“Once upon a time, our contact with wellness was occasional: we went to the gym or got a massage. But this is changing fast: a wellness mindset is starting to permeate the global consumer consciousness, affecting people’s daily decision-making…Wellness, for more people, is evolving from rarely to daily, from episodic to essential, from a luxury to a dominant lifestyle value. And that profound shift is driving powerful growth.” – Katherine Johnston, senior research fellow, Global Wellness Institute (GWI)
Historic Growth
The market for health and wellness spans a vast range of industries related to food, nutrition, fitness, beauty, personal care, holistic healing, and more. To say that this market is “booming” would be a radical understatement. Health and wellness are more important to society now than ever before and this trend is only expected to gain momentum in years to come. Statista reports that by 2020, the market value for health and wellness in America is expected to reach a staggering 179 billion U.S. dollars and GWI reveals that the global wellness economy has already reached $4.3 trillion.
Right now, entrepreneurs around the globe are racking their brains for the best ways to capitalize on this movement. But the critical question is, how do you stand out in such a competitive space? The answer is: Exceptionally Strategic Marketing. The success of your brand in the health and wellness space is directly dependant upon the quality and execution of your marketing. This article outlines our top 3 most valuable tips for marketing to the health and wellness community.
Tip #1:
Tailor Your Brand Image
Crafting a rock-solid brand image is more important in health and wellness than possibly any other industry. This is an audience of people hungry for a brand that gets them, understands their unique struggles, and can truly speak their language. These buyers are highly impressionable and their perception of your brand is likely made within…(cue jaw-drop) the first 0.5 seconds.
“We know the first impression a website’s design creates is crucial in capturing users’ interest. In less than 50 milliseconds, users build an initial “gut feeling” that helps them decide whether they’ll stay or leave.” – Google
The only way you can succeed against those kinds of odds is if you truly understand your audience. That means more than simply knowing male, female, age group or location. You must create intimate Buyer Personas that allow you to get into their mindset, commiserate with their struggles, and find out what drives them. Only then will you have a chance at making a positive, split-second impression.
The Trick: Never underestimate the power of Buyer Personas. They are so important in fact, that we’ve dedicated an entire blog post walking you through How to Create Buyer Personas.
Tip #2:
Embrace Social Media
We frequently discuss the Importance of Social Media in Marketing, but within the Health and Wellness Universe, consider social media to be your lifeline. Not only can organic social media define your brand, but paid social media advertising must be a part of your sales funnel. Facebook’s sophisticated algorithms enable you to hyper-target an audience, retarget individuals based on their engagement, funnel them to strategic landing pages, and pre-qualify leads.
We work with a local medical laser and skin care office where social media advertising is used as the basis of their entire marketing campaign. Viewers click-through to customized landing pages designed for each video promotion. Those videos and landing pages get thousands of views per month and additional hot leads continue to funnel into their office months after the campaigns have concluded.
The Trick: When developing your own Facebook campaign, don’t assume you know what will resonate with your audience. You need to A/B test. For this specific client, we’ve honed in their video ad strategy to include both stock b-roll and real footage of the treatments. Adding clips of the procedures has nearly doubled their click-through rate because their clientele wants to be educated with authentic content.
Tip #3:
Develop Your Nurture Strategy
Capturing prospective leads is only half the battle. You must be prepared to follow up if you ever intend to close the deal. Experts agree that today, it takes 6-8 touches to generate a viable sales lead.
“Today’s consumers are increasingly immune to traditional advertising and sales methodologies, meaning they conduct more independent research and take more convincing before they’re sold on making a purchase.” – SalesForce
Setting up a drip email campaign is a great way to communicate with consumers early in their buyer’s journey. For this client, we’ve designed an email series that automatically sends to anyone who fills out the interest form on their landing pages. It begins with a “welcome” email that thanks them for their interest in the limited time offer, provides fun facts, and lets them know that a specialist will be contacting them shortly to set up a consultation. A team-member then reaches out via phone to set up a time when they can speak directly to the doctor, either in-person or on FaceTime and learn more about what the treatment entails. In the following days, they also receive emails that educate them on other popular procedures, further reinforce the doctor’s expertise, and offer exclusive coupons. Eventually, these contacts are moved into a newsletter mailing list where they receive monthly notices of upcoming deals and informative introductions to new treatments. With an average open rate of 37%, this client is achieving results twenty percent better than the industry standard.
The Trick: Free education and personal calls. In a world so detached, simply picking up the phone and calling your leads can make a huge impact. And when you do email, providing educational material is a powerful way to stand out as an authority in the health and wellness space.
The Foundation for Success
Every move you make in this highly competitive industry must be acutely strategic. The more you can personalize your program to meet the needs of your personas, the greater your chances of success. Don’t be afraid to utilize social media for brand awareness and outbound marketing. A/B testing is well worth the investment. And, as you build your database of leads, we urge you to prioritize educational content. The health and wellness audience is sophisticated, curious, and inclined to invest in brands that are mutually willing to invest in them.
