Continuing education classes expand your technical skills and help you build a stronger authority position—but did you know that you can, and should, leverage your newly learned massage technique in a way that goes beyond simply adding it as a new menu item?
Going further will provide an incredibly powerful marketing strategy.
By implementing the tips outlined below, you can increase your authority position, build excitement, and get heaps of appointments—even before the class is completed.
Market Your New Massage Technique
1. Register for Class
As soon as you register for a new CE class, let your clients know! Send out a short email with a concise description of the class and why you believe your clients will benefit from this new modality or technique. When you show your excitement, your clients will get excited too.
2. Two Weeks Prior to Class
Repurpose your email by creating posts for all of your social media accounts. Share one or two ways your clients will benefit from your new skill set. Ask an engaging question, such as, “Who’s excited to experience these benefits for yourself? Post your favorite gif or emoji in the comments.”
3. One Week Prior to Class
Send out a second email and repurpose that into new social media posts. This time, in addition to information about the modality or technique itself and how it will benefit your clients (make sure you are including different benefits in each email), invite clients to pre-schedule feedback sessions.
Offering a very limited number of these sessions will continue to build excitement, provide you with the bodies you need to perfect the delivery of your new skills, and allow clients to experience the expanded results you can offer. And a fantastic bonus? Your bank account will thank you!
4. During the Class
Capture the excitement with photos. Ask the instructor for permission to photograph their banner or the title slide of their presentation. If the instructor allows, take a few up-close snapshots of the practice sessions, making sure to get your fellow students’ permission in writing as well.
Post these photos and some exciting commentary about what you are doing in class. Remind your followers to pre-schedule feedback sessions if your schedule has not already filled up. Include a deadline (the end of class) to create urgency and exclusivity.
5. After the Class
Send a third email, again repurposed into new social media posts, describing what you learned in class, how it will benefit your clients, and why you are excited to share this new modality or technique with them. Invite clients to schedule a session so they can experience these benefits for themselves.
6. Leveraging CEs to Increase Your Rates
Expanding your skill set, whether you accomplish that by offering a new, stand-alone modality or by adding new techniques to your existing routine, can prime you for a rate increase. But before you slap a new price tag on your service, it is a good idea to give weight to the following question:
7. Is it an Add-on or Add-in?
Integrating a new technique into your current session structure is an excellent way to increase your rates. To do so effectively, you will want to consider the increased results your clients will experience as a result of this new technique compared to the results they get from your existing session structure.
The more powerful those results are, the more valuable they are, and the higher your fee can be. The most significant factor in choosing add-in versus add-on is scalability. Offering valuable add-ons is a good way to boost your income, but it is limited to client interest.
Add a Massage Technique into Session Structure
By adding your massage technique into your session structure, you are able to scale your income by increasing your base session fee. That means all clients will be paying a higher fee (and experiencing the best results you have to offer), not just clients who opt for the add-on. This allows you to rapidly and significantly increase your income.
Leveraging your new skills through effective marketing can help you grow your clientele and set the stage for you to increase your session rates. Now, the only question is: Which CE class will you register for next?
About the Author:
Melinda Hastings, LMT, BCTMB, MTI, has practiced massage therapy since 1996. She holds active licenses in Washington and Texas, and is also a Texas Massage Therapy Instructor. She is a Nationally Approved Continuing Education Provider through the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, and her CE classes are offered through her seminar business, Inspired Therapist Seminars.
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