How to Create a Medical Spa Membership Program That Grows Revenue

By Luciana Dabit

Subscription businesses are booming. Subscription e-commerce sales more than doubled in just four years. Consumer spending on app subscriptions grew 35% last year.

Consumers are well accustomed to signing up for subscriptions and recurring memberships. Convenience, cost savings, and even the feeling of belonging are top motivators.

It’s no wonder why 70% of businesses see memberships and subscription as the key to future growth.

Nearly every business can benefit from setting up a membership program. Medical spas have a lot to gain from this increasingly popular strategy because your ideal clients will visit you again and again.

Below, we show you exactly how to create a program that will produce more loyal clients and more regular revenue.

In this guide, we cover:

What are spa membership programs?

The benefits of creating a membership program for your medical spa

Ideas for what to include in your medical spa membership

Smart ways to grow your medical spa membership program

Spa membership programs versus loyalty programs

What are spa membership programs?

A spa membership program is a subscription-based service that a spa, salon, or medical spa offers to provide members with various benefits and perks. For a reasonable fee, these programs typically offer discounted rates on services and complimentary services but might also include priority booking, access to special events, and exclusive access to amenities or treatments.

Spa membership programs are designed to encourage regular visits while rewarding clients for their loyalty and commitment to your business.

The benefits of creating a membership program for your medical spa

Before we dive into a list of program benefits you can offer clients, let’s talk about the benefits for you, the medical spa owner.

Running a MediSpa is expensive. Every month, you have expenses to cover (from rent to payroll), but your revenue begins at zero. You don’t know how much you’ll earn any given month.

A spa membership program changes that. Finally, you can start focusing on recurring income—instead of only driving unpredictable income. You can work on enrolling more and more clients in your program, giving you several thousand in recurring revenue each month, so you’re never starting from zero.

In addition to knowing the minimum you’ll earn, spa memberships also help you streamline your operations. You can include the most popular, helpful services in your membership and be able to better plan for the delivery of those services in terms of materials, equipment, and scheduling.

Clients love getting extra perks, benefits, and savings. So, you also have the chance to stand out amongst competitors who don’t offer a similar program, making clients even more loyal to you.

Ideas for what to include in your medical spa membership

Not sure what to include in your program?

Here are some ideas for membership benefits:

Monthly basic facials	A certain number of Botox or Dysport units per year
Monthly microneedling	Discount on all retail products
One filler syringe per year	Discounts on all services
One IPL Photofacial per year	Discounts on specific services or packages
One body scultping package per year (four treatments)	Members-only parties or events
Lower pricing per unit for Botox or Dysport

Charging for your program

Before you choose which ideas to add to your program, you’ll need to decide if it’s an annual or monthly program.

While traditional spas can have monthly programs (such as a facial or massage per month), medical spas are usually better off with annual programs because the services provided are more expensive. You wouldn’t want to get a full IPL treatment and then cancel right away.

One option is to require an annual contract but allow clients to pay for it on a monthly basis. This way, you can enroll more clients into your program with a more feasible payment option, while still giving away larger rewards.

And as a general rule of thumb, high-cost membership programs should include monthly or annual access to a service as well as discounts. But a low-cost membership program should only offer discounts. You might choose to create different tiers. For instance, a program that costs $200 per month (with an annual contract) might include one Juvederm syringe and one IPL Photofacial as well as Botox unit discounts and retail discounts. But a program that costs $30 per month (with no annual requirement) might only include the discounts.

However you structure your program, calculate at least 10% savings for enrollees who participate fully.

Smart ways to grow your medical spa membership program

Creating the program is just the beginning.

Here are some useful growth strategies to try:

• Post-appointment automation – One of the very best ways to get more enrollees is to automate your marketing. Try setting up automated emails after service appointments are completed. In your follow-up email, you might include a link to your video library of post-care instructions and an invitation to join your membership.
• Segmented marketing campaigns – You can also create one-off campaigns whenever you’d like. For the best results, target a specific segment. You can layer criteria, such as clients who aren’t currently in your membership program and that have spent over a certain amount or have visited you within the past three months. Use email, SMS, and/or push notifications to let this audience know about your program and why they should join.
• In-person sales – Make sure to train your staff about your programs benefits and cost. Also teach them how to identify which clients are a good fit. You might also roleplay their pitch to help them get comfortable speaking about the program.
• Social media – Social media is a great channel for spreading awareness about your program. Try posting about it on a quarterly basis. Include details on the program benefits as well as a client testimonial specific to the program.
• Holiday promotions – Want a new influx of members? Create a holiday special, where clients can lock-in a temporary or ongoing discount on your membership price, while still enjoying all the same benefits. (We recommend hiding this from social media and only using email, SMS, and push notifications for people not yet in the program. This way, you don’t frustrate members who are paying full price.)
• Testing new benefits and price points – If the above tactics aren’t yielding the results you’d like, it might be time to restructure your program. Talk to some of your favorite clients that aren’t in the program and ask them why they didn’t sign up. Use their feedback to improve the offerings or adjust the price.

Spa membership programs versus loyalty programs

Spa membership programs are typically paid. Clients will pay somewhere between $50 and $300 per month to receive a specific set of benefits.

Loyalty programs, on the other hand, are usually free to join. Clients receive points when they take certain actions, like leaving an online review, booking services, or purchasing products. When they hit certain milestones, clients can choose to cash in their points for rewards.

You can create just one of these program types, or offer both. You might create a paid membership program for your most dedicated clients while launching a loyalty program that any client can use to earn great rewards.

With WellnessLiving, you can easily create both. Learn about our features for recurring memberships and rewards programs.

We also offer email marketing, SMS marketing, and push notifications so you can keep in touch with those enrolled in your different programs while encouraging clients who aren’t enrolled to join.

Request a demo of WellnessLiving to see all of our medispa management software features in action.