How to Do SMS Marketing the Right Way for Your Medspa

Quick Summary

Most medspas get SMS marketing wrong. They ask ChatGPT to write them a text, send it out to their entire patient list, and watch as people reply "STOP" or just ignore it entirely. Some patients even decide not to come back because the message felt so robotic and pushy. SMS marketing works incredibly well when it's done right, and it falls flat when it isn't. This article covers the exact approach we use at Solora to send messages that feel like a real person wrote them, including examples of what works and what doesn't.

The Mistake Most Medspas Make

The most common SMS marketing mistake is letting AI write the entire message. A medspa owner asks ChatGPT to "write a text message I can send to my past patients" and sends out whatever it spits back. The result is generic, salesy, and easy to spot as automated. Patients reply STOP or just ignore the message. Some get bothered enough that they don't want to come back at all.

When new clients reach out to us, the most common question we hear is "what if our patients get annoyed?" It's a fair concern, and we take it seriously. The good news is that patients don't get annoyed by SMS marketing in general. They get annoyed by bad SMS marketing. Done right, a text from your medspa feels like a friendly check-in, not an interruption.

Here's how we do it at Solora.

1. Text Like the Provider Would Text

The first and most important rule: write the message the way the actual provider would write it if they picked up their phone right now and sent it.

If the owner of the spa was going to text a past patient using their two thumbs on their cell phone, what would they actually type? Probably not "Greetings valued patient. We are pleased to inform you of our latest promotion." More likely something like "Hey Sarah, it's Vivian from Glow. Wanted to check in."

That's the difference. The first one sounds like a corporate email. The second one sounds like a person. Patients respond to the second one because it feels real.

Nothing connects with a human better than another human. The whole approach to SMS marketing has to start there.

2. Take That Human Voice and Apply It at Scale

The catch is that no medspa owner has time to text every single past patient one by one. That's where the right system matters.

What we do at Solora is take the human voice and replicate it at scale. Every text feels like the provider personally reached out, even though we're sending hundreds or thousands of them across the patient list. Patients don't feel like they're getting blasted. They feel like someone genuinely cared enough to reach out.

If you texted a past patient from your actual phone number with your own words, the response rate would be high. If you used your EMR to send the same patient a generic automated reminder, the response rate would be low. The trick is to scale option one without falling into option two.

3. Offer Something Real Without Sounding Salesy

A good SMS promotion includes an offer that creates urgency without sounding like a discount blast. The offer doesn't have to be deep. A small promotion is enough to nudge someone who was already on the fence about coming back.

Here's an example of a message that works:

"Hey [name], it's [staff name] from [medical spa name]. We're running a sale right now and I wanted to let you know we're giving 15% off any new booking made in the next week. We want to make sure that you look and feel your absolute best. If you'd like to schedule over text, just reply back here and I'll get you taken care of. Thanks :)"

That message feels personal. It feels like someone actually messaged you to share something useful. The offer is clear, the deadline creates urgency, and the call to action ("just reply back") is the easiest thing the patient could possibly do.

What a Bad Message Looks Like

For comparison, here's an example of a message we'd never send:

"ATTENTION VALUED CLIENT! 🚨 Don't miss out on our LIMITED TIME OFFER! Save BIG on premium aesthetic services this week only! Book NOW to claim your exclusive discount! Reply YES to schedule today! Terms and conditions apply. STOP to opt out."

That message screams marketing. The all-caps, the exclamation points, the corporate language, the "valued client" instead of the patient's actual name, the disclaimers at the end. Patients see a message like that and reach for the STOP button immediately.

The contrast matters. Both messages are technically promotions for the same kind of offer, but one gets responses and one gets opt-outs.

A Few More Rules That Matter

Beyond the writing itself, a few practical rules to keep your SMS marketing healthy:

• Send during normal hours. Mid-morning to mid-afternoon on weekdays. Avoid evenings, early mornings, and weekends.

• Don't send too often. A few times a year is the upper limit for promotional sends. More than that and patients tune out.

• Keep your opt-out rate under 1%. If it climbs above that, your messages are too frequent, too generic, or too pushy.

• Use a HIPAA-compliant platform. If you're sending texts to patients, make sure your tool has a Business Associate Agreement in place.

• Have someone ready to respond. SMS marketing falls apart if patients reply and no one gets back to them quickly. Speed matters.

Have Solora Run Your SMS Marketing for You

If you want SMS marketing set up correctly without having to write every message yourself or train your team on the right tone, that's what we do at Solora. We run it as a full white glove service. The system automatically reaches out when patients are due for their next Botox, filler, or facial appointment, and every message is written to feel personal.

Read more about how this works on our Solora's Patient Re-activator page. Reach out if you have questions and we can talk through whether it's a good fit for you.