Now that the holidays are behind us, it is time to start 2020 off with a bang. The new year calls for new ventures, and freshening up your promotional tactics to bring more foot traffic into your aesthetic practice is a great place to start. Consumers are recovering from the busy activities of December and now have plenty of time to prepare themselves for the next festivity on the calendar—Valentine’s Day. That means now is the perfect time to show some love to your existing patient base while also attracting some new patients with these creative promotional ideas. 

Did you know that for the 13th year in a row, gift cards were the most popular item on wish lists?  (National Retail Federation Holiday Recap 2019) If your aesthetics practice is not yet offering gift cards, better late than never to jump on the wagon. The revenue from a gift card sale is essentially a form of guaranteed income. To make it even better, as much as 72% of consumers will spend more than the actual value of the gift card. That means extra revenue potential for you. To kick off this new promotion, consider incentivizing patients by offering a gift card when they spend a certain amount. For example, patients would get a $50 gift card when they spend $500 or more on a treatment package. If they’re shopping for a gift, they get the added incentive of using the gift card to treat themselves too. Gift cards on their own are also a great gift option for Valentine’s Day—it provides a bit of a personal touch while allowing the recipient to choose how they’d like to spend it.

As many as 66% of facial plastic surgeons reported that complementary non-surgical procedures rang in as the top trend in their practices in 2016. Depending on what kind of treatments you currently offer, many of them may yield wonderful results when performed together in one session. These complementary treatment packages can act as a signature treatment for your practice and can easily be branded to fit a Valentine’s Day theme, so innovate and get creative with it. A great place to start is to consider finding a solution to a general aesthetic concern that many of your patients will have. For instance, a younger clientele may want more body contouring with skin tightening , while an older demographic would be more enticed with complementary anti-aging treatments. In any case, this can save time for the patient, meaning fewer visits and higher turnover rates for efficiency within the practice. Because you can charge more for complementary treatment packages, it also means higher profit margins for you.

For the quickest and easiest solution, opt to start with a multi-applicator system. For instance, Venus Versa™ is the only device that provides the TriBella™ 3-in-1 total facial rejuvenation treatment, performed using three applicators from just the one device. 

Are you spending a lot of your budget on acquiring new patients? Consider a simpler solution—have your existing patients do the work for you. A referral program can incentivize customers to spread the word about how amazing your practice is. The reward for bringing in new patients could be referral coupons, free package upgrades, or maybe even a complementary treatment. Whatever the capacity you might have for such a program, do make sure to reward both sides of the party with a deal that benefits both the referrer and the new patient. Not only will you be able to generate more foot traffic, you are also giving your current customers an easy way to show some love to their friends and family this Valentine’s Day.

Anyone can host an online contest or giveaway, but the key to a successful promotional campaign is to identify the objectives associated. To maximize the effects of a contest or giveaway, consider asking participants to fill out a form in order to submit an entry. This form should request contact information, such as full names and email addresses, along with permission to contact them with future promos and information. You will then be able to compile an email list and work to nurture those leads with the goal of eventual conversion. Before launching your Valentine’s Day contest or giveaway, be sure to read this step-by-step guide to email marketing.

If you’re working with a tight budget, consider suggestions such as encouraging word of mouth , sprucing up your website with seasonal marketing assets, creating shareable content , or even hosting an open house to promote your aesthetic services. To help put these promotion ideas into play, Venus Concept customers can take advantage of free Valentine’s Day-themed assets that you can use around your practice or online for a quick seasonal refresh. Login to My Account to download them now !