Social Media Tools and Tips

Why Is Social Media Important to Your Massage Practice?

Social media is a great way to stay connected with clients and your community, now more than ever. While your personal social media profiles keep you connected with friends and family, you can use social media as part of your business marketing to connect with current clients and reach new ones. You don't need to join every social media platform out there. Pick one or two that you are familiar with, or that you know your clients are using, and focus on them.

Keep followers up-to-date about hours, services, or changes in your schedule such as last-minute openings. You can also use social media to share your expertise and the health benefits of massage therapy. 

Social media can help you:

• Stay connected to current clients and reach out to prospective clients
• Promote your massage therapy practice, events and specials
• Keep your clients updated about openings in your schedule and emergency closings
• Supplement and drive traffic to your website
• Share information about self-care and the health benefits of massage therapy
• Become visible within the massage therapy community. To start, follow AMTA on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Top 5 Common Social Media Mistakes and How To Avoid Them

1. Not Having a Plan

It’s best to have a separate strategy for each platform, or people will tire of seeing the same message and lose interest. So before you dive into the different social media platforms, ask yourself what you hope to achieve and how you can use each platform to get there. Having a marketing plan will help you achieve the goals you set.

Follow AMTA on Facebook for posts you can share with massage clients

2. Doing Too Much, Too Soon

Don’t feel obligated to join every social media platform out there—there may be some that just don’t make sense for your business. Pick one or two that you are familiar with, or that you know your competitors and clients are using, and focus on them. Quality is more important than quantity, and spreading yourself too thin could end up causing all of your accounts to suffer.

3. Not Engaging with Your Audience

Respond to comments and questions you receive, and actively engage with people on relevant posts in your community. It is also important to address negative comments or criticism because doing so will show that you are authentic and transparent. People will appreciate your honesty, and distrust you and your brand if you delete or ignore a problem.

4. Not Budgeting Enough Time

Whether you’re planning, creating a post, or engaging with your audience, social media marketing takes time. You need to be able to interact and build up your online presence consistently, even if it’s just for 10 minutes a day. If you can’t find the time or aren’t willing to take the necessary time, it’s best not to start.

5. Failing to Measure Return on Investment

It won’t be worth your time and effort to have a social media campaign if you aren’t sure if it’s working. Many social media applications have analytics associated with their platforms, and outside apps and software can also provide you with information on how your accounts are doing.

You can also track the number of shares of your business’ content, brand mentions, returned traffic to your website, and the number of engaged community members by the number of likes, comments, and messages to see if your accounts are improving, stagnant, or worsening.