Spa Advertising

Question From Lemans -

I have a magazine in Northern VA that is eager for me to advertise some what expensive 1300.00 a month any feedback

Dear Lemans,

So much information must go into making a marketing decision like this.

First, what is your monthly marketing budget? Your monthly budget should not be more then 10% of your top line revenue a month (with some fluctuation for seasonality). In some cases due to your fix costs, your budget may be less (3 - 5%). What is your marketing budget? Does this cost fit into your budget?

Second, what is the ROI (return on investment). I like to look at it this way, how much will that ad need to bring me on the top line to pay for itself on the bottom line. If right now, you are averaging putting 20% on the bottom line each month, that would translate to for every$100,000 on the top line you put $20,000 on the bottom line. So in this example, if you spend $1300 of your bottom line, then this should generate at least $6500 on the top line to pay for itself. If your average service is $100 this means that the ad would need to generate 65 treatments to pay for itself. Can this ad do that?

If you do decide to move forward with this, you should run an ad with a coupon this way you can track redemption to see if you get the ROI.

What is the distribution of the magazine? How is it distributed (subscribers by mail, available for free in supermarkets, placed in hotels)? Is it geared toward the demographics of your clients? Have you spoke with other advertisers in the magazine to see what type of results they experienced? How long has this magazine been in business. Is it a read once and throw out magazine or is it a coffee table magazine. What is the readership of the magazine?

I am familiar with N. VA, I lived in Fairfax and I still have a sister who lives in Sterling by Dulles Airport. I will be happy to help you as much as I can with research on the publication.

Today, depending on the location of your spa, most consumers are finding their spas by word of mouth and on the internet. For $50 a month or $500 for an entire year of service, my company Spavelous will support you. We work with you on your word of mouth by having you stay in touch with your current clients with newsletters and email blasts. We assist you with building sales by posting your spa deals and spa specials on our web site and in our Spa blogs. Many of our members receive these specials daily through RSS feeds. You can review our offering more at http://spavelous.com/mkt/index.html There are four plans to choose from. At very least you should sign up for your free listing.

As you can see by my posts, I am truly here to support you and the spa industry. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me directly. I am located in AZ so I believe I am 3 hours behind you now. 888-887-7831 ex 1818

I hope you have found this information helpful and not too confusing.

Sincerely Yours,

Marie Bernat
Spavelous - The Largest US Spa Directory