the target audience) social media is one of the places you should focus on. As of 2018, a study from Statista shows that there are around 3.6 million social media users in Singapore.
Some of the major social media platforms you can use include Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The best way to build a following in these platform is to post interesting content regularly.
People will always follow a page/account that offers value. Once you have a decent following, convincing the target audience to use your services won’t be an issue.
- Community development
As you develop strategies to attract the internet user, do not forget that you can also advertise to the real world. Community development is one way to sell your services to people physically.
You could do this by supporting a cause you believe in. Let’s say it is a campaign that aims at helping people live healthy lives. Gladly attend the event and show some of your services to the people present.
It may look like an outdated technique but it is still very much in vogue. You will be surprised by the number of patients you will get through community development. Always be on the lookout for fairs, exhibitions, festivals and charity events in your local area.
- Websites
The power of a business website cannot be understated. Experts recommend that you set up a website before building a following on social media.
A website is your online store where people can see what you have to offer at the comfort of your homes. The website design should be responsive and visually appealing. Visitors should also be able to find what they are looking for in the site
- SEO and SEM
If you already have a website for your aesthetic clinic, you can move on with these two strategies. Search Engine Marketing (SEO) is the process of optimizing a site for search engines.
Some SEO tactics include: optimizing the website structure (content, design et.c) and acquiring backlinks. The goal is to improve the visibility of a site on the internet. It usually takes a few weeks/months to see the results using SEO techniques.
On the other hand, Search Engine Marketing allows your ads to appear on the sponsored section of SERPs. That users will be able to see your ads first means you will have more people visiting your website. SEM may be more expensive than SEO but it takes a much shorter time to see results.
Conclusion
The beauty of all this is that you don’t have to engage in all marketing efforts yourself. There are agencies out there whose sole purpose is to help promote your services. MediaOne is an agency that takes care of all your digital marketing strategies. If you keep up with the trends and know more about your target audience, marketing an aesthetic clinic in Singapore will be a simple task.
