Are massage newspaper ads a good way to market your massage business? The truth is, it is probably one of the most expensive and least efficient marketing methods available to you. Most massage newspaper ads just waste money because they don't bring in more business than they cost. It is a non-targeted method of marketing.

Most newspaper ad reps will show you statistics showing that people have to see your ad least six or seven times before they will take action. And since your ad wont be seen every time they pick up the paper you have to run it more than six times to expect much of a response. The reps generally show you these statistics to convince you to keep running the ads over and over again. What they really are showing you is how inefficient newspaper ads are.

If you have to run a $100 ad ten times to get a response that means you have to put out a whopping $1000 before you get any return. And that also means you that if you profit $50 dollars per massage, you need to get a minimum of 20 new people to break even.

So why use massage newspaper ads? Most folks do it because it is just what they are familiar with. It looks like the only option. It is easy. But there are almost always better options.

Nonetheless, in some cases massage newspaper ads can work OK. And if you really want to do it, or are running newspaper ads now, you might as well make it the best ad you can for the cost.

Let's say you pay $50 for your ad. You get two calls a month from it. That means that each new client cost you $25 each to get into your door. Now let's say you change your ad a little and now you get 5 new appointments from the same $50 ad. That means each new client only costs you $10 each. That would mean your same advertisement is way more profitable for the same cost.

And that should be your goal with all marketing expenses, getting the maximum results for how much you are spending. Not only is it more profitable for you, but if you get more results from your marketing it means you are doing a better job of talking to your target market. You are helping your kind of client find you.

Most of the time it is pretty easy to improve your results. First, you need to start with your correct foot forward. Review and follow some of the Massage Marketing Bones principles.

1. Focus on solving peoples problems, not on selling yourself.

2. Talk about client benefits, not your services.

3. Pick a target market to talk to. Don't try to talk to everyone.

4. Use a headline. Don't put your name and logo on top of your advertisement.

Like all marketing, you want response. You want to pay for an ad that has a measurable response to it. And to get a response you need to add a few more features.

• You need to get noticed. An ad that does not get noticed does not get a response.

• You need to make an offer – a call to action. You need to request that your target market takes some action.

• You could add in an element of timeliness – like an expiration on the offer – to encourage action.

• You need some way to track how many people have responded from every ad, or you won't know if your marketing is worth doing. And if you make any changes, you won't know if it is for the best.

Most of these things require you to pay a lot of attention. In order for your ad to get noticed best, what section of the paper would more likely be read by your target market? On what day? What size ad is the minimum necessary to really get noticed? Where on the page? Will color be necessary to get noticed? Would a graphic image grab your target market's attention? You have to carefully study your paper and try different things to learn what works best.

Believe it or not, you have a lot of control on where and when your ad is placed in the newspaper. Just talk to your rep about it.

Your headline is more important in massage newspaper ads than almost any other type of advertising. Why? People have years of experience reading headlines in newspapers to see if they want to read more. That is the fundamental format of a newspaper. That is how people move through a paper. You will lose a huge percentage of possible readers without a headline.

So put most of your energy into working on good headlines for your massage newspaper ads. It should be focused on attracting the attention of your target market. It's purpose is to gather attention, and encourage them to read more. It should entice your target market to want to answer that “what is in it for me” question.

Are you thinking that is a lot of work? Well, how much work does it take to make the money to pay for those advertisements? Really, think about the hours. If you put a lot of time into making your ad work great, you can use it over and over again. And the better it works, the less the actual cost of the ad will be, because it will generate better results.

Follow the guidelines above and you will get better results from your massage newspaper ads.

Want some to see examples of good newspaper ads? Amy Roberts has an eBook called How To Write Advertising For Your Massage Therapy Business that is a good resource.

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