Have you ever wondered why all major retailers jump at seasonal marketing opportunities? Whether it’s in the form of special offers, promotions, merchandising, or décor, they seem to always be capitalizing on these opportunities. For instance, in the United States alone in 2018, Valentine’s Day saw a total spend of $19.6 billion . In the same year, Americans consumers were estimated to have spent nearly $1 trillion over the holiday season , and are forecasted to spend even more this year. Is adding seasonal campaigns a beneficial step to take for your business? How could the strategy be applied to the different service-oriented landscape that is medical aesthetics? Below are some of the key benefits to help answer these questions and how to start implementing them for your aesthetics business.

The main reason retail businesses conduct major campaigns around seasonal events is because it shows the public that they are able to create and offer content that is both relevant and valuable for consumers in the moments that matter. To consumers, this gives the perception that the brand is flexible, creative, and emotionally connected. In fact, the Journal of Marketing Research concluded that brands wh o inspire a higher emotional connection can receive three times as much word of mouth   than less emotionally connected brands. Simply put, allowing your brand to be emotionally intelligent can drive awareness and interest to your aesthetics clinic, helping you stand out from the competitors in your area.

This marketing tactic also humanizes your brand and allows it to be adaptive to consumer needs at various times throughout the year, which in turn can boost brand awareness and differentiation over the long run . In whichever way your aesthetics practice can capitalize on seasonal campaigns, whether it be aligning your service offerings with the sentiment that customers have around that time of the year   or taking the special occasion as a chance to appreciate your top - tier customer s , it could be greatly beneficial for the overall brand of your business.

During certain times of the year, there are generally more conversations and buzz about topics that are top of mind for consumers. Meeting the most in-demand needs at the right time can bring in more traffic for your aesthetics practice. For example, a common aesthetic concern for the fall season is reversing signs of summer sun damage , for which you can then promote your photorejuvenation   and skin resurfacing treatments . This way of staying seasonally current and catering to consumer trends can entice new patients to check out what your clinic has to offer and how it can fit their needs. The idea is to tap into your target patients’ psyches and show them that your business is prepared to answer their seasonal aesthetic needs. When taking these tactics to the digital marketing space, the seasonality of Google AdWords search traffic should also be considered when it comes to being adaptive. Keep in mind that the “hot” keywords during those times will likely be a bit costlier than usual because of the higher search volume.

Committing to bring seasonality to your aesthetics business can manifest itself in many different forms. The idea is to influence emotions that can spark action from patients, while also creating immediacy about the upcoming season, holiday, or special event—in other words, the idea is to promote treatments or service bundles that offer a comprehensive solution to their needs at that time. Since timing is everything for this tactic to work effectively, the key is to start promoting well in advance, so it gives patients and providers ample time to consider and develop a treatment plan that can address their top concerns. It is very important that your entire staff commit to the seasonal campaign and that you are being consistent with your messaging. There is no need to reinvent the wheel—work with what you have.

The easiest starting point for incorporating seasonal marketing in your aesthetics practice is to identify key upcoming events or holidays. For the upcoming fall months, back to school, the start of autumn, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Black Friday are all examples of opportunities that can be incorporated into your marketing and promotional tactics.  

The next step for implementing your seasonal marketing campaign is to identify where you can make use of visual assets that tie in with the occasion so that you can easily inform patients—this includes online (e.g. your website and social media platforms) and in-person (e.g. posters and/or flyers in the waiting room). Once you’ve established what you need, you can get started on developing these assets. Venus Concept makes it easier than ever to easily launch an effective seasonal marketing campaign. For instance, to help customers prepare for the fall season, we’ve developed a collection of seasonally relevant campaign assets for print and social media that are now available to download for free . Not a Venus Concept customer yet? Click the button below to speak to an expert and see how we can help you.