5 massage advertising ideas to attract new clients

Key takeaways

• Promote a social media giveaway using sweepstakes software to encourage more meaningful engagement
• Market your massage practice at local events to demonstrate the value your services provide and stand out from competitors
• Reach local leads who are already seeking your services by promoting your Yelp Business Page

Massage therapy is a staple treatment for pain and stress in the United States. More than 90% of adults in the U.S. agree on the health and wellness benefits of massage services, so there’s little need to convince consumers that regular massages can improve their quality of life. But when you want to persuade more potential clients to choose your massage practice over competitors, you need a marketing strategy that sets your brand apart.

This includes advertising, which can help your massage business stay at the top of consumers’ minds. When you invest in paid advertising channels—which place your massage marketing messages where they’re most likely to get noticed—you can give your practice more visibility than ever before. Here are five massage advertising ideas to boost your online presence and drive traffic to your local business.

5 massage advertising ideas

Effective ads don’t have to be costly. When you use strategies that help you reach your target market, offer value, and cater to customer needs and interests, you can win new clients and leads. Put these five massage advertising ideas into action to start improving the results of your marketing plans.

1. Promote a giveaway on social media

Whether you’re offering a gift certificate, a free massage session, or another incentive at your practice, promoting a giveaway on social media is a great way to captivate potential customers fast. By offering immense value to one lucky winner, you can influence your target audience to stop and interact with your ad instead of scrolling right past it—even if they don’t follow your social media page.

Using sweepstakes software like SweepWidget or ShortStack to run your giveaway can help you achieve multichannel results through your massage advertising. While potential clients might click into your giveaway from one social media channel (like Facebook), these tools let you offer additional sweepstake entries when they engage with your brand in other ways—for instance, by visiting your LinkedIn page, following your TikTok account, providing referrals, or subscribing to your email list.

By the end of your giveaway, you’ll have a large number of leads you can reach on multiple platforms.

2. Set up a mobile massage booth at local events

While many modern business owners gravitate toward online marketing channels, advertising your massage services in your local community can help you stand out from your competition and win new customers faster. According to the American Massage Therapy Association, 77% of clients find massage therapists at local events.

When you set up a mobile chair massage booth at an event, you can demonstrate your massage techniques while engaging with potential clients face-to-face. Event attendees can instantly feel the value of your massage services from a brief session on your chair.

Consider what events your ideal customers are most likely to attend before signing up for a booth. For instance, if you want to sell corporate chair massage packages, setting up at a small business convention or trade show—where you can also collect business cards—could make the most sense.

Booth fees can vary widely depending on the size of your booth, the length of an event, the expected number of attendees, and similar factors. However, it’s not uncommon to find local events where booths cost around $100 or less (like some farmer’s markets).

3. Share video testimonials from massage clients

Video ads can be some of the most eye-catching campaigns you can create. Whether it’s a video ad that shows up on social media feeds or an ad that plays between video content on YouTube or Facebook, this form of massage advertising uses audio and visual interest to quickly engage users.

For a simple way to make the most of your video ad campaigns, consider filming testimonials from your existing clients—even if you’re just using your smartphone. Ask some of your long-term clients if they’d be willing to share their experience on camera, perhaps offering a discount or free service in exchange for their time. 

By getting your customer base to back up your brand and share how you’ve made a difference in their lives, you can take advantage of word-of-mouth marketing and better persuade your target audience that you’re the right provider for their massage needs.

4. Integrate your paid search and SEO strategies

When you implement search engine optimization (SEO) tactics, like adding keywords to your headers and meta descriptions, your website can improve its rank on relevant search engine results pages (SERPs) over time. However, SEO is a long-term strategy that can take months to produce results. Even when your SEO efforts start driving more traffic to your site, you can bolster your results by using paid ads to show up above search results (and above your competitors) for keywords where you’re still lagging behind.

Paid search is best used for keywords that actually drive conversions, like sales, appointment bookings, or form fills for lead generation. For example, while the search term “types of massage therapists” is mainly used by shoppers in the early stages of their research—making it ideal for targeting through SEO—running an ad for the keyword “massage therapists San Antonio” can boost your visibility to people who are ready to make a purchase and usher them through your sales funnel faster.

5. Reach high-quality local leads with Yelp Ads

When potential clients are actively in search of massage services, many turn to online sites like Yelp to find the right practice to book an appointment with. When you add or claim your Yelp Business Page, you can add your contact information, upload high-quality photos, and respond to customer reviews, all free of charge.

Then consider running Yelp Ads that allow your business listing to show up in a number of key places on the site and app, including above relevant search results and on your competitors’ pages. Even better, you’ll only pay when your business earns a click, and you can adjust your marketing campaign budget whenever you want.

Grow your massage therapy business

Massage therapy marketing ideas, like improving SEO and posting on social media platforms, can help your practice grow, but they take time. If you want to rapidly grow your client base, investing in massage advertising ideas like setting up massage booths, running online ads, and promoting giveaways on social media can be a much more powerful strategy. 

Ad campaigns give your brand and marketing messages the spotlight so you can get more leads and clients in a shorter period of time. Discover more small business advertising ideas that can fit your budget and take your business to the next level.