I intercepted my husband’s December issue Entrepreneur magazine from the mailbox today on my way to work. To my surprise there was an article (“Here’s the Rub”) on the growth and popularity of massage franchises. It reminded me to post a great article my husband wrote about the impact of franchises on the massage therapy market. Enjoy!
First off, I would like to thank my wife, Ivy, for letting me hijack her blog post this week!
I recently read the Massage & Bodywork article, “Massage Franchises: The Impact on the Profession” (twice, in fact). Even though I felt the article was fairly slanted, I will withhold my feelings about massage franchises for the purposes of this discussion. As a marketer, I just feel there is so much more to say on how franchises will affect the market of massage therapy, and what individual practitioners can do to market themselves in this new environment.
The opinions I am about to lay out are heavily influenced by the works of Al Ries and Jack Trout, titans in the marketing community. In all, I will reference ideas from four books:Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout
Marketing Warfare by Al Ries and Jack Trout
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout
Differentiate or Die by Jack Trout and Steve RivkinTo understand how massage franchises will impact our place in the massage market, we must first understand how the market will mature. While massage has been around for thousands of years, the massage industry is still pretty young. The Law of Duality states that “in the long run, every market becomes a two-horse race.” Coke and Pepsi is probably the most prominent example of this. In the massage industry, this will likely mean the franchise players will be sorted down to Massage Envy, and one other company.
However, this obviously does not mean other massage businesses will cease to exist. The market will be made up of a leader, Massage Envy; a primary competitor, we’ll say Elements Therapeutic Massage for this exercise; a solid # 3 company, we’ll say Hand and Stone Massage; and then everybody else. If you’re an independent practitioner, you fall into the “everybody else” category. Based on the concepts in Ries and Trout’s Marketing Warfare, each of these positions should employ a different market strategy.
A market leader should defend their position against their strongest competitor. The # 2 company should employ an offensive strategy, with the goal of taking market share from the leader. The # 3 company will not be able to compete directly with # 1 and # 2, and should therefore develop a flanking strategy; targeting a segment of the market where the leader does not hold a strong position. Everyone else should focus on a niche strategy; filling a hole in the market that is large enough to sustain survival, but small enough to not attract attention from the larger competitors. Since the majority of you will need to implement a niche strategy, we will further explore that area.
So what is a “niche strategy” anyway? A niche strategy sacrifices its appeal to the masses in favor of focusing on a very specific unfulfilled need in the market. In massage, that may mean focusing on a unique modality, or offering mobile massage services. To employ a profitable niche strategy, you will need to differentiate your business from those around you. Obviously, you will not be able to compete on price or availability, as the franchises will have more labor hours at cheaper rates than you can offer. Differentiating yourself on quality becomes the next logical assumption. If your only competitors are massage franchises, this is the obvious strategy, as you will be able to give a higher quality massage and greater individual attention to your clients. But what if you’re surrounded by other practitioners in a competitive market? How do you measure quality, and how do you communicate to potential clients that your hour long massage from an experienced practitioner is better than that of another?
Take an honest assessment of your current business and the unique talents you hold. Take an honest assessment of your market. Is there something unique you provide that is valuable to potential clients? (I repeat, must be valuable to clients!) If so, you’ve found your niche. Market yourself on that unique talent or service, and work to ensure you are the market leader for the niche you’ve chosen.
To prevent myself from writing endlessly, I will end the discussion there. If you are struggling to find your niche or struggling to market yourself, I beg of you to read Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson. It truly should be required reading for any small business owner.
If you can stomach the thought of discussing marketing, I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!
Aaron Hultquist
Director of Marketing
Advanced Massage Techniques, Massage Continuing Education
Massage became a part of my life! Who doesn’t love Massages right? The fact that they feel so darn good too! Who wouldn’t want a relaxing hour or 2 on a massage table? I’m sleep-deprived, sometimes stressed and massage therapy helps me!
Aaron,
Thank you so much for this great article. With your permission, I would love to share this with some of my potential/current clients. Thank you so much …namaste’ Paula Bartolome’
Paula,
Happy to hear you liked this article. I would love to have Aaron write a few more marketing articles in the future. Feel free to share this article with your clients and potential clients! The only thing I ask it that you link back to this website if you post it on your website. Thanks for stopping by!
Ivy
Hey Ivy,
Thank you for your email and thank you for allowing me to post Aaron. I work with some of the smaller spas and Mt’s, but am now also working with the big guys as well…….Cheers Ivy and Thx again, my thanks and regards to Aaron he is spot on with his advice!
Hello Aaron,
This is an inspirational plug. What would you make of massage spa’s being funded by government funding (ie. linked to cancer centers?). There seems to be a move in the healthcare world to focus on in-home continuity of care with patients by ancillary care givers. Chronic conditions that require “spa like service” such as therapeutic massages in a “traditional spa” environment seem like viable options. Thoughts?
Archna
Hi Archna,
Like mentioned in the above article, massage franchises will bring massage to the masses (make massage more accessible to the public). This is not a bad thing for our profession. However, it will force individual massage professionals to differentiate themselves, and think beyond the traditional massage setting.
Every day, I see places where massage professionals could set themselves apart from the traditional massage therapy setting. There are countless opportunities in the massage field.
The health care system will continue to change over the coming years. I believe if the public begins to take charge of the health care system they will see themselves less as “health care patients” and more as “health care consumers”. Things like in home care, including therapeutic massage, would surely be something “health care consumers” would utilize more.
With new research showing the benefits of massage, massage professionals will surely weave themselves into the health care system one way or another.
Who will fund it? I do not know. I would look for private insurance companies to cover such services before the government catches on to the benefits and cost-effectiveness of massage therapy.