Becoming a parent is a major milestone in many people's lives, but amongst all the wonderful moments, many parents experience high levels of stress, sleep deprivation, and never-ending anxiety! 

Despite all the benefits of massage therapy, on the whole, it is still seen by the public to be a luxury, a one-off for special occasions, rather than as a treatment that is necessary to keep healthy in both body and mind. We know massage therapy has been scientifically proven to assist in a range of conditions and with a series of treatments, clients can achieve, amongst other advantages, an easing of their chronic pain, but how do we convince people of the benefits? 

It's easy to see how massage therapy would benefit parents. Easing the pain, tension and stress held in the body, encouraging relaxation and better sleep will help mums to feel great and have more energy, mobility and flexibility to play and enjoy time with their kids.

So how can you persuade mums to take advantage of the benefits of massage on a regular basis? 

Everybody knows that massage is relaxing and reduces tension in the muscles. But it might be helpful to remind potential clients of the following health benefits of massage therapy, too:

• a reduction in cortisol associated with stress
• increased flexibility in the joints & increased mobility 
• improvements in circulation & assistance with high blood pressure 
• improvement to the visibility of scars & enhanced recovery of soft tissue injuries
• reduction in the symptoms associated with anxiety and depression
• stimulates the lymphatic system, which soothes the nervous system

These days, capturing potential clients' attention can be tricky, and we all know parents have even less time than most! However, with a little bit of thought, you can tweak your marketing to project a tailor-made approach to worn-out parents, and you can really appear to go the extra mile and solve the problems of your potential clients! 

Below is a great image from rmtedu that shows academic research papers that link to common conditions. The top 3 are definitely relevant to mother's and sharing is bound to impress your clients. You can read the whole article by clicking on the image.

* Click on the image to read the article * 

Think about what issues you could solve for mums or, if you are trained in pregnancy massage, mums-to-be. Tailor some social media posts to demonstrate how your massage treatments could help ease these symptoms. 

The example above social media graphic addresses the concern of expectant mothers that their labour will be long, increasing the length of time they will be in pain and in most likelihood, the stress around the birth. By staying away from lingo like "treat" and by finding a scientific fact (backed up by a reputable source) that shapes your post to directly address this issue you won't be appealing to everyone. But for those women with this concern you will be providing a solution, one that is more likely to see them commit to regular treatments with you. The added plus to this approach is that you appear more professional and knowledgeable to your existing clients who might not be encountering the particular issues you address but will no doubt be impressed and even more likely to refer you to friends or family. Remember to reflect who you are targeting in your marketing with the words AND images you choose. And if you focus on the wonderful health benefits of massage, you stand the best chance of the mum turning into a long-term client!

Here are some points to consider when marketing to mums:

Mums-to-be - they probably have pregnancy aches and pains, not able to rest when they need to if they have older children. They would like their body to be well-prepared for childbirth. As bump grows, the point of gravity changes, and the body needs to adapt. 

New Mums - these mums may spend quite a lot of time sitting down breastfeeding or bottle feeding, they will be recovering from birth (maybe cesarean), and they are exhausted. At this point, they are unlikely to be able to come for regular massages until baby is a little older. Consider including some pamper words in marketing to this group!

Mums of toddlers & pre-school children - these mums will be physically tired from running around after little ones. They probably have no time for themselves. Maybe back & neck problems from pushing pushchairs and little ones creeping into their bed at night! Some pamper words in the marketing would be useful here too.

Mums of primary school-age children - these mums may have a little more time, depending on whether they work outside the home or not. They also may have toddlers, pre-schoolers or teens at home! These mums may have work-related aches and pains.

Mums of tweens & teens - oh boy, does this group need help to relax and stay calm! They also might have aches and pains from sitting at work or being on their feet. They may be experiencing symptoms of peri-menopause or menopause. These mums may have more time to come for regular massages in between taxiing their children around!

Mums of adults - these mums may be experiencing symptoms of menopause and other problems, such as osteoporosis, if they are older. They may experience the typical issues of work-life such as back and neck problems. These mums may have more time and income to come for regular massages.

Also consider the wider problems you can address that relate to mums in a more general sense.

• Partners and children looking for gifts for their mum for Mother's Day. 
• Same as above but for Christmas, birthdays, anniversary's etc. 
• Workplaces are looking for gifts for employees for their maternity leave. 
• People looking to throw baby showers or pamper parties who need something to make the day special and luxurious. 

Through social media and some straightforward marketing tactics, you can tap into the needs of a host of potential clients. Best of all, this may even be relevant to your existing customers or their friends and family who can come to you through solid referrals.

Once you establish your offers and content, you can just tweak them slightly if required, and you have a marketing strategy for your massage therapy business that you can implement quickly for mother's day each year, around the holidays or use in part year round to keep your pipeline of potential clients from drying up. 

Mother's Day 

Mother’s Day is probably the second biggest marketing opportunity to boost your sales after massage treatments for Christmas gifts. So it’s important to try and maximise this opportunity as it could make a difference to your income over the whole year. Plus, it’s a great way to gain more clients who come regularly for one of your wonderful massages!

Mother's Day is also a fantastic occasion to encourage referrals from existing customers and to potentially capture the attention of the public. Taking a multi-pronged attack might seem daunting, but with some quick content, you can easily use this holiday to boost your massage client list.  

Step 1 - Decide on your Mother’s Day offer

Start by defining your special offer for Mother's Day. Keep in mind the aim is to encourage clients to book multiple treatments and to move away from the idea that massage therapy is a one-off treat; for example, you could offer 20% off a package of 3 or 6 treatments. Alternatively, you could offer a special add-on on such as wind-down time with herbal tea after their treatment and then offer a discount directly to the client if they book another massage within a certain time frame. You could also offer a discount to the person buying the present. For example, 20% off their next massage.

Step 2 - Know who you are talking to

Mother’s Day is all about mum relaxing and helping her aches & pains. Remember, a mum with a newborn is unlikely to have the same needs as a mum of a teenager. Also, keep in mind that partners will most likely be buying the gift, although they may have had a lot of hints from mum!

Step 3 - Start sending Mother’s Day reminders to your existing customers and email list.

Email your list to let them know of your Mother's Day offer. You could even offer them a special perk for being on your list. Remember to change the banner at the top of your email to reflect the theme of your email. Here is an example from Canva.

* Click on the image to download *

In your email, you could include a gift guide with your services and products (if you sell any).  And if you collaborate with any other therapists, you could create a gift list with some of your services and some of theirs. This is a really nice way of supporting your community! Consider collaborating with florists and gift shops to promote each other's offers or to promote a package you have created together, for example, a bunch of flowers and a massage.

* Click on the image to download *

These templates can also be displayed proudly in your clinic but also shared on social media, so you can show your clients that you are always thinking of ways to help them!

Step 4 - Use social media to promote your special offer, starting a few weeks in advance

Turn terms like pamper or treat on their head to cleverly reinforce your ultimate goal - encouraging clients (including worn-out mums!) to have treatments as regularly as they can to avoid aches and pains building up to more serious issues.

Step 5 - Update your website, booking system, social media banners (Facebook page header, etc) and posts to remind people that Mother’s Day is around the corner.

Step 6 - If you run ads, consider sending people to a purpose-built landing page for Mother’s Day rather than your generic homepage.

Step 7 - Create a blog or newsletter with Mum-focused content that is not about selling your services.

* Click on the image to download *

Turn terms like pamper or treat on their head to cleverly reinforce your ultimate goal - encouraging clients (including worn-out mums!) to have treatments as regularly as they can to avoid aches and pains building up to more serious issues. 

Next, set up a special gift card in relation to this offer and promote it in your clinic. Canva is a great tool for designing all sorts of content from posters and gift cards to social media posts and the best part is it's free! Although if you do pay for the pro version, you can resize your design to fit Facebook, Instagram, a poster, etc with just one click of a button! 

Then get out into the real world and network your promotion on flyers in your local stores, doctors' surgeries or libraries. Reach out to local parents groups and offer to give a short talk about the benefits of massage and pop your offer on a sandwich board outside your clinic. 

But what about the rest of the year? How can you encourage mother's to take care of their aches and pains before they escalate? 

Gift certificates 

We all know that feeling of just not knowing what to get someone. There is a whole host of occasions where people could treat a mum they know to a massage treatment, but probably wouldn't even know this was a option. Think about it how many times have you had a friend, colleague or family member start their family and have no idea what to get them. 

Taking time to thoughtfully create some gift certificate ideas aimed at mums could really solve someone's dilemma! Below are just some of the templates that you can easily tweak on Canva to create beautiful gift cards in just a few minutes! 

These templates can also be displayed proudly in your clinic, but also shared on social media so you can show your clients that you are always thinking of ways to help them!  

Pamper Parties 

Another great way to market your services to mums is to team up with a local mobile beautician and come up with a package for indulgent pamper parties that you can market for baby showers. 

You could offer; 

1. Mini manicure or 15 minute facial 
2. 15 minute chair massage 
3. Prosecco, smoothies, chocolates and cupcakes 
4. Balloons 
5. Baby shower games - these can be found easily online and sent over in advance to the organiser. 

The key to success here is promoting this service on social media and with your existing clients. Frame the offer as taking care of all the arrangements and bringing a complete party package straight to their home. With a little bit of preparation, you could be on to a real winner. 

Do you have any special offers aimed at mums? If so, let us know in the comments!