How do you market yourself as a sports massage therapist? Do you find clients and the general public thinking that you only treat sports injuries or athletes?
The reality for our level 3 sports tutor, Tamara, who runs her own practice is that 70% of her clients are people who come to her with injuries or issues stemming from everyday life. That means only 30% are confined to sports related injuries.
For example, a tennis player sustaining an injury from serving the ball is exactly the same as an injury anyone could pick up from throwing the ball for their dog.
If this is the case then how do we promote ourselves as therapists and educate our clients on what sports massage is?
There are a number of different terms that get used to describe this type of work; sports massage, deep tissue, trigger point and remedial massage are just a few!
If this is confusing for us as therapists then it can only be more confusing for our clients, so one of the big questions is how we start to change the dialogue and help our clients understand what we offer and who it is for.
Using these terms could be becoming outdated, they are all different forms of our speciality: soft tissue therapy which is for athletes, office workers, parents, the elderly and everyone in between. Perhaps we need to reconsider what we call ourselves; are we sports therapists, remedial massage therapists or perhaps there is space for a simpler, more universal term such as 'soft tissue therapist'?
This opens up the additional question of where we sit in the market. Why should a client book a treatment with you as oppose to a chiropractor, osteopath, physiotherapist etc. Building a network with other therapists can be so valuable for referring clients and can aid the education around what we do and where it's value lies.
Moving away from these confining terms might start to help our clients feel clearer about what we do, what we can offer and who it is for. This change of language could also help to avoid those age old assumptions and intimidation regarding what is considered by some as typical of a 'sports massage' treatment.
So, where do we go from here? Perhaps the most helpful starting point as therapists is to ask the question of our marketing material; is it always clear that the work you do is for the many and not the few?
Always try to be concise, clear and compelling.
- Can you describe what you do in one line?
- Are you being clear in what you do, who it serves and how much it costs and how to book?
- Are you addressing the pain points and how you can help rather than simply stating that you offer sports massage?