Strategic Planning and Annual Marketing Calendars: You must create a strategic plan with a complete marketing, advertising, PR, and promotions program to promote these special couples services throughout the year. Plan colorful e-mail blasts to all of your regular clients to create excitement for your Couples Service Menu. Plan to run full color advertisements in the local and regional magazines before the year-end holidays, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day. If there is a local bridal magazine, you will need to put at least one or two advertisements per year, illustrating a loving couple receiving a massage in unison. Create colorful advertisements in the “Style sections” of your regional magazines and newspapers. If you are in a tourist area or even a college town, advertise your couples packages in their publications. Create special seasonal postcards, e-mail blasts, and newsletters to promote your double service packages.
Seasonal Spa Escapes and Skin Care Retreats: Promote ‘Romantic Gifts of Beauty’ and ‘Spa Escapes’ for women and men to enjoy together throughout the year. You can also promote pairs of skin care treatments and spa services for women or men who may just want to come rejuvenate with a friend. You must create exciting service packages that both men and women can enjoy together – or privately during a simultaneous visit. Plus, many women like to go to the salon or spa with a friend or two for a special day, just to treat themselves or to celebrate some special occasion.

Promoting Double Packages: You must remember that most women are comfortable in a spa setting and they especially enjoy both giving and receiving skin care, spa, and salon gift certificates. However, both your male and female clients can equally purchase a spa couples or friends package for them to enjoy together. You just need to create the promotions with exciting advertising and promotional materials, showing various photographic illustrations of a man and a woman together as well as another series with two women together.
A picture is still worth a thousand words, so you can plant the seed with great merchandising. No one really knows what goes on behind the closed doors of your skin care clinic or day spa – especially if they haven’t tried one of your services before. Plan a professional photography session to take photographs of both a man and a woman enjoying a facial, massage, or spa manicure together. Take other photographs of two men and then even more of two or three women relaxing in your skin care center or spa together. Take photos of these pairs and groups in your spa robes enjoying a tranquil service as well as a lunch treat, if you offer them at your facility. Pose your gently smiling models with their eyes on each other or with their eyes closed. The key is to make your models look relaxed, rejuvenated, and happy together. If needed, purchase stock skin care and spa photography on the Internet.

Spa Series and Skin Care Membership Clubs: You can even offer a set of ‘Spa Series’, ‘Skin Care Membership Club’ and ‘Double Skin Care Packages’ – so they will come back at least five to six times together over the next year. Create the opportunity for couples to buy a smaller series of double – six facials or massage treatments. Or, take this series of your best skin care and spa packages to promote them as a new “Spa Couple and Doubles Membership Program.” Include in the small print that both services must be booked at one time at least 48 hours advance notice.

Spa Wish List Promotions: Create counter cards and postcards to promote a ‘Couples’ Wish List’ program. Women can be encouraged to fill out a colorful pre-printed promotional postcard with their boyfriend’s or husband’s name and address while checking off a service from a list of what they want at your facility for Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, or any special occasion. Your merchandising materials will tell your clients and guest visitors to fill these postcards out and that you will mail them directly to their significant others. You can even use seasonal holiday themes like “Dear Cupid!” or “Dear Santa!” It’s even smart to promote your `Spa Wish List’ promotions in your service menus.

Guidelines for Gifts of Engagement: Most local newspapers list engaged and married couples each week. Create several ‘Congratulations!’ letters, whereby you honor their engagement or wedding by sending a special note with a $50 Gift Certificate off of any Skin Care or Spa Couples Service. Even though the newspapers will not share their contact information, you can always look up their names and addresses in the local telephone directories. Your receptionists can take this weekly project on, in between telephone calls.

More Merchandising and Marketing: Add a new page to your current service menu or create a special new Spa Couples Service Menu with promotional fliers. Have a local graphic designer help you create colorful new counter cards, posters, tent cards, and point-of-purchase materials with photographs of spa couples while sharing a list of your couples packages throughout the entire facility.

Bridal Packages: Rent a booth at bridal fairs to promote ‘Bridal Packages’ and ‘Couples Spa Services’. You can effectively promote bridal packages and double services at full price or with a small, yet elegant free gift. Start with small $250 mini-packages and include some that go up $500, $1000, and even up to $3000.

Couples Nights: Plan to promote a special ‘Couples Night’ at your facility at least once or twice each year to encourage couples to come in together. Have them pre-register and pay a $100 deposit in advance, while noting that once there, they will receive a bonus $25 Gift Certificate towards professional spa and skin care products that they can share together. Offer a lecture demonstration, door prizes, and refreshments. Valentine’s week or weekend is a perfect time for this.
PR and Media Relations: Send a media release about your ‘Special Couples Services’ with a photograph to the local media, offering to customize a story for their newspaper, magazine, or TV show.

Create Passion with Special Products: Encourage your couples to take advantage of some extras in your facility or at home between spa visits. Look for special couples skin care and spa products!

Sweet Skin Care and Spa Suites: Whether or not you have designed your skin care clinic or day spa to simultaneously accommodate friends, families, and couples, you may still promote an array of special couples service packages where two clients may come in at one time. If you have the physical space to service both people within one treatment room, that’s the best way for them to enjoy each other’s company.
Many skin care clinics spas, day spas, and resorts charge extra to book the entire suite for a half or full day. If this space is not available, keep it in mind for expansion or renovation plans the future.

Surprise Them with Extra Special Touches: Make your spa gift packages unique. Refreshments, candy, champagne, wines, candles, or international coffees and teas will make their couples package and their time together extra special. Create some spa packages with take home skin care, hair care, aromatherapy, or beauty care products. Work with a local hotel, florist, or limousine service to make additional extras available. Surprise your skin care and spa guests with some special take home gift.
Most couples and friends won’t think of asking you about booking a service together, without a little hint from the Spa Director, Cupid, their bridesmaids, or you! Plant the seeds for a celebration of romantic and fun rejuvenation in your skin care clinic or day spa, while doubling your potential service sales. Your clients will not only love you for the wonderfully creative thoughts, they will love sharing each other’s company while relaxing, rejuvenating, and having some extra special escape time in your spa. It is always a great season to help your clients celebrate their friendship, romance, and special relationships!

Larry H. Oskin is president of Marketing Solutions, Inc., a full-service marketing, advertising, graphic design, PR, and consulting services agency that specializes in the professional beauty industry servicing salons, day spas, skin care clinics, medical spas, medical facilities, manufacturers, distributors, and associations. Located in Fairfax, Va. their team can be contacted at 703-359-6000, via e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or www.mktgsols.com