How to Host Beauty Events that Drive Real Revenue

Events look incredible, but are they actually making your beauty business money? In this episode, we kick things off with a candid roundtable discussion on why so many beautifully executed events fail to drive ROI. Then, we’re joined by Anya Knower, Founder and CEO of The Aesthetics Advantage, who shares secret strategies for turning events into conversion machines.

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Content Strategy & Direction: Shanalie Wijesinghe 
Creative Producer: Emily Badgley
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Sound & Music: Tristan Callaway and Servando "MAXXX" Moquette
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Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

So events, as we know, are often beautifully crafted, curated, a great time overall. But I feel like one thing that's often missed out on is ensuring that it's actually driving ROI. So when we think about events that we've either hosted or attended, I would love to know like one either event that you've attended, hosted good, bad, ugly that was memorable and why.

SPEAKER_03 0:26

Yeah, I can share kind of my perspective from hosting events, especially in the med spa space. There's lots of different types of events, but I feel like the most successful have been around launches of new treatments or services that we're offering to kind of like help educate our clientele, our audience, like, hey, something new is coming into the business, maybe give a discount on it so we can kind of launch that product or service. And then also I think membership events are like VIP client appreciation. We've always seen like anytime you make that client feel special, like, hey, this is for you because you're a VIP, you spend a lot of money with us. This is to kind of like give back to you. And then I always took like our highest profit margin products and services and package those. So anything that I could take a little bit of a hit on, like let's pre-sell those as much as possible, let's push those as much as possible, get some guaranteed revenue in the door, and let our clients have a good time.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Within the spa, you know, industry, we definitely were very heavy on membership. So same for Metspa World. We were doing that for within the spa. And I feel like every single one that we did honestly was successful. I don't have any like two like crazy stories because it was something that everyone looked forward to each year. We would do it annually, and it was very much like appreciation and thank you for being a member. It was really cool because within our memberships, it was pretty like exclusive. Like we were making it like you know, wanting that exclusivity feeling. And um, there was actually a wait list. So I feel like being able to have I know, I know it's like okay, I can't wait for somebody to like drop off so I can, you know, jump in. But um, within those like specific events, you would have people asking, like, oh, what's that? And like, how can I get involved? And it's like we have a wait list. Here you go. If you want to be joined, like join at some point. It's like trying to buy a Birken. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

Oh my god, yes.

SPEAKER_02 2:21

It was the bulk of memberships, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

I love that. My experience with events are like twofold. There's uh typically like a big announcement, so like I'm coming from like multi-location like management, so they're opening parties, right? We would open a brand new location and we would have parties to get the community involved, get you know, other businesses involved, and and really, you know, like shout out who we are and and what we're doing. So it we did a lot of that, and then we did events um in the middle of the day, like when the business was still flowing and things were like happening. So we would have like maybe like a a brand at a time, like not like super big. So let's say we had like R Co come in, right? They would talk directly with clients, they would work with staff even. So it was like this mixed like event where both team members were learning, and then also we were having clients tap into the products and maybe get extra samples and miniature versions of things that you know everyone loves a little mini product, right? So it was hard for me to really think about like shutting down the business to to solely like do an event because some of our locations were so big and and having so much going on. So we tended to layer them on top of like the day already flowing. So we didn't have to like focus so much on a guest list because people were already there. We were there and we could push the the revenue, but still make it feel elevated, still get the champagnes, look at the you know, decorations and and still like announce and like let people know that this was going on. So I'm very like interested in what spas and like med spas do because it's such like a part of like the process, like y'all do events like consistently and like drive them hard. So I would love to see what like hair can take away from some of this, you know.

SPEAKER_04 4:06

No, I love that you all shared positive experiences about, you know, events that you've hosted, attended, whatever that might look like. I feel like when we think about maybe the first event that you ever hosted versus the last event that you ever hosted and how different those might be. I know from my own experience, when I think of one thing that I either wish I had known when I first started, or one thing that I often see people do wrong. I think back to the first event that I ever hosted and it was like a smorgasborg of how many deals and things and offers can we fit on this flyer? How much information can I push to everybody, right? In my head, I'm thinking, okay, we're trying to sell everything. We can cross-sell, we can combine treatments, all of that. But in reality, it's not digestible for the client. That's not a good experience where you have so much information and offers coming to you where things start to not feel relative to what you're really there for. So would love to also hear from you guys what's one thing that you wish that you had known or one piece of advice that when you look back, you're like, this is what people should be doing for successful events.

SPEAKER_02 5:16

When I my experience might be a little different from you all, but I'm definitely gonna share it because I think it's it's still insightful. Uh when I think of the like first event at the like, you know, earlier in my management career versus where I was towards the end, it's more of like it's okay that you don't have all the answers at the beginning. I think you're trying to do a lot. This might be your first time like in this realm of like, you know, opportunity of event planning. I remember thinking like I need X amount of vendors, I need them to be able to, you know, offer these amount of like samples or gifts for my members or for whoever we were presenting to. But as you grew and as you continue to go, it's like the people, the brands will reach out to you and say, Hey, I want to be a part of this. I heard Terine is doing this. Let me be a, you know, a part of this experience. So I think it's just understanding that like give yourself time, give yourself grace. You start off from the beginning and you kind of go to your bottom up and you can, you know, you'll get there. Just network as much as possible and talk to the right brands when you're going to these events so that you can then have, you know, a list of who you reach out to when you're throwing, you know, these parties.

SPEAKER_04 6:20

Yeah, absolutely, Jaws. I feel like, you know, you start somewhere, you know what you know in the beginning. Um, but really excited for our next guest, Anya, who's really crock the code on making med spa events extremely successful and profitable. So looking forward to our conversation with her. We work in the beauty industry, so clunky software is just not the vibe. Boulevard is sleek, made for beauty pros, and gets you compliments, not complaints from clients. Podcast listeners can get 10% off plus free guided setup. So head over to joinblvd.com forward slash podcast to claim the special offer. Today's guest has built her career at the intersection of beauty, strategy, and growth. Anya is the founder of the Aesthetics Advantage, a master aesthetician, and a seasoned marketing strategist with over 12 years of experience. She's worked with global brands like Benefit Cosmetics, helped scale one of the largest aesthetic clinic chains in the US, and led partnerships with industry leaders like Sephora. Now she's helping practices grow sustainably through smart, cost-effective strategies. Anya, we're thrilled to have you with us today.

SPEAKER_01 7:42

It is a cattle call. They'll put it on their social media, they'll send out the email blast, the text blast, hey, we're having this, you know, event, get your specials, here's your deals. And then they spend all this money. You got the balloon wall, you've got like, you know, the bullshit taco bar, you got like they spend so much money on this. And then you get the Karen's there who are literally there for the free sh and there for the raffle, and they don't buy anything. And they just spent all this money on what? Nothing. You have to be very, very specific and laser focused, no pun intended. And basically the way that you do small format events, and they're called small format seminar style events, is you pick one or two similar technologies and you only invite VIP patients. These are vetted patients, and you do max, you want 25 people there, anything more, and it's too much. What you do is you do a presentation on those treatments, and then you do one-on-one consults with those patients. And our events, they average $50,000 in three hours. And that's how you do it. Obviously, there's a lot more to it. And I'm I'm not trying to gatekeep, but it will literally, it will take all the time in the world. But I wish practices knew that more. And I'm actually starting to transition a lot of practices away from doing monthly specials and just doing events or quarterly events, a face event, a body event, a weight loss event, whatever you want to do. Yeah, it's just a lot of it's just a different mindset, and it's much easier and cheaper.

SPEAKER_04 9:22

Want to keep the conversation going? Check out the full episode of Last Client of the Day. Now streaming on all platforms.