The United States spa industry is healthier than ever, with the International SPA Association reporting that spas had an employee increase of 4.6 percent from 2021, a year when 181 million people visited.
If your spa is similarly having a banner year, there is no better time to institute an email marketing campaign than now. You can use email marketing software to ride the wave of momentum until it crests and then build that momentum back up again.
However, many spas specialize in massages, aromatherapy, facials, manicures, pedicures, and reflexology, not email. If you’re a spa owner or stakeholder eager to help your company master email marketing in 2024, you’ve come to the right place.
This beginner’s guide will explain the ins and outs of spa email marketing in detail, delving into the types of emails to build for your campaigns (with examples!), and some best practices.
Table of Contents
What Is Spa Email Marketing?
Let’s get underway by discussing the basics. Email marketing is a strategy businesses use to reach and engage with leads and strengthen customer relationships. The campaign goals are typically multifaceted, such as higher conversion rates and more bookings.
Using email to guide new leads through the sales funnel can provide them with information about your spa, such as services, products, booking availability, and pricing. As the lead becomes more well informed, they’re readier to make a booking decision.
Once the lead schedules an appointment for spa services and converts, your spa can use email marketing to build a stronger business relationship. At this stage of the sales funnel, you won’t send introductory content but messages designed to inspire a purchase or action.
For example, longer-term customers might receive exclusive discounts or product or service news first if they’re VIPs.
Spa email marketing builds customer relationships at all stages of the funnel, making it an integral part of your marketing plans.
Why Spas Need Email Marketing
Spas require email marketing as much as any other industry, perhaps even more so as you focus on hospitality and providing a high-level customer service experience.
Here are the advantages your spa business can reap by implementing a sophisticated email marketing strategy.
More qualified leads
Your spa likely has several lead sources you rely on, such as advertising and social media. How qualified are the leads that enter your sales funnel?
Less qualified leads require more nurturing and engagement to get them through. You must also commit more time since they start further at the beginning of the funnel.
Email marketing will help you attract more qualified leads who have already been aware of your products and services since they landed on your website and joined your email list. Through future messages, you can provide more information about what your spa does, reducing the lead’s hesitancy to act.
More client conversions
The qualified leads your email campaigns produce will convert more readily, increasing your audience. When other leads drop out of the funnel or customers disappear, you won’t panic, as you’ll have a steady stream of new customers ready to bridge the gap.
Stronger client relationships
Email marketing is valuable for keeping engaged with your current clients. You won’t always send emails soliciting their business, but news about your med spa, including your latest products, services, and special offers.
Clients will appreciate feeling in the loop and continue opening your messages, anticipating quality content when you email them.
More sales
The elevated rate of conversions and more engaged customers will keep your audience base healthy. You should have more than enough appointments booked, perhaps even enough to have a waitlist.
Longer-term clients
Clients don’t want to feel forgotten after they join your email list and fork over their money. Your long-term engagement efforts will pay off as your clients stick around for longer, perhaps even years.
The longer you have clients in the sales funnel, the higher the chance of referrals to others in their lives, such as colleagues, friends, and family.
Read also: Rejuvenate Your Spa Marketing With These 15 Proven Strategies
What Does a Successful Spa Email Marketing Campaign Include?
Now that you’ve seen how spa email marketing can drive success for your spa business, let’s review the email marketing campaign elements you must master to get seriously good results.
Personalized content
You must segment your clients to ensure they receive email content tailored to their needs and progress in the sales funnel. For example, new clients have different needs than longer-term customers. They might be exploring spa services for the first time and are unsure what they like but are eager to find out.
Long-term clients have sampled your products and services and are familiar with your full scope. They want to continue receiving quality service and trying cutting-edge spa services as they emerge.
Sending content made specifically for the audience segment it reaches is the cornerstone of email marketing.
Strong subject lines
How do you get your audience to open your emails? You must hook them in with a subject line. There are endless schools of thought about what makes a good subject line, sometimes with contradictory advice.
To save you the stress and headache, here are some best practices to consider when writing your subject lines.
- Play on the recipient’s emotions, inducing happiness, fear (FOMO), excitement, or curiosity.
- Do not use spam words to generate email opens.
- Personalize the subject line, such as location-specific, name-specific, or segment-specific content.
- Use punctuation as needed, but otherwise sparingly.
- Keep your subject line short, as most readers will see your email on a mobile device.
- Don’t include misleading information. The more descriptive, the better.
- Use emojis as appropriate, but only one or two.
Great copy
The expectation you set in your subject line should be carried out in the body. The copy here must be crisp, engaging, and enjoyable to read. Keep your paragraphs short, using no more than four sentences (fewer is better if you can).
Incorporate bullet points to break up the text, insert hyperlinks as relevant, and use photos and videos to engage your audience and add other visual elements to the email.
Always proofread and edit your email copy before you send it. Typos aren’t cute!
Beautiful images
It’s not the 1980s, so people don’t read transactional emails for the copy. They want something that will snag their attention and keep them engaged, such as full-sized photos or an introductory video detailing your latest product or service.
Clear call to action
Most importantly, your email must have a call to action or CTA. You can insert the CTA as a button or link, but it should always be above the fold so your readers see it.
Read also: 9 Top Picks In Spa Appointment Software
19 Spa Email Marketing Ideas (With Examples)
Now that you know the basics of spa email marketing, it’s time to implement them into your campaign. The following 19 ideas–with plenty of examples along the way–will show you how it’s done.
1. Welcome Emails
The welcome email is one of the most important messages you will send, as it comes right after a client signs up, whether at the spa or online. You should automate this message so it arrives in the lead’s inbox immediately.
A delay in receiving this email can decrease a lead’s confidence in their choice, already eroding trust in this new business relationship as it gets off on the wrong foot.
A welcome email needn’t be overly long or complex, as the above example from SpaSeekers shows. Write a brief intro telling the lead what they’re in for now that they’ve joined your email list.
This welcome email example is also good because SpaSeekers mentions how frequently they’ll send an email. Letting your new subscribers know how frequently they’ll hear from you helps them manage expectations early.
If you email too often for their liking, they can unsubscribe early. This might seem disappointing, but it’s better than them never opening your emails or–even worse–reporting you for spam.
2. First booking emails
The lead has joined your email newsletter, but they’re not customers yet. They must book their initial consultation or appointment for that to be the case.
You might gently nudge them in that direction by sending a follow-up email after the welcome email mentioning how easy it is to book appointments from your website or app (if your spa has one).
Once the lead books their first appointment, automate a confirmation email that will be sent to their inbox immediately. You can also automate reminders, such as one week and one day ahead of the appointment (you could also remind the client on the same day).
3. Appointment confirmation emails
In today’s age of constant connectivity, people expect email confirmations as soon as they do something, whether that’s place an order or book an appointment.
4. Post-appointment emails
Once your happy client has received their spa services, send them a follow-up email shortly after their appointment.
The goal of this email is to ensure their enjoyment and allow them to escalate any feedback they might have.
5. Review emails
You can always combine a post-appointment email with a review email, but you can send review emails anytime you want customer feedback. For example, perhaps you haven’t received any reviews yet and are eager to begin accumulating them.
The key to review requests is to make it simple for your clients to review your services. Take a look at the verbiage Beauty Boutique Day Spa used in its copy below.
The copy emphasizes the simplicity of reviewing to motivate more people to do it.
If that’s still not enough, you might encourage your audience to review your med spa products or services by offering a discount on their next purchase or visit.
6. Follow-up appointment emails
When your customers are stuck in the limbo of appointments, send this email. It would encourage them to book their next spa day if they didn’t when they were last in your building.
Keep the copy short and sweet here. You can follow up with a discount if the first appointment email didn’t land, as that’s sure to get any on-the-fence clients back into your spa.
7. Customer satisfaction survey
How do your clients truly feel about your spa’s products and services? Why not ask them directly by sending a customer satisfaction survey?
This survey should be short, sweet, and simple. Embed the survey in the email to minimize the steps required to fill it out. That should increase the number of responses you get.
This sample survey provides a good layout to replicate. It doesn’t ask for much and should only take minutes to respond. The signature authenticates each response, but this feature is optional.
8. Newsletters
Fill in your audience on everything happening at your spa with a monthly or quarterly newsletter.
The image above is only one example of what your newsletter can look like. You have plenty of creative leeway with your design, so have some fun with its direction, but ensure it’s an accurate portrayal of your brand.
The question many spas have is what kind of content they should include in their newsletters. Tell your readers about what’s going on with your spa, including the latest product and service developments, behind-the-scenes looks, employee spotlights and interviews, and content to drive interest.
A newsletter isn’t salesy but is promotional.
9. Abandoned cart emails
Did a lead almost book an appointment but then bounce from your site before they could finish?
It happens, but it doesn’t have to mean the end. You can potentially reclaim their business by sending an abandoned cart email within the same day as you realize they exited your site without finishing the transaction.
You might automate abandoned cart emails to trigger after X amount of time the cart was left abandoned to ensure these emails go out before you lose the lead for good.
10. Retargeting emails
A retargeting email is in the same vein. Rather than send this to a lead you believe has jumped off the page without finishing a transaction, you send this to a lead or client who hasn’t opened or engaged with your emails in some time.
The goal of a retargeting email is to reconnect with the client. You should send tailored, relevant content to ensure the lead or client opens the email and engages.
11. New product, new service announcement emails
Has your spa excitedly unveiled a new collection of products or debuted a new service? You must let your audience know with an email. This message should be catered toward the new product or service to keep the focus in the right place, such as seen here.
Include a CTA with a catchy copy (we love “Time for some self-care” in the example image) to inspire your readers to look more into the product or service and get their hands on it right away.
12. Discounts and other offer emails
Who doesn’t love a sale? This email style should have among your highest open and click-through rates, especially if you offer a steep discount. Whet the client’s appetite by mentioning in the subject line what kinds of awesome deals await them.
Provide one to two CTA buttons in the email copy directing them to take advantage of the discount or sale.
13. VIP emails
Life is sweet on the VIP list. It’s time for your audience to find out how sweet when you send them VIP content. You could create a VIP club exclusively for longer-term clients, or you could welcome membership to any client willing to pay.
Make participating in the VIP group worthwhile by rewarding these members with exclusive discounts and sales coupons regular clients can’t get. You might also have events for your VIPs, such as happy hour spa events.
14. Seasonal emails
The shift in the seasons is a great reason to send an email to your contacts. You can prioritize wellness in the winter as the year ends and a new one gets underway. Many of your clients might have resolutions catered toward taking better care of themselves, which you can help them achieve.
In the summer, when they want to look their best, you can also email reminding your clients to book an appointment.
15. Holiday emails
Check your calendar. When the holidays arrive, you can send an inviting email encouraging your clients to come into the spa.
For example, spa gift cards make an extra-special holiday gift, so you could ramp up your email campaign between Black Friday and Christmas.
Another popular holiday for spas is New Year’s and the start of the year. As mentioned, this is a time when people focus on many health goals, including weight loss and self-care. Sending a timely email could help your clients achieve the first resolution on their list.
You can always take advantage of other holidays, although the connection between your spa and the special day is less apparent. However, steer clear of religious holidays or other sensitive days unless you send general observances.
16. Birthday emails
Your clients’ birthdays are special occasions, so celebrate accordingly by wishing them well on this day. You should have all your client’s birthdates between their email sign-up information and client profiles.
Automate birthday emails. They don’t have to go out at midnight on the dot, but on the client’s birthday for sure.
Keep the email copy short, simple, and sweet. Wish them a happy birthday, and perhaps throw in an exclusive coupon code or discount they can use within the next 48 or 72 hours.
17. Anniversary emails
Has it been a year already since your client started using your spa? Perhaps it’s been two years, or–gasp–even five? These exceptional days only come around once a year, so send an email marketing the occasion.
The copy of an anniversary email will take on a similar tone and length to a birthday message. Focus it on celebrating the achievement, thank the client for their service, and offer them a special discount for their next spa day.
18. Thank you emails
There’s never a bad time to say thank you! Whether you wait for Administrative Professionals Day, Teacher Appreciation Day, Thanksgiving Day, or any day that ends in Y, this email is short, straightforward, and effective.
There are no sales strategies at play here. You simply thank the client for their service, reminding them how appreciated they are. You don’t even need a CTA or internal links, as they can detract from your message.
19. Testimonials and client stories
Social proof is one of the best ways to drive sales. The average consumer trusts reviews from their fellow customers more than a company. Increasing your reviews will help boost business, as will posting client stories and testimonials in an email.
Always ask the client for permission to use their words or images before you mass-send that big message.
Read also: Proven Salon Marketing Ideas to Attract More Clients
Spa Email Marketing Best Practices
Before you launch your first spa email marketing campaign, review this collection of best practices to ensure your success.
Split-test your emails
A/B testing, also known as split testing, compares versions of your email with test audiences to determine which version will drive the most opens and clicks. No part of your email is too small for testing, from minor variations in the subject line to the CTA button color.
Implement double opt-in for new subscribers
You’ll recall how earlier, we discussed that it’s best to let wishy-washy subscribers leave your list, as they’re not contributing anything by being on there. In that same vein, you should implement double opt-in for new subscribers.
This requirement will weed out those not committed to joining your email list, reducing spam complaints and keeping your list full of more engaged clients.
Don’t send messages from a no-reply email address
Your spa might have a no-reply email address, but you shouldn’t use it for anything but transactional messages, such as password resets or appointment confirmations. If you send an email where a client or lead could respond, use another business address.
Track your campaign hits and misses
You can’t gauge the success of your spa email marketing campaign without reviewing your analytics. Here is a list of KPIs to always keep a tab on:
- Open rate
- Click-through rate
- Bounce rate
- Conversion rate optimization
- Unsubscribe rate
- List growth rate
- Revenue per email
- Deliverability rate
- Revenue per subscriber
You may have to fine-tune your messages while your campaign is still underway or for future campaigns, and that’s alright. You won’t always knock it out of the park on your first try, but if you keep learning and improving, you will master email marketing.
Optimize your emails for mobile
Everyone carries a smartphone now, meaning most of your audience will read your emails on their phones or tablets. If your emails aren’t mobile-optimized in 2024, you’re missing out on large portions of your audience.
Keep your email list clean
Plan to prune your email list at least twice a year, removing inactive subscribers who didn’t respond to your re-engagement campaigns. This is a smart spam avoidance tactic, so don’t skip it.
Read also: Glamorous Marketing Strategies For Cosmetics Companies
Bottom Line
Spa email marketing helps your spa company connect with customers, foster higher-quality leads, build stronger business relationships, and engage with your audience long after they’ve converted. With this little guide, you’re ready to launch your campaign and take your med spa to new heights in 2024.
If you’d like to try an affordable email marketing automation software that comes with a CRM suite built-in and a free helpdesk too, look no further than EngageBay.
