Leveraging Paid Advertising to Increase Revenue, Fill Your Calendar, and Build Your Brand
As a massage therapist, presumably without a background in marketing, paid advertising can feel like a huge gamble. But don't worry—we'll help demystify the process, explain how it all works, and show you how you can use it as one more strategy to build a thriving massage business.
When done right, you can use paid advertising to amplify your visibility, bring in more ideal clients, and fill your bookings faster.
All you need to do is follow our step-by-step process to approach paid advertising in a smart, straightforward way that drives your goals and gets real results.
The first thing you need to do is figure out which platform is right for you. You can determine this based on your budget, goals, and comfort level. So, let's go over a few of your options.
The best places for massage therapists to spend their time and energy are Google, Facebook, and Instagram Ads. Each has powerful tools for small business owners, but they suit different strengths and audiences.
If you want to start with social media ads, Facebook Ads is a great all-around choice that you can use to target a wide local audience. It's visual, personal, and built around your community. Plus, you can use it to reach busy professionals, new moms, or fitness enthusiasts right in your neighborhood.
For those with a younger target audience, we recommend Instagram Ads especially if your brand has a strong visual or lifestyle-oriented vibe. You can use it to show off your space, feature client testimonials, or post calming videos of your techniques or tools.
Then there are search engine ads, most prominently Google Ads This is the best way to target people actively searching for your services. So, for example, if someone searches for "massage therapist near me" or perhaps "relieve back pain fast," you want your name to come out on top of the search results. This approach costs more than social media ads but has the added benefit of reaching leads who are more motivated since they're already searching for help.
One benefit of working with MassageBook is that the platform integrates with Facebook and Instagram. This allows you to easily create ads that link to your booking page, so you can spend less time on setup and convert more interested leads into appointments.
We're not going to go into detail on other forms of advertising here, but you could also look into more traditional methods. These include featuring your business in local directories, creating a page on Yelp or Nextdoor, and direct mail.
As far as choosing the right platform for you, start with one. You don't want to spread yourself too thin, especially if you're new to ads.
You can start a simple campaign on a modest budget and track your results. All you need is $5-$10 per day to test things out and get meaningful results. We'll walk you through that soon, but first, it's time to talk about your goals.
We aren't going to jump right into creating ads because you can't get results if you don't have a goal...and an ideal budget in mind.
Every ad you create needs to have a driver behind it. Ask yourself what you want your ad to accomplish. Sure, a single ad can help you achieve multiple objectives. However, you must start with one primary goal for each ad.
Here are a few goals you could start with:
The second part of the equation is to decide on a budget from the start. The key is not to drop a huge budget into this too early. Paid ads allow you to start with a low budget while you learn the ins and outs. Even with a few dollars, you can track your results and do trial and error to find what works.
With Facebook or Instagram Ads, you can start with as little as $3 to $5 per day or $10 to $15 with Google Ads.
Feel free to build a list of potential goals to pursue through your advertisements. Once you have a few options, try to single out a few that stand out to you and matter for your business growth.
Likewise, you can decide on an ideal budget that allows you to start small, iterate, and tweak as you go.
We promise it's almost time to create your ads, but not just yet! You've already decided on your platform, goals, and budget. The last thing we need before diving into ad creation is a simple, high-converting offer.
Without one, nobody will be compelled to click on your ad or find out more. Your ad can be attractive and on-brand, but if it doesn't pique your target audience's interest, they won't convert.
Deciding on what to offer will depend on what you think will get people to click on your ad. It has to be something your audience really wants, something that will push them from curiosity to action.
Discounts are a popular option, and they can work well, especially to attract new clients. However, they aren't the only way to structure a compelling offer.
You can use bonuses (free aromatherapy upgrade), packages (book three sessions, get the 4th free), or seasonal specials (Spring Reset Stress Relief). Before creating your ads, consider a few offers you can make.
This way, you can try different offers and rotate them as you go to keep your ads from going stale. You probably already know what will work, but having a few options to test out is essential.
If you're unsure about what to offer or simply need more ideas, ask your current clients what would grab their attention. You could also use your social media channels to create a post asking the question or run an Instagram poll.
Also, make sure your offer is easy to claim. The last thing you want to do is create friction once they're ready to convert.
This is the part you're either excited about or apprehensive about. The good news is that by completing the first three steps, you already have everything you need: your platform, objectives, budget, and offers.
Creating a high-quality, effective ad doesn't require a marketing degree or graphic design certification. When it's time to create, your goal should be to make your ad feel like a natural conversation with the person you're trying to reach. Get specific and speak directly to their pain points so you can offer the solution that they're looking for.
The words you use to frame this are called advertising copy. Good ad copy includes three things:
Clear Benefit
We've spent a lot of time in this series discussing who you are as a brand and as a business. Let's switch gears to put yourself in your client's shoes again. The clear benefit answers the "What's in it for me?" question.
Another way to phrase this, albeit more harshly, is "So what?"
Let's say you create an ad that says, "I offer massage services." Sounds you-focused, right? However, it doesn't answer the question of what's in it for your clients.
How would you adjust your ad if someone asked the question, "So what?" Maybe you'd add something like, "So you can reduce your back pain or minimize your stress levels."
Always ensure your leads know what they're getting and why they want it.
Sense of Urgency
Time limits are used all over the world of sales. You see countdown timers, big red print letters that say three days only, and "limited time offer" everywhere you go. Why? Urgency works in sales.
To apply this to your ads, simply add a time component to your language. Take advantage of phrases like "limited-time offer" or "spring exclusive package." Feel free to get creative here, as long as you can prompt the lead to move before time runs out. The tricky part is balancing this with trying to sound conversational. Just make sure you land on something that at least gently nudges the lead to get moving. Even including the words “today” or “now” (as in, “book today” or “schedule now”) can work in this respect.
Simple Call-to-Action
Your call-to-action is the phrase that prompts the lead to do something. It might be to visit the link in your bio or click below to book with you today.
You'll get more sales when you tell someone what to do next. So, don't forget to include a simple call to action. Don't make this too complicated or clever. Keep it straightforward, like "Ready to feel better? Book your next session today." Also, make sure you're only using one CTA. You don't want to confuse your prospect by giving them too many choices, because then they won't convert.
Visuals are just as important as the words you use. They must be high-quality and compelling enough to catch your audience's attention.
Try to create something that looks clean, professional, and aligned with your brand. If you don't know where to start visually, there's nothing wrong with getting inspiration from other ads. To keep track of what ads appeal to you, create a folder somewhere to store screencaps. This makes it easy for you to refer back to them and learn what makes those ads work.
If you're designing these ads yourself, Canva is your new best friend. It's a free tool (with optional upgrades) that allows you to create ads with pre-sized templates designed specifically for each platform. Canva is super user-friendly and allows you to upload photos, edit captions, and drag and drop elements to create professional-looking ads in minutes.
For the more experienced designers, you can do this in Photoshop or Adobe Express, but you probably already know about design. For most massage therapists, Canva is more than enough.
You can hire a freelance designer if you decide you'd rather not create the ads yourself. With the right designer, all you need to do is provide some instructions, along with the information from steps 1-3, and they'll turn around a polished, ready-to-use design.
Try platforms like Fiverr or Upwork to find designers who specialize in social media or Google Ads. On the low end, expect the prices to start between $20 and $50 per project. Before bombarding your new designer with creating all of your ads, start with a pilot project to ensure they know what they're doing and are easy to work with (which is probably even more important).
Make sure you use high-quality, proper resolution photos, keep visuals in line with your brand, and consider using short videos where appropriate.
Remember to keep your CTA or booking link easy to find so that there's nothing in the way of your lead taking action once they're ready. You just need to reach the right people with the right message in a way that looks and feels like you.
With your ads ready to go, it's time to launch them. If you're advertising on Facebook or Instagram, you'll use Meta Ads Manager to build and manage your campaigns.
For search-based ads, you can use Google Local Service Ads, which is a great entry point for local businesses. Google Ads is a separate platform with more advanced features, so don’t worry about that for now.
Both platforms will walk you through the process of setting up your ads. Remember to focus on your objective for each ad, the target audience, your budget, and your offer. If you need help setting up your ad, there are plenty of free tutorials available online on YouTube, complete with screenshots. The process of setting up your posts is pretty straightforward if you can follow these tutorials.
Once you launch your ads, the work isn't over. The next step is tracking them to ensure you're using your budget effectively.
You'll notice your dashboards have a lot of information, but here are a few to focus on.
Meta Ads Manager
Google Local Services Ads (GLSA)
What About ROI?
Return on Investment or ROI isn't a built-in metric, but it is easy to calculate yourself with the data from your dashboards. The ROI formula is:
Let's say you spent $100 on Meta ads and booked two new clients. Each client booked a $90 session and returned once (total revenue = $360). So, here's your ROI:
That's a phenomenal ROI! You can use this formula to calculate your ROI on a monthly basis to see how your campaigns are performing.
Your first ads might not be perfect, and that's okay! That's why testing is a crucial part of the process.
If you have an underperforming ad, give it a week or two before scrapping or revising it. The best way to do this is to create multiple versions that tweak one element at a time. For example, you could:
Feel free to test different things or try to run two of the same ads with two different offers. Don't be discouraged if it takes a few iterations to get it right.
If you do have an ad that starts performing well, now it's time to double down. Invest more in that ad and take note of it. What makes it stand out from the rest? How can you tweak your other ads to be more like it? Can you create some variations to see if it's possible to create an even better version?
Again, this is quite scientific, and you'll soon be able to tell what is performing well and what is not, at a glance. This high visibility gives you a lot of power and control over your ad management.
With some time, we have a feeling you'll get the hang of this pretty quickly and you'll start to see why all of this work is worth it.
As a massage therapist, you don't need to spend thousands of dollars to run complex campaigns. Keep it intentional, start small, track your results, and refine as you go.
You deserve to have your business seen by the people who need it most and could benefit from what you offer. Paid advertising is one more way to help them find you and take the next step toward becoming your next loyal client. Approach your campaigns with intention and clarity, and let the data guide your next move. You'll soon find this is a solid method for expanding your massage therapy business so you can truly thrive.
Ready to get the full guide to building an amazing massage therapy business that helps you book your ideal clients and create a sustainable practice for years to come? Check out our eBook "How to Launch & Scale a Thriving Massage Practice” t
Looking for a little more insight for your MT journey? Unsure of how to navigate every step from beginning to running a fully booked practice? Check out our blog "Client Success Stories - Building Your Practice with MassageBook" which features an in-depth testimony from a real MassageBook user who built his practice into an award-winning, multi-state organization.
Need some financial tips that can positively impact massage businesses? Check out our blogs on the following topics:
1. Knowing your Massage Business Numbers
2. Five unique ways to fund your new Massage practice
3. Bookkeeping for Massage therapists
4. Overcoming your money blocks as a Massage therapist
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