As therapists and ex therapists ourselves, during lockdown it was extremely difficult to see our industry be plummeted into so much uncertainty. Both personally and as members of the wider massage therapy community, it was heart breaking to see so many of us struggling after years of hard work and dedication to our craft.
So our small team got together to brain storm. We wanted to spread some positivity and good news amongst what, at times, felt like a never ending storm of negativity! We also wanted to give our industry a boost, so we didn't lose the momentum that we have gained in recent years that could see massage therapy elevated to the level it deserves. Finally, but most importantly, we wanted to help our fellow therapists get a bit of a boost during such uncertain times so that they could see the possibilities to come back stronger after Covid-19.
After reading stories of frontline NHS workers battling against Covid-19 and the sacrifices they were making, shielding from family members and dealing with the realities of working in PPE, we felt they deserved our appreciation and could really use some of the benefits of a massage right now!
We are a small team and this was definitely an ambitious project! We worked away in our spare time to get over 1359 massage therapists from Edinburgh to Exeter signed up to our interactive map.
It was a huge learning curve for us and after the campaign finished at the end of September, we wanted to hear from you, the therapists who took part and donated their time, efforts and expertise to see how successful the campaign was out in the real world!
100% of surveyed participants donated more than 5 treatments.
100% of participants surveyed felt the campaign helped them grow their complementary therapy business, get better exposure in their local community and increase their standing with their existing client base
Participants who were surveyed were split 50/50 on how they promoted the campaign. Some used word of mouth whilst others used their social media channels to spread the word.
It was so heartwarming to see the stories therapists shared after delivering their treatments! In such an overwhelming time, spreading some positivity and demonstrating our caring and compassionate nature can only have brought a smile to the faces that saw these posts.
Seeing how therapists' clients reacted to posts like the above was so uplifting! One massage therapist commented in our survey "The pure appreciation and gratitude from the NHS staff when it is us who are appreciative of them. One gave me flowers! " really drove home what being part of the campaign meant to therapists.
Networking to become part of the wider medical community in their local area is something we have been promoting to massage therapists for a while. We wrote a blog post about the power of reaching out to local medical professionals which you can read here.
And that brings us along nicely to our next aim;
Dani provided the perfect summary to our aims here in our survey! Dani shared that taking part in the campaign "meant a great deal, it was also good to let medical professionals experience what we can offer.."
Unfortunately massage therapy might not be at the front of many doctors minds in a day to day setting. But getting in front of doctors and nurses and providing a detailed, personalised consultation and treatment is the best way to show our skills and expertise!
Reviews like the above from nurses like Laura are priceless. Think of the credibility your massage therapy business would receive in the eyes of the general public with a glowing testimonial like this from a medical professional! Add in the feel good factor of some well needed positivity right now and its a fantastic piece of promotion for your business.
Like all massage therapy businesses when the lockdown hit we really didn't know what to say! We love supporting therapists and sharing interesting articles, tips and the odd massage therapy meme on our social media but overnight everything changed and suddenly we weren't so sure what to share.
That's why we wanted to create something positive, so that a conversation around the benefits of massage therapy could happen naturally whilst sharing good news! We were so pleased to see in the survey that the posts we created inspired other therapists to do the same and spread a smile with their clients.
We were really blown away by the initiative therapists took to promote themselves in their local area. Some contacted local radio stations and Oxford School of Massage even received not one but two invitations to speak on BBC Radio Oxford! After these appearance's, Sarah's massage school saw a huge spike in people wanting to train to join us and spread the benefits of massage therapy!
Jenny Hampton also did a fantastic job promoting the benefits of massage therapy on BBC Radio Shropshire!
Karen Hastings was named a lockdown leader by Meet The Leader, a fantastic accolade to be able to share on social media and catch clients' attention during lockdown!
Other massage therapists cleverly asked local business to sponsor further treatments, winning new contacts and helping to spread the word to a wider local network. Other therapists like Paula Grover reached out directly to their local hospital trusts to arrange an open day to deliver chair massages to nurses and doctors, which in turn led to a spot on the hospital radio and a regular invitation to deliver paid treatments!
All in all we wanted to give massage therapists the chance to do something eye catching in their local area, so they could grab the attention of existing and some new potential clients. So we were thrilled when we read from one of the survey's participants that the thing they enjoyed most about taking part was "getting to meet new clients and ones who have decided to keep booking in! "
Lockdown was a lonely time for many and as small business owners it was so easy to feel isolated. We really wanted to create something to bring together our incredible little community so we could come together to celebrate our skills and love of massage therapy, even on our darkest days.
Overall we just wanted to support each other through these difficult times, to have someone to speak to about our frustrations, confusions and to share ideas for how we can come back better in the future! After seeing the positive impact the campaign was having we wanted to extend this to provide a safe space for massage therapists to come together, ask questions and provide each other with support - which gave birth to our Facebook group!
As we mentioned above we are a small team with big ambitions! We took on this project and worked on it in our spare time building the software and map for the campaign and getting it in front of all of you and it was a huge learning curve for us!
Starting out we didn't have a lot of PR experience and we were let down by a couple of PR companies we were dealing with to help us. We clocked up hundreds of hours reaching out to every channel, newspaper and programme possible and issuing press releases but with everything going on at the moment it was extremely tough to get in front of the media on a national level who sadly had a lot of updates and doom and gloom to report! The campaign did receive a lot of local media attention across the country as local stations are easier to get on to.
However we can't deny how pleased we are to see how many therapists got a good boost from the campaign. Whether they were featured on local radio, made themselves known to local hospital trusts or received praise and a new appreciation from new and existing clients, it was heartwarming to see therapists receive some positivity after such a difficult few months.
So to wrap up the whole team at Massage Warehouse want to say a sincere thank you to everyone who took part in the #MassageTherapistsTogether campaign! So many therapists we have spoken to and members of our Ask The Muscle Whisperer panel all share our belief that now is a crucial time to elevate our industry, the power of positive touch has never been so clear and we thank you for joining us in our campaign to spread that message! The work continues though and I will leave you with the message that Sarah from Oxford School of Massage kindly shared;
Click on the image to read Sarah's full message to fellow massage therapists!
