IS IT TIME FOR A REFRESH

The Aesthetic Consultant founder Vanessa Bird, looks at the importance of regularly assessing your branding and updating it to reflect your offering

Regardless of how busy you are, attracting new clients should always be part of your business plan. Although patient retention is vital to the longevity of any aesthetic clinic, attracting new people who want and need your services is the key to greater growth. If you’re noticing a slowing down of enquiries or a stagnation of business then maybe it’s time for a refresh.

The first step is to analyse your customer demographic. What type of clients are you currently attracting? Look into age groups, gender, ethnicity, and employment. Do clients come to you because you specialise in treatments for their age group or skin type? Maybe they come to you because you are competitively priced which works well in your location. Do you only treat locals or do people travel to see you? Now analyse what type of client you want to attract moving forwards. Do you want more of the same type of client or would you like to also attract different demographics and grow your business that way?

One of the most effective tools to help you identify different demographics which in turn can help you identify business opportunities is the Office for National Statistics. You can freely search their website, on gov.uk and access data from the 2021 Census. Investigate ethnicity, identity, population, economic activity, and employment around you (and further afield if you wish to attract clients from out of town). Click on the interactive map for your area and start searching. From that information, you can see if there are current demographics you’re failing to cater for and use this information to help with your refresh.

Now that you know more about existing and potential clients, consider what you currently offer. Sit down and take an objective look at your treatment menu before asking yourself if it would bring in the type of clients you want to attract. Refer to the data you pulled from the census and use that to identify any missed opportunities or clues as to what you could be doing. If you’re located in a town with a higher percentage of older people, pushing the ‘reality TV’ look won’t get you much business. Yet anti-ageing treatments could be a goldmine for you. If there are greater numbers of darker skin types in your area does your treatment menu cater to this or are there opportunities for you to provide additional treatments that are safe for darker skin? You may need to add new treatments, skincare lines or technology to provide what your local demographic truly needs as part of your treatment menu refresh.

Consider changing the design of your treatment menu too. If you simply list your treatments ‘take-away menu’ style, then there’s nothing that will make you stand out from the competition when potential clients look at your website. It will simply become a price comparison exercise for the customer rather than something unique. Get creative. Build packages and develop signature treatments so you stand out. Not only do packages help attract new clients, but they also increase the average spend in clinic and deliver better patient outcomes.

Another area to consider for a refresh is your branding. Is it still serving its purpose by differentiating you from the competition, reflecting who you are and attracting the type of customers you want, or do you need to make changes? What message is it sending out? If you’ve had the same look for a while, then you may be overdue for a review. Ask yourself, are you still the same business you were when you originally set up your clinic or have you grown organically? Perhaps you have developed to a point where you aren’t as well served by your current look.

Although total rebranding can be a major undertaking, you could find updating your existing look is all it takes to stimulate interest and attract new customers. A refresh may involve tweaking your logo and modernising your marketing materials or it could include launching a brand-new website and getting it optimised. As we grow and develop as aesthetic businesses it makes sense that we should periodically refresh the look. You don’t always need to go for a big change, but the brand needs to reflect you as a business. Thanks to social media people crave new things all the time. If your branding looks tired or old-fashioned it is unlikely to attract the type of client you want. Remember, first impressions matter so, as tempting as it may be to cut costs and try and do things yourself, you may be wiser to invest in the professionals so your refresh is effective and helps drive business.

The final stage is to consider a refresh of your professional profile as this can have a positive effect on the number of clients who come through the doors. Are you, or do you want to be an ambassador or Key Opinion Leader for a brand or company? Professional headshots sell you so if yours are over three years old, whether you still look the same or not, book in for a photoshoot. Trends and styles change and that formal photo of you with a dark background from years ago may not work today. Have a ‘wardrobe’ of photographs taken so you have images that cater for all styles from very formal to relaxed. Headshots can be used in magazines, in marketing materials, in presentations, on your newly refreshed website, on social media and in clinic. You can self-promote, announcing you are an ambassador for a skincare range, have presented at a conference or have written an article for publication. This gives you a level of credibility in the eyes of existing and potential clients and can bring more business your way.

Refreshing your aesthetic business doesn’t need to be an expensive process. In an industry that is known to be fast-paced and hyper-visual, it makes sense to periodically refresh and revitalise your brand to attract more clients.

VANESSA BIRD

Vanessa Bird is the founder of The Aesthetic Consultant. She has more than two decades of experience in sales and business development, 15 years of which have been focused on aesthetic medicine. Vanessa works globally with aesthetic businesses, clinics and practitioners to provide bespoke business consultancy services that generate more revenue and open doors to future growth. theaestheticconsultant.co.uk