Welcome to the Aesthetician Coach Blog. Today’s blog is about targeting your ideal audience and client in your esthetician business. This is probably not the first time you have heard, “you have to market to your ideal client to be successful.” Or, “you really need to be speaking to your target audience.” But how do we know who our ideal client is? Why should we narrow down our target audience? And lastly, how do we speak directly to our ideal clients? That’s what we're diving into in today’s episode. So grab your coffee, your tea and let’s get started.
Why Knowing Your Ideal Client is Important
I believe that knowing your ideal client can transform your business. Because it’s going to allow you to tailor your services, your marketing and branding. You're going to attract clients who value what you have to offer which will lead to higher client satisfaction and client retention rates. It will help you refine your messaging and get clear about who you are marketing to so that you will stand out from the crowd.
The most common mistakes I see by not marketing to your ideal clients are ineffective marketing, attracting the wrong clients, inconsistent clientele and lower profit margins. Let’s discuss these a little more in depth.
Ineffective Marketing Your message ends up being generic and falling flat. So trying to reach everybody, you reach nobody. A good example is: “Come see me, everybody needs a facial.” Now, I’m not trying to call you out if this was your instagram post today. Because guess what, I posted and marketed this exact way! I was doing the same thing. I was trying to reach anybody and everybody who would come to see me. But it wasn’t effective, it wasn’t working.
It’s not attention grabbing, it’s kinda blah. There is nothing about targeting everyone that makes you or your business stand out. Marketing in this direction is not going to get you the results you want.
Attracting the Wrong Clients: You could be attracting a client that needs help with anti-aging but your specialty is acne. They don’t want an acne facial. You don’t have the right products for an anti-aging facial. So you might find yourself struggling to meet their expectations and vice versa you're disappointed that they're not your ideal client.
Inconsistent Clientele: Without knowing your ideal client, you might experience a higher turnover rate, with clients coming and going instead of becoming repeat customers which is our end goal. This makes it difficult to build a stable, loyal client base.
Lower Profit Margins: I see this a lot. You end up pricing your services too low to appeal to a broader audience, rather than positioning yourself and your treatments to attract the clients who are going to value your services and can afford what you're offering.
How do you Identify Your Ideal Client?
Step 1: First Know Yourself
Questions to Ask Yourself:
What are my strengths? What services and treatments do I feel really good about putting out there and providing to my clients? What am I an expert in or what do I want to become an expert in?
***Just because you don’t have that experience now doesn’t mean it’s not something that you can’t start working toward and expanding your education and expertise.
What services do I love providing? What am I passionate about? What treatments and services am I excited to see scheduled on my books?
What type of clients do I enjoy working with? Think about current and past clients? Who do you love seeing on your schedule? I had some clients that I would get so excited about when I saw them on my schedule. I was excited to see them. I enjoyed being around them and catching up with them. They valued my time and my services. They trusted me as a professional.
Those are the types of clients you should be thinking about when you are creating who you want your ideal client or your target audience to be. That’s who you are speaking to, marketing to, telling your services and products about.
Step 2: Client Profiling
Demographics:
Age, gender, income level, location – If you’re offering a $300 facial you want to focus your efforts on marketing to those that are going to be able to afford it. They will need to have disposable income and value their monthly skincare treatments. Typically that will be your young professionals in their 30’s to retirement age.
Client Market Research:
Client’s lifestyle, values, interests, pain points – digging deeper into your client’s mindset. Where do they shop? What do they enjoy doing in their time off? What type of career do they have? Are they a stay-at-home mom? By focusing on these elements you will be able to target and speak more directly to your ideal.
What does marketing to your ideal client profile look like for different types of estheticians?
Luxury Spa Estheticians (relaxation, therapeutic, calming, oasis, no distractions, peaceful)
Medical Spa Estheticians (result oriented, advanced treatments, chemical peels, targeted skincare treatments, body contouring treatments)
Acne Specialists (acne facials, extractions, customized skincare plans to reduce acne)
Waxing Specialists (hair removal, brazilian waxing, brow waxing, full body waxing)
Step 3: Narrowing Down Your Niche
Benefits of Niching Down:
This will allow you to become a specialist rather than a generalist. We pay more for specialists in the medical field, why? Because they are experts. They do this one thing all day, everyday. They are going to get me the results I need for this specific problem or issue. If I have a broken bone I’m going to an orthopedic not a neurosurgeon.
This will set you apart from your competitors. It will make it easier to find you when your ideal client is seeking out their treatments. When clients see you as an expert in a particular area, they’re more likely to trust you with their needs, leading to stronger client attraction and retention. This is also going to allow you to create more relevant marketing that resonates with your target audience, increasing the chances that they’ll choose you over someone else that just dabbles in the service. I know a concern of mine was being boxed in to just one thing but once you establish yourself and you build up your clientele. You have built that trust with them so you can add more services or offerings as you go and grow your expertise. So don’t be afraid of becoming an expert in one or two things when starting out just make sure you love offering it for your clients.
How to define and refine your niche based on your ideal client profile
1. Specialize in a Specific Service:
Focus on one or two services that align with your ideal client’s needs and preferences. For example, if your ideal client is someone who values anti-aging treatments, specialize in advanced anti-aging skincare rather than offering a broad range of services.
2. Study Market Gaps:
Research your local market to identify underserved areas. If your ideal client profile aligns with a niche that isn’t being fully catered to, that’s a strong indicator of a niche worth pursuing.
3. Test and Adjust:
Start marketing to your defined niche and track the results. Are you attracting the right clients? Are they booking the services you want to offer? Use this data to refine your niche further, adjusting your offerings or messaging as needed.
How to use your ideal client profile to create marketing messages that resonate
When you know who your ideal client is it’s much easier to create marketing messages. It helps you refine your menu and treatment packages. It boosts your confidence in your pricing. It allows you to have a consistent brand and ensures you are speaking to your dream clients.
The best example is a personal example and that’s when I went to work for a plastic surgeon’s office. I wasn’t brand new to aesthetics but I was new to medical aesthetics and I wasn’t as busy as I wanted to be. I was doing random facials and treatments sporadically at best because I was building my clientele. Literally everything shifted when I decided to become the CoolSculpting Expert. When I niched down and said this is where I am going to focus my attention.
I’m not saying you have to do only one thing or you have to offer CoolSculpting but for me it was exactly what I needed to stand out and build my clientele and grow as an esthetician. Because it allowed me to get crystal clear on my marketing message, who I was targeting, who my posts were for, what they could expect, before and after results. I was able to be very consistent. It really helped catapult my career as an esthetician and later once I had my clientele built up I started offering Hydrafacials and Morpheus8 RF Microneedling. That was about 1.5- 2 years in but it really helped me grow so that’s why I do think it’s an excellent idea to be known for 1-2 things and really become the expert on them.
The 4 Main Things To Consider:
Make sure the services are something you enjoy and it’s something you want to continue learning about.
Think about your favorite clients that you have now and craft your ideal client persona around them. Who are they? What services do they want? What is their skin type, their age, their career?
Is there a need/demand for the services I offer? Do your research.
When in doubt, go back to your why? Why did I choose this career? Why do I need this career? How am I going to make this work?
Then get to work, take action, research, don’t be afraid to try new things and shift when things aren’t working. It’s through action that we discover what works and what is for us and what’s not. We learn how to make things better and we learn how to let things go. So create that mindset that I’m going to figure this out and be successful and start doing the work today. If you are determined to succeed, you will.
If you’re not yet sure on what you want your speciality to be or what services you want to niche down to or offer. It’s OKAY because sometimes we have to try things to know if they are for us or not. Don’t be afraid to try and fail. You can always begin again.
My quote for you today: “Don’t let fear of failure dictate your decisions. Failure is just another stepping stone to success.” -Michael Shribmann
Thank you for being here. If you love the blog, please subscribe and check out my podcast. I will see you next week.
Client Attraction Blueprint FREEBIE: https://stan.store/amberboone
WEBSITE & BLOG: https://www.aestheticiancoach.com/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/aestheticiancoach/