Latest / Beyond the Needle: The Aesthetics Business Podcast / How to Keep Your Aesthetics Clinic Busy Over the Summer Months

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How to Keep Your Aesthetics Clinic Busy Over the Summer Months · Beyond the Needle: The Aesthetics Business Podcast

• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Beyond the Needle, the Aesthetics Business Podcast.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Each week, I'm here to share real, actionable strategies and bring on expert guests to help you level up, attract more patients, and build a standout brand.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Let's turn your passion into a thriving business together.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome back to the Beyond the Needle podcast and welcome to the first episode of season six.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: This season I have so many exciting guests lined up, which I'm really excited about.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to be exploring a lot of things that have never been discussed before on the podcast.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: But I wanted to kick off the season by talking about one thing that comes up every year for practitioners how to keep your clinic busy and your revenue healthy over the summer months.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: And we're already in July, so I wanted to kick off the season with this episode.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: And specifically, we're going to be talking about what to do when your diary starts to look a little too spacious, your bookings slow down slightly, and that familiar low-level anxiety starts creeping in about whether you're going to have a quite few months while the kids are off and people are on holiday and people are just busier and being more social and probably not thinking about their skin as much as they should be.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: The practitioners who have a really strong summer are always the ones who have planned ahead, who understand season before it arrives, who have a proactive retention strategy and a clear sense of how to use the quieter weeks to actually build something rather than just ride them out.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: So today, wherever you are, whether you're planning ahead and you want to go into those summer months with a proper strategy, or you're already in a quiet patch and you just need ideas right now, this episode is for you.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to cover treatment positioning, revenue strategies that don't rely on a full appointment diary, patient retention, new patient acquisition, and how to use any downtime to build something that makes next summer look completely different.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot that we're going to be discussing today.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: So as always, grab that notebook and pen and make lots of notes.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get into it.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Now, before we get into strategy, I think it's really worth understanding why summer actually gets quiet because if you understand the reasons, you can start to work around them rather than just accepting it as an inevitable thing that happens every year.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Now, obviously, patients go on holiday.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Parents lose childcare and their routines change completely.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: People start thinking twice about treatments with downtime because they've got a holiday or a wedding or a special event coming up that they don't want bruising for or peeling for or anything like that.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Some treatments are genuinely contradicted in high heat and strong sun.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Some people will probably be looking for ways to save money over the summer months as their spending goes up in other areas.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: And school holidays break up the rhythm of life in a way that tends to push non-essential appointments down the priority list.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: If you're currently experiencing this, the most important thing that you can do is stay visible.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Keep showing up, keep communicating what you do and why it matters across all of your platforms, not just social media, but let's think about your mailing list, your websites, in the community, word of mouth, all of those things.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: The practitioners who come out of summer in the strongest position are almost always the ones who maintains their marketing presence all the way through rather than going quiet and hoping September would rescue them.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's talk about what your summer patient actually wants.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: So before you decide on what to offer or how to position it, it's really worth spending a moment thinking about the mindset of a patient in summer because it's genuinely different to February or November.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: In summer, your patients are thinking about how they look in less clothing.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: They're thinking about holidays and events and occasions, they're spending more time outdoors and in photos, they're conscious of sun exposure, of whether their skin looks healthy and fresh, of how they feel in swimwear or a summer dress.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's also a time when our skin goes through a lot.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they're going to be going on holiday and spending a lot of time in the heat, sweating, wearing a lot more sunscreen, and they're going to come home with congestion, maybe dryness.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: I recently went away for a few days to Greece, and it's been over a week now, or nearly a week now, since I got home, and my skin is so dry, and nothing I am putting on it is helping.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: So dryness, congestion, breakouts, these are all things that people are typically dealing with in the summer months.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: What they're not thinking about maybe as much is a comprehensive anti-aging plan or a heavy treatment that requires two or three weeks of social downtime.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: They want to look good now with minimal fuss, and they want whatever they invest in to last through their summer plans rather than creating complications during them.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Also, we're in July already.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: People aren't going to be able to have a full treatment plan in the lead up to summer to help them look and feel their best because we're already in the summer.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: So we need to be thinking about treatments that are going to have minimal downtime and very quick return on investment.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Then there's also something else happening in summer that's really useful if you're leaning to it, and that's the pre-event and pre-holiday appointment mindset.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: So patients are very motivated around specific occasions, hen parties, weddings, big holidays, birthdays, things that they've been planning for months.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: These are the moments when someone who's been thinking about coming to see you finally decided to do it because there's a concrete reason now.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then, like I say, from kind of mid-August, something shifts again.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: People come back from holiday and they look at their skin under a different lighting and they want to fix what the sun, the salt water, the chlorine, the SPF, the sweat, and the disrupted routine have done to it.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: The post-holiday repair conversation is one of the most natural content angles you have in mid-late August, and it creates a beautiful bridge into the busier autumn season.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Understanding these different patient mindsets pre-holiday prep, that during summer freshness and glow and post-holiday repair gives you a content and treatment strategy that actually matches where your patients are rather than simply just pushing treatments at them regardless of the season.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so let's talk about treatment positioning and what I'm seeing working really well right now for people.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: So skin boosters and polynuclides are genuinely the best treatments to be actively promoting in the summer.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: The treatments are real and visible, and the results that they deliver, you know, fresh, glowing, healthy, well-hydrated skin is what people really want in the summer months.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: So skin boosters and polynuctides are a no-brainer.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: Hydrated, healthy, luminous skin is exactly what somebody wants before a holiday or a summer wedding.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: And what I'm seeing work quite well for people is packaging them together with a bespoke facial or a hydrofacial or a peel, you know, a light minimal downtime peel to really amplify the results of the skin booster and to create a bit of a summer glow treatment plan for people, which is what they want right now.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: So maybe think about how you can package your profilo or your baby glow or your skin vive or your Sunacos together with something else to really amplify its results and give people a quick result that matches what they're looking for at this time of year.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: I know that discounting treatments doesn't sit right with a lot of practitioners in clinics, and it's not something that I really encourage people to do.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: But in this instance, when you want to push bookings in the summer months and give people an incentive to come in, you could package your skin boosters.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if you are going to offer this kind of like summer skin glow package where you've got a course of skin boosters and a light peel combined together, or you know, a hydrofacial or a fire and ice facial paired with your skin boosters, you could knock a bit of money off, you know, 50 quid or whatever.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: And instead of positioning it as, you know, 10% off or 20% off, positioning as a special summer only package where you say£50, just so people feel like they're getting something and it incentivizes them to come in now rather than waiting.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: But it still doesn't really feel like you're discounting anything, and it doesn't sound as tacky as sometimes 10 or 20% or 30% off can do.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: So if that's something that you're comfortable doing, I would encourage considering some sort of summer special, very much focused on treatments that will deliver a quick glow for patients and encourage them to come through the door now before their holidays and their special events that are coming up.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so now let's talk about revenue streams that don't necessarily rely on a full treatment diary.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Revenue doesn't have to come from an appointment slot.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: Let's start with skincare, because a lot of clinics underestimate the power of skincare as an income stream.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Think about what your patients actually want in summer.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: SPF should be prominent in your clinic and in your content from May onwards.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Vitamin C, hydrating serums, after sun recovery, skin barrier support, travel size versions of their staples.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: These are all products your patients are going to buy somewhere, whether or not that somewhere is you.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're not recommending them educating around them and making them easy to purchase, someone else is getting that revenue.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Talk about each product in your content and explain specifically why it's relevant right now in a genuinely useful way.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: So which SPF sits best under makeup, which SPF is best for your skin type, what's the easiest way to reapply your SPF throughout the day when you've got makeup on?
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: These are all questions that patients have.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: And if you can create content around those things with a good call to action at the end or even better, somewhere that they can go from the link in your bio that takes them directly to a shop where they can purchase it, whether that's a shop on your website or through a portal with one of the skincare brands that you work with, just makes it really simple for people to actually go and buy right there and then when they're thinking about it, rather than expecting them to call you when the clinic opens the next day.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: So content like that around SPF or which serum is going to support skin through heat and sun exposure, or what to use post-holiday to repair the skin barrier or to improve congestion.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: That kind of content drives retail sales and it also demonstrates your expertise in a really accessible way.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, if you can do a bit of a focus around skincare plans in the summer, getting people set up on those platforms, whether that's something like Get Harley or Clever Patience or the Illumio MD portal, where people can go have their skincare plan set up for them and then repurchase and be reminded when they're going when they're running low to repurchase, it kind of acts as passive income because you're not having to work for that income every time.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Once they're set up on that on their skincare plan, very little effort is required from you to maintain that income.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: So it drives income to the clinic for months or maybe years after that initial appointment has been carried out.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: Another thing, talk about your referral scheme if you have one.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't have one, maybe consider making some of the time that you set one up.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: Something that incentivizes existing patients to recommend you to their friends and family, whether that's£50 on their account for them to use towards the next treatment or a free skincare product.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I would keep it simple and do something like£50 on their account, then it feels really rewarding for patients because they can use that towards their next treatment and save money.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: Might even encourage them to come in and book something different and try something new in the clinic.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: There is nothing stronger than a friend referral because the patients that have been referred to you come to you for that initial consultation having heard about you from their friend or their family member, and they will already trust you much more than somebody who's simply just found you on Google because they trust their friend or family member that's recommended you.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: They've probably seen how great their results are.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: So they're coming with a very different mindset than somebody who simply just found you on Google and might be comparing you to other clinics in the area or going for multiple consultations with different people.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: So now is a time to remind people about your friend referral scheme, to encourage people to refer you to their friends and family and make this something that you regularly talk about on your socials, whether that's just posting a reminder story or a story about your referral scheme on your stories once every couple of weeks, or putting it at the bottom of your email newsletters, or having it on a banner at the bottom of your email signature so that every time you email a patient, they will see under your name that little banner about your friend referral scheme.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: And if you don't have these things set up, make summer, if you have quieter gaps in the diary, the time to do it.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: Treatment plans and courses booked now for autumn is another strategy that you could explore.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: It generates revenue now, even if only a deposit, and it locks your autumn diary during the summer months when you have more headspace to think about it.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: You could offer a meaningful incentive for courses booked and deposited before the end of August with treatment starting in September, a complimentary skin consultation, a product included in the package, a small saving on the course value, something that makes the decision feel worthwhile now rather than just something to think about later.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, it locks people in and gets them to commit to you so that you know that patient is going to be coming to you in the autumn rather than just hoping they come back and book an appointment when they're ready.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: And for practitioners who want to think bigger, summer is a really good time to design and launch a membership or a patient subscription model if you don't already have one.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Now I've talked about memberships on this podcast before, and if you haven't already listened, go back and listen to my episode that I did with Corinne Sawyers from Patient Perfect about launching a successful membership.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Lots of great tips in there.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: But a membership that gives patients a monthly treatment, a skincare benefit, priority booking access, a quarterly review appointment, creates predictable recurring revenue that makes seasonal dips significantly less painful for clinics because you know, regardless of the month of the year, you are going to be getting that income coming into the clinic from the patients on your membership models.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: Building and launching this during summer means you go into autumn with a revenue foundation that doesn't live or die by individual booking decisions.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, if you've got quieter gaps in the diary during the summer months, you will likely have more headspace to think about implementing these things.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: And then by the time next summer comes around, you'll have a really strong membership model with lots of patients signed up to to see you through those quieter months.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's talk about patient retention because this is the most cost-effective strategy you have.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: The cheapest booking you'll ever get is a patient who already knows and trusts you coming back.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: Retention costs a fraction of new patient acquisition, and the conversion rate is incomparably higher.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: And yet, most clinics put far more effort and money into finding new patients than they do into keeping the ones they already have.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: Summer is a really good time to focus on this because it doesn't require the same level of budget or reach as new patient acquisition.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: It requires care, attention, and some well-timed communication.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: The lapsed patient reactivation campaign is one of the highest return marketing activities a clinic can do and it costs almost nothing.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: So the best way to do this is to pull a report from your booking system of anyone who hasn't visited in the last nine to 12 months.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: These are people who already chose you in K at one point.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: They experienced your care, they trusted you with their face.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: They're not strangers that you need to convince.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: They're people who just need a nudge and a reason to come back.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: But the key is, you don't want to send them a generic newsletter or a we miss you email blast.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: Write something that feels personal and that has been written specifically for them.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: Reference their last treatment, acknowledge that it's been a while, and frame it as a genuine invitation instead of just a marketing push.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: Something along the lines of, hi Sarah, it's been a while since your last visit, and I wanted to reach out personally.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to welcome you back for a complimentary skin review to see how things are looking and what might be most useful for you heading into autumn.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: No pressure, just a chance to catch up and make sure your skin is in good shape.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: Let me know a time that works for you over the next couple of weeks and we'll get you booked in.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe even send them a couple of appointment times and sign it off from you, or if you're a clinic with multiple team members, sign it off from their specific practitioner.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: That message sent to 50 or 100 laps patients will generate bookings.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: It does every time because people genuinely appreciate being remembered and being thought of and it removes the friction of them having to initiate themselves.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: Another retention tool that I see massively underused by clinics is simply the rebooking conversation at the end of every single appointment.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: Most practitioners wrap up an appointment, give aftercare advice, take payment, and let patients walk out with good intentions, but no date in the diary to return.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: A patient who leaves with a future appointment booked is significantly more likely to return than one who leaves intending to book online when they get home.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: Make this part of your standard appointment clothes.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't need to feel pushy or transactional.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: It can be a very natural part of that conversation that you have with patients before they leave.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: Something like, so in terms of next steps, I'd usually suggest we see you again in about eight weeks to see how everything is settled and plan what's next.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: Shall we get something in the diary before you go?
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: That isn't selling.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's just good clinical follow-through.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: And the rebooking rate from a conversation like that is dramatically higher than the rebooking rate from an email reminder two weeks later.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: I know this because this is me as a patient.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: My last skin treatment was probably about eight weeks ago now.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: And the practitioner told me what my next treatment should be as part of my plan.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: But let me walk out the door without getting something in the diary.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, you know, I'd go home, I'd look online, and I'd book a time that suits me.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: I still haven't booked it.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas if I had booked it at the desk before I left, it would be in the diary, it would be in my diary, and I would have committed to it.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: But now it feels like a real effort to go onto their online booking system and find a time that works for me.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: So if this isn't already part of your processes, please, please, please implement it.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: You will see a huge difference in the amount of patients that return to you and your revenue because those appointments are being booked ahead, and that's guaranteed income in your diary for the next however many weeks or months.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: So one strategy I absolutely love at this time of year, and I I talk about this with clinics to do at Christmas as well, to get their January bookings up.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the mystery envelope strategy, which is a really simple idea, but really, really effective when you do it well.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: And ideally, you would have maybe started doing this in kind of June, but it's fine, you can do it in July and August too.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: So the idea is really simple.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: You put a bowl of sealed envelopes at your reception desk or in your treatment room, depending on your clinic setup.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: Now, ideally, you would have started doing this maybe in May or June, but it's okay, it can still work.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: We're not we're not too late yet.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: Every patient gets to take one when they leave their appointment, and inside is a summer offer that's redeemable only in July or August, maybe at this point also maybe September.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: So something like a complimentary LED session with their next skin treatment, or 10% offer specific treatment, or a free product if they spend£200 or more on skincare, a complimentary add-on to their next facial.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: You keep the contents varied, so there's genuine excitement about what's inside, and everyone gets something a bit different.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe also encourages people to try something new in clinic.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: You add a small sign on the front of the bowl that says something like pick an envelope, don't open it until you get home, redeem by August 31st or September 31st, whenever you decide to end it.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: And what happens is patients open it when they get home, they feel like they've been given something really special, and there's now a reason to book before the end of summer that didn't exist before.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: And for you, it's a really low cost, low pressure way to create urgency and give people an additional reason to come back during those quieter months.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's really, really effective.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I think is a really nice thing to do because you're also like giving something back to your patients, making them feel special.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, don't underestimate the power of doing something that isn't about selling anything at all.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, a simple WhatsApp to a patient you treated six months ago just to check in on how they're feeling about their results.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: A handwritten note sent to a long-term patient thanking her for her loyalty, a small complimentary skincare sample sent out to a handful of your most valued patients with a personal message.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: These things cost almost nothing to do and create an enormous amount of goodwill.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: Patients who feel genuinely valued refer people and they come back time and time again.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: Patients who feel like they're just a booking reference don't.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, now let's talk about bringing in new patients over summer.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because while retention is your most cost-effective lever, you still want to be actively bringing new people in.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: And there are some approaches that work particularly well in summer specifically.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: I've talked about my social media competition strategy on here before, but it's still a really underrated way to increase your brand awareness in the local area.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: And when you do it properly, it can be super effective.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: So think about something that you want to offer as a price, whether that's, you know, it doesn't have to be high value, it could be something as simple as a peel, a chemical peel.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: It could be skincare.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if you've got skincare in your clinic that's going to be expiring soon, could be a good way to get rid of it and get something out of it at the same time.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, you can give away something a little bit more substantial, like a course of polynucleotide treatments, depending on, you know, what you're happy to do.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: But obviously, the more desirable the treatment is, the better the competition will likely do.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd also pick something that the general public are going to know.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: So, like polynucleotides is a very well known treatment.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people have heard of polynuclides at this point.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, hydrofacial is another good one because people know it, they know the name.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: So you'd run the competition, probably on Instagram, you give away this free treatment, whether it's a hydrofacial, course of polynuctides, chemical peel, skincare bundle, whatever it is, you run the competition, and in order to enter, people have to follow your account, maybe tag a friend, perhaps share it to their stories for an additional entry.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: Then put a small paid budget behind the post and target it tightly to your ideal demographic in your local area.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'd say women aged between maybe 30 and 55 within a realistic travel radius of your clinic, which will completely depend on the location you're based in.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I've said women specifically because it's really only women that are going to enter a competition like this.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: Even if you want to be actively reaching men too, I would say for this, just keep it really tightly focused on a very specific audience so that you're not going too wide.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: And when I say a small paid budget, I would say at least maybe£10 a day over the course of a couple of weeks.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: And you would apply that by boosting the post.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: So you'd boost it on Instagram.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: Now, when the competition ends, you obviously will have one winner.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: But then you also have a load of people who've entered just sat there.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't win, but they're genuinely interested in skin or treatments because they entered the competition in the first place.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: So now you've got, you know, potentially a hundred or a couple of hundred people there that you can message and you can follow up with.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I would send each one of those people a genuine message that says something like, Thank you so much for entering our recent competition.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, you didn't win this time, but we'd love to offer you a complimentary consultation and 10% off your first treatment if you book before the end of X-Day.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: That follow-up is where the real return on this strategy is because one winner is nice, but 30 new patient consultations from the follow-up is where it gets really interesting.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: And by giving people a complimentary consultation and 10% off their first treatment or something along those lines, you're giving them an incentive to come in and to come in quickly rather than just saying, I think about it, and you know, maybe I'll book in at some point in the future.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: And you don't need to open up that 10% off of all of your treatments.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: You can keep it very specific to one thing, whether that's your skin treatments or the treatment that the competition was about in the first place, or everything but injectables, you know, completely up to you and what you feel comfortable with.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: But I do think it's important to include some sort of incentive.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: And in clinic open evening is another strategy that works very well for new patient acquisition.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: Something again that's very underutilised by people, and summer can suit it better than you might think because people are more socially inclined.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: An evening event feels like an occasion and an intimate curated experience in your clinic where people can meet you, see your space, learn something genuinely useful, and understand what it would actually be like to be your patient is one of the most effective ways to convert interested followers to into actual bookings.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: Keep it very small and focused rather than a large open house.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: Between maybe eight and 15 people works well.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: Give it a specific theme that speaks to your ideal patient's current concerns, or maybe make it seasonally focused around summer and glow.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, you could even think about teaming up with somebody else in the local area, perhaps a florist, and they could come in and they you could do like skin workshops and make it really fun for people, or you could just keep it very specific to your ideal patient's current concerns, you know, something like skin in your 40s, what's actually worth investing in, or understanding your skin before you invest in a treatment, have a product trial takeaway, offer a specific evening-only incentive for people who book before they leave, and follow up with everyone who attended within 48 hours.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: People who come into your space and have a good experience book, the conversion rate from an in-clinic event is significantly higher than from any social media content because the trust building that normally takes weeks of content happens in a single evening.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: And like I say, think about the partnerships available to you in your local area, the businesses your ideal patient already uses: a high-end salon, a Pilate studio, a personal trainer, a gym, a yoga studio, a florist, a bridal shop.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: None of these people are in competition with you, and all of them have clients who overlap significantly with your ideal patient profile.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: Approaching these businesses about a mutual referral arrangement, a joint event, or even just a presence in their space through well-produced cards or skincare samples takes time initially but creates a referral pipeline that costs you almost nothing once it's up and running.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: Brides and bridal-related businesses are worth particular attention in summer, given the volume of weddings.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: Brides are among the most motivated and invested assessive patients there are.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: So a relationship with a senior bridal stylist or a wedding venue can consistently drive high-quality new patient referrals for years to come.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now, another thing I wanted to touch on in this episode is the power of using quieter weeks to build a stronger business.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: Because all year long, you know, clinic owners, practitioners, any business owner is busy or tells themselves they're too busy to do XYZ.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: Normally there is time to be found, but it's hard to find the motivation for things that feel like they're going to require a lot of time and effort if you're already busy juggling a million other things.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: But quieter weeks are genuinely some of the most valuable time you get as a business owner if you use them deliberately rather than just filling them with worry.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: So a few things that you can do.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: Go through your booking process as if you're a new patient who's never heard of you before.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: How easy is it to find you?
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_00: How clear is it what you offer?
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: How do you answer inquiries and how quickly?
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: What's your confirmation process like?
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: What's the experience between booking and arriving at your clinic?
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: What happens after an appointment?
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: How are you collecting reviews and are you actively asking for them?
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: These processes matter enormously to the patient experience and to your conversion rate, but they almost never get properly reviewed during a busy period because there's just no time.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: When you have seasons where there are quieter gaps, use that time to look at these things.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't have an email list, start building one now.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: If you have one and you're not emailing it, start.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: Email is the only marketing channel you actually own.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: Instagram can change its algorithm overnight, reduce your reach, or disappear entirely.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: But your email list is yours.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: So a monthly email to your patient list that's genuinely useful, not just promotional, is one of the highest return marketing activities a clinic can do.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: It keeps you present in the lives of people who have already chosen you, it positions you as an expert and it consistently drives bookings at a fraction of the effort of always trying to reach cold audiences.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: On the subject of email marketing, maybe even think about introducing email funnels to existing patients after they've come in for a specific treatment.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: So a series of emails that people could receive after investing in something like Laser or Softwave or RF microneedling that gives them helpful advice and tips for amplifying their results, but then also gently upsells into other things that are going to support their results in the long run.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: And use quieter appointment days to batch create content for September and October.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: Film the reels you've been meaning to film, write the captions, plan the carousel series, go into autumn with a content bank rather than arriving at September, scrambling to create in real time while the diary fills up again.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: If there's a treatment technique or business skill you've been meaning to develop, summer is also a great time to work on that.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: Coming into autumn with a new treatment offering or a refined skill set gives you something genuinely new to talk about, creates fresh energy in your marketing, and often opens up a new patient demographic you weren't previously reaching.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so what does a well-planned summer actually look like?
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: I want to bring this together because I think it helps to see it as a whole rather than a list of separate tactics.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: So now in July, this is when you want to be talking about pre-holiday and pre-event skin treatments, pushing skincare and looking at your lapsed patient list and drafting your reactivation messages.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: Put the mystery envelopes at reception and maybe think about planning an open evening for August.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: August is then your bridge month.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: The first half is still summer, but the second half is when you start shifting the message to post-holiday skin repair, to what's coming in autumn to booking courses now for September.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: You're planting the seeds for your busiest season while you still have the headspace to do it well.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: And by the time September arrives, rather than feeling like you're scrambling to catch up after a difficult summer, you go in with a warm audience, a portion of the autumn diary already filled, a stronger set of systems, and a clearer sense of what you're building.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's what a well-planned summer feels like.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_00: And the difference between that experience and the anxious reactive one is almost entirely in how deliberately you approach it.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: Summer doesn't have to be a problem you manage through.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: Use well is one of the most useful periods you get as a clinic owner because the quieter pace gives you the space to actually think, to work on the business rather than just in it, and to set yourself up for the months ahead in a way you simply can't during a busy September or a Pat November.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: The practitioners who've come out of summer in the best position are almost never the ones who waited for it to be over.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: They're the ones who decided early what they were going to do with it.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: So if this episode gave you something useful, I'd love for you to share it with another practitioner who you think needs to hear it.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: And if you want more on the business and marketing side of building a sustainable aesthetics clinic, make sure you subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss out on the next episode.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: As always, I really hope you enjoyed this.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: And if you have any questions, come and connect with me over on Instagram at AmenBeyond Studio.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I look forward to seeing you in the next episode.