How Effective Public Relations Can Benefit Your Practice

What is the Benefit of Public Relations?

Public relations, or PR, generates awareness of your practice and enhances the positive image of massage therapy. Public relations activities include providing newsworthy information to media channels such as newspapers, relevant websites, radio and television in addition to delivering educational information through speaking engagements and participation in community events.

The Advantage of Public Relations

Through public relations, you provide a message to the media and the media contact decides whether or not they want to communicate this message to the public and in what format. The main advantage of public relations is that it only costs you time and a little effort.

Putting PR Tools Into Practice

Check out these public relations activities you can incorporate into your practice:

• When you add a new modality to your services, send a press release to the business, health, fitness or beauty editors of your local newspaper.
• Write articles for area newsletters published by fitness, health or medical centers. Include the name of your business and your contact information with your byline.
• Set up a booth at a community event and offer 5-minute chair massages and distribute informational brochures about your practice and the benefits of massage therapy.
• When new research results are announced that verify the benefits of massage, write a letter to local health professionals to make them aware of the new findings.
• Participate in AMTA’s National Massage Therapy Awareness Week^®, and send a description of your event or activity to AMTA for possible publication.
• Create a professional page on Facebook, Linkedin or other social networking websites.
• Create a blog about your practice and profession and post regular updates.
• Get involved in a professional organization. Among the tools you get from your AMTA membership are reproducible fact sheets that provide information about the benefits of massage therapy, participation in NMTAW and sample press releases.

When used effectively, public relations tools are a helpful and inexpensive way to help you strengthen and expand your massage therapy practice.