There’s a relatively new kid on the block in the aesthetic healthcare space, and it’s set to grow exponentially. The body contouring market is projected to reach 9.1 Billion by 2024. And popular magazines like Allure write “body contouring procedures are trending.”
While there’s a lot of opportunity in this space, it requires a significant investment to purchase the device, and there’s a more complex art and science to marketing such devices. We spoke with our agency expert and Executive Healthcare Marketing Consultant, Ryan Files, to share his insights for those considering purchasing a device, those who have purchased a device (and might be regretting it), and those who are working on paying off a device.
Buying a Body Sculpting Device
One of the reasons practices buy these expensive devices is because they drive passive income to the practice. The doctor doesn’t have to perform it, and it can drive just as high or higher of an ROI as breast augmentation, says Files. There are several different device options available.
Paying off the Device
How quickly your practice can pay off the device depends on a number of variables, according to Files. For a brand new practice, it could take 3 years to pay off. For a fully functioning practice, 1-2 years if you’re going about the marketing and lead management process correctly. If it’s your second device, chances are your practice has already figured out the process.
Investing in the Success of Your Body Sculpting Campaign
Part of “doing it right” to pay off the device and grow the practice is investing for the success of the campaign. Files and his team see a lot of misunderstanding associated with the cost per acquisition. Body sculpting is a high-value service that brings with it a higher cost to acquire a patient than some of the other more common patient procedures. One body sculpting procedure has a $3,000 value to the practice, so there is an acquisition cost there. “Remember,” says Files, “once you acquire that patient, they will continue to bring value to the practice through use of other services.”
Top Reasons Practices Work with a Body Sculpting Marketing Expert like Ryan
It’s difficult to market body sculpting. Body Sculpting is relatively new. And because it’s new, you have to approach the marketing campaign differently than if it was a known commodity. For body sculpting, you have to educate more and write more content because people don’t necessarily know what it is or believe in the benefits.
According to Files, there are 2 types of clients:
- People who have just bought a device. In these cases, the manufacturer often assigns Bell Media to them as a preferred marketing provider. These practices just made a large investment and want to pay it off as quickly as possible.
- People who are really frustrated. They had a digital marketing agency, added a device to their practice, but haven’t been able to market it effectively because it is difficult and requires a different approach.
To better serve clients who are dealing with the unique challenges of body sculpting, Bell Media has a dedicated body sculpting team. This team consists of consultants like Files, as well as onboarding specialists, digital marketing production specialists, and account managers.
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“Our agency was successful with our other campaigns - Why aren’t our digital marketing efforts working for body sculpting? What are we doing wrong?”
This is a question Ryan hears frequently. And the answer is usually rooted in a common misunderstanding within this space – what’s required of the lead intake process for this less known service.
“I think the lead intake practice is misunderstood because practices are used to lead intake for known commodities like botox and skin checkups,” says Files. “Your patients already know what a skin check-up is. They already know what a botox is. So when they call, they don’t have as many questions. They’re more ready to schedule an appointment.”
It’s different for body sculpting, explains Files. “You see an ad about Body sculpting or Coolsculpting, but you don’t know what it is so you reach out to the practice to find out. You have questions: ‘You say it’s noninvasive, but doesn’t it hurt?’ ‘What’s the recovery time?’
“So when these body sculpting leads call, they may not be ready to schedule an appointment. They have these questions. But many front desks are trained to schedule appointments but not necessarily to move someone through the buying process.”
Practices may mistakenly conclude that leads asking all these questions aren’t good when, in fact, they are. These leads just need to be educated and nurtured. An effective lead intake process looks different for services like body sculpting.
Fully Thought Out Marketing Process for Your Device
Files says the biggest challenge he sees practices face is not having a fully thought out process from beginning to end. “A lot of times practices will just run a search campaign or email campaign. But they don’t have a fully thought out strategy from end to end that they commit to all at one time. They don’t take the time to strategically think about what to do, or if they have, they don’t make the effort to execute on all of those things.”
Key Elements to Drive a Strong Body Sculpting Marketing Campaign
Many practices ask Files, “Should we use search engines, or should we use social?” And the answer is both. We’ve outlined below the essentials of an effective campaign.
- Establish a strong foundation that educates with just enough information.
- Leverage your existing patient base. Do a good job of promoting your new service to existing patients through means like a strong email newsletter campaign. Your existing patients are more likely to come use the device than a new patient.
- Attract new patients with a good advertising campaign. Have a robust social campaign running multiple ads and messaging to find out which resonates best with patients in your local market. And establish a strong search engine presence.
- Once you do attract leads, secure a strong lead nurturing campaign.
- Establish a well-developed lead intake process.
Advice for Practices Offering Body Sculpting
For practices who are frustrated with their current marketing provider
Pick up your phone and dial Bell Media. JK”, says Files. “But my advice would be to work on your lead intake process. Dig into who is answering the phone. Have a dedicated person to answer their phone. What are they saying? Do they have talk tracks, call scripts, and so on?”
For those who just bought a body sculpting device
“Congrats on the new device. No need to regret the purchase. Now you need to sit down and think about your holistic process. Think about your strategy from a marketing and execution perspective,” says Files. “Get online and start researching body sculpting marketing. Look up body sculpting agencies. People don’t realize that it’s an entirely different type of marketing than others. There are experts. Find someone who specializes in body sculpting.”
Have more questions? We have a dedicated healthcare marketing team who would love to talk with you.