Med Spa MarketingStrategy and Planning

Most new medspas make the same mistake.

They spend months on the build-out. They choose the perfect paint colors, order the devices, hire the providers, and finalize the treatment menu.

Then, two weeks before opening, someone asks, "So how are we getting patients?"

By then, it's too late to do it right.

Here's the thing: the most successful medspa openings don't start marketing when the doors open. They start marketing months before, so that on opening day, the schedule is already full, founding members have already paid, and the community is already talking.

I've been part of launching and growing medspa and wellness brands for 12 years. And the difference between a clinic that opens to a packed calendar and one that opens to an empty lobby almost always comes down to what happened in the 90 days before opening.

In this post, I'm going to give you the exact pre-launch plan I recommend, including:

• What to set up before you start marketing
• How to use Google Business Profile before you open
• How to film your build for Facebook and Instagram
• How to build a waitlist and pre-sell founding memberships
• A week-by-week 90-day pre-opening timeline
• How to split your pre-opening marketing budget
• What to do in your first 90 days after opening

Let's dive in.

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Quick Answer: How Do You Market a New Medspa Before It Opens?

Start marketing at least 90 days before opening. Build your website, CRM, and Google Business Profile with a future opening date. Film your entire build for Facebook and Instagram Reels, use Meta ads to grow a waitlist, pre-sell founding memberships, partner with local businesses, and host community events. Launch Google Ads two to four weeks before opening, and turn your waitlist into booked appointments.

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Why Pre-Opening Marketing Matters So Much

When you open a new medspa, you're starting with zero:

• Zero patients in your database
• Zero Google reviews
• Zero people searching for your clinic by name
• Zero revenue coming in to cover your lease, payroll, and equipment payments

Every day your schedule sits empty after opening costs you money.

Pre-opening marketing flips that. Instead of starting from zero on day one, you start with a list of people who already know your name, have already raised their hand, and in many cases have already paid.

It also takes pressure off your first few months. Revenue from founding memberships and presale packages can help cover opening costs while your ongoing marketing gains momentum.

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Step 1: Build Your Marketing Foundation (Before 90 Days Out)

Before you run a single ad, you need the systems that will capture and convert every lead you generate.

Skip this step, and you'll pay for leads that fall through the cracks.

Build a Website That Captures Leads

Your website doesn't need every page finished to start marketing. But it does need to convert.

At minimum, build:

• A homepage that explains who you are, what you offer, and when you're opening
• Service pages for your core treatments, each with a lead form
• A waitlist or founding member page with a clear offer
• A booking page that leads are sent to right after they submit a form

As your opening approaches, expand every service page so each one can rank for searches like "[service] near me" and "[service] in [city]."

Set Up Your CRM Before Leads Come In

This is non-negotiable.

Every lead from your website, Meta ads, events, and partners should flow into one CRM automatically.

At Marketing Party, we use GoHighLevel. Before launch, set up:

• Lead pipelines to track every lead from waitlist signup to booked appointment
• A 7-day impulse nurture that answers questions and creates urgency
• A 120-day long-term nurture for leads who don't act right away
• Instant text and call alerts so every lead gets contacted within 5 minutes
• Countdown campaigns that keep your waitlist excited as opening day approaches

For more, read GoHighLevel for medspas.

Create Your Google Business Profile With a Future Opening Date

Most new clinic owners don't know you can do this.

Google lets you add a future opening date to your Business Profile. Here's how it works, according to Google:

• You can enter an opening date up to one year in the future
• Once your business is verified, your profile shows up on Google 90 days before your opening date
• During those 90 days, you can publish posts, add photos, and write your business description
• Customers can't leave reviews or post photos until you officially open
• After you open, your profile shows a "Recently opened" tag for 90 days

That means you can start showing up in local searches three months before your doors open.

Use that time well. Post construction progress photos, introduce your providers, and announce your founding member offer.

Also make sure every service you list on your profile has a title and description that exactly matches your website.

Set Up Your Social Media Profiles

Claim your Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok handles early, and start posting as soon as you have something to show.

You don't need a finished clinic to create great content. Some of the best pre-opening content is the build itself, which brings us to Step 2.

Confirm Your Licensing and Compliance Requirements

Before you start booking appointments or selling packages, confirm your state's requirements for medical oversight, licensing, and pre-selling services.

Medspa advertising also has strict rules around treatment claims and before-and-after photos, so make sure your marketing is compliant before it goes live.

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Step 2: Film the Entire Build for Facebook and Instagram

This is one of the most powerful, and most overlooked, pre-opening strategies.

Most owners wait until the clinic is finished and beautiful before they post anything.

That's a mistake.

The build itself is your best content. People love watching something come to life, and when they follow along from an empty space to opening day, they feel like they're part of the journey. By the time you open, they're not strangers. They're fans who want to come see what you built.

Get a Tripod and Tell Your Story

You don't need a production crew or expensive equipment.

Get a tripod, set up your phone, and start talking.

Tell people why you're building this clinic. Maybe you've worked in aesthetics for years and wanted to create your own vision. Maybe a treatment changed your life, and you want to bring it to your community. Maybe you saw that your city was missing something.

Whatever your story is, share it. People don't just buy treatments. They buy from people they know, like, and trust. Your story is what makes your clinic different from every other medspa in town.

Film the Entire Process

Document every stage of the build, from start to finish:

• Day one in the empty space: walk through it and describe what's coming
• Signing the lease or getting the keys
• Demolition and construction: walls going up, flooring going in, paint going on
• Design decisions: choosing finishes, furniture, and your treatment room layout
• Signage going up on the building
• Hiring your team and introducing your providers
• Final walkthroughs as the clinic comes together

Film Your Equipment Arriving

When your service equipment arrives, keep the camera rolling.

• Film it coming off the trailer
• Film the unboxing
• Film you and your team installing it in the treatment room
• Explain what the device does and why you chose it for your clinic

Equipment delivery videos create real excitement. Whether it's a body sculpting device, a hyperbaric chamber, a red light therapy bed, or a cryotherapy chamber, people want to see it, and they start imagining themselves using it.

Turn It All Into Behind-the-Scenes Reels

One day of filming can become a week's worth of content.

Cut your footage into short behind-the-scenes Reels for Instagram and Facebook. A few tips:

• Film vertically so your videos fit Reels and Stories
• Hook viewers in the first few seconds with what's happening, like "Our first device just arrived" or "Day one in our empty building"
• Keep each Reel focused on one moment instead of trying to show everything at once
• Post consistently so followers keep coming back to see progress
• Add a call to action to join your waitlist or grab a founding membership

Use Your Best Reels as Ads

Here's where your organic content and paid strategy come together.

Your behind-the-scenes Reels make excellent Meta ad creative. Every Meta campaign should have at least 4 video ads and 2 graphic ads, and your build videos give you a head start on the videos.

When a Reel performs well organically, put ad spend behind it to reach more people in your area and send them to your waitlist or founding member offer.

Authentic, behind-the-scenes content often feels more genuine than polished ads, which is exactly what helps a brand-new clinic earn trust.

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Step 3: Create an Irresistible Pre-Opening Offer

People need a reason to raise their hand before you're open.

Your pre-opening offer is that reason.

Option 1: The VIP Waitlist

A waitlist is the simplest way to build demand.

Offer something exclusive to everyone who joins before opening, like:

• Opening week pricing on a signature service
• A bonus add-on with their first treatment
• First access to book appointments before the public

A waitlist gives you a list of warm leads to market to right up until opening day.

Option 2: Founding Memberships

This is where pre-opening marketing starts generating real revenue.

A founding membership offers early supporters a special deal in exchange for committing before you open. For example:

• A locked-in founding member rate
• Bonus treatment credits
• Exclusive founding member perks, like priority booking or member-only events

Make it limited. Cap the number of founding memberships available. Scarcity drives action, and it protects your margins.

Memberships are especially powerful for services patients benefit from doing regularly, like IV therapy, NAD+ therapy, vitamin injections, red light therapy, cryotherapy, infrared sauna, and facials.

For more on building memberships, read how to build and price a medspa membership.

Option 3: Presale Packages

For multi-session treatments like body sculpting and hyperbaric oxygen therapy, presale packages work well.

Offer a limited number of packages at founding pricing, available only before opening.

Don't Discount Your Way Into the Wrong Patients

It's tempting to launch with huge discounts to create buzz.

Be careful.

Deep discounts can attract bargain hunters who never come back. Instead of the lowest price, focus on value: bonuses, exclusive access, and perks that attract patients who will stay.

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Step 4: Follow the 90-Day Pre-Opening Timeline

Here's the week-by-week plan I recommend.

90–61 Days Before Opening: Build Awareness

Your Google Business Profile goes live around this point, and it's time to start making noise.

Launch your waitlist campaign on Meta. Facebook and Instagram are your most important pre-opening channels because nobody is searching for your clinic by name yet. Meta lets you reach people in your area who fit your ideal patient profile before they know you exist.

Start posting behind-the-scenes Reels. Share your story of why you're building the clinic, construction updates, and design decisions. Post consistently so people follow along with the build.

Build your 60-day event calendar. Start booking pop-up events 60 days in advance, like:

• Local 10K runs and marathons
• Farmers markets
• Fall festivals and seasonal community events
• High school and local sporting events

Reach out to local business partners. Some of the best partners for a new medspa include:

• Gyms
• Pilates studios
• Chiropractors
• Coffee shops
• Meal prep companies

Offer their members an exclusive founding offer, and ask about co-hosting events.

Join your local chamber of commerce. Many chambers host ribbon cuttings and help promote new member businesses.

60–31 Days Before Opening: Build Momentum

Now it's time to turn awareness into commitment.

Scale your Meta ads with more creative. Every Meta campaign should have at least 4 video ads and 2 graphic ads. Great pre-opening creative includes:

• Your best-performing behind-the-scenes Reels
• Equipment delivery and installation videos
• Provider introduction videos
• Treatment explainer videos
• Clinic reveal and tour videos
• Founding member offer graphics
• Countdown graphics

Start selling founding memberships and presale packages. Promote them to your waitlist first, then to the public.

Show up at pop-up events. Bring a branded tent, branded tablecloth, and printed materials people can take home. Add a QR code that leads directly to your waitlist or founding member form so every event lead flows into your CRM.

Invite local creators to a preview experience. Local influencers can introduce your clinic to thousands of people in your community.

If you give creators free or discounted treatments, they need to clearly disclose that relationship. The FTC's guide for social media influencers explains the rules, including that influencers can't talk about their experience with a product they haven't actually tried. So let them experience a treatment before they post about it.

Print your marketing materials. Rack cards, flyers, and branded takeaways for partner businesses and events.

30–1 Days Before Opening: Convert Your List

This is where all your work turns into booked appointments.

Launch Google Ads 2–4 weeks before opening. Now that your opening is close enough to book, start capturing patients searching for your services, like "Emsculpt Neo near me" or "IV therapy near me."

Build campaigns by service, target a tight 6–8 mile radius around your clinic (wider if you're in a rural market), and track leads, booked appointments, and phone calls as conversions.

Open booking to your waitlist first. Give waitlist members early access to book opening week appointments before you open booking to the public. It rewards them for joining and creates urgency.

Run a countdown SMS and email campaign. Remind your list what's coming, when booking opens, and when founding offers expire.

Make sure you have proper consent before texting anyone. The FCC's guide on robocalls and texts explains the basics.

Host a soft opening. Invite friends, family, partners, and founding members for treatments before your official opening. It lets your team practice real appointments, work out any operational issues, and create your first happy patients.

Train your front desk. Before opening day, your team should know your offers, your call scripts, your follow-up process, and how to book appointments quickly.

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Step 5: Make Opening Day an Event

Don't just unlock the doors.

Throw a grand opening your community will talk about.

• Host a ribbon cutting with your local chamber of commerce
• Offer opening day specials available only during the event
• Run live treatment demos and provider Q&As
• Partner with local vendors for food, drinks, and giveaways
• Invite your founding members, partners, and local creators
• Capture content all day for social media and future ads

Make sure your team is ready to book appointments, sell memberships, and collect contact information from everyone who walks through the door.

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How to Split Your Pre-Opening Marketing Budget

Your pre-opening budget should look different from an established clinic's budget.

Nobody is searching for you yet, and you don't have a patient database, so your money should go toward building awareness and capturing leads.

Here's the split I recommend:

Channel	Share of Pre-Opening Budget
Meta ads (waitlist and founding member offers)	45%
Setup and management (website, CRM, Google Business Profile)	20%
Community events and local partnerships	15%
Google Ads (launched 2–4 weeks before opening)	15%
Print materials	5%

To set your total budget, use my rule of thumb: about 10% of your goal monthly revenue. If you're planning to reach $100,000 a month, plan for about $10,000 a month in marketing.

For a new clinic, you're budgeting toward the business you want to build, not the revenue you have today.

For the full breakdown by channel, clinic type, and stage, read medspa marketing budget breakdown by channel.

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Your First 90 Days After Opening

Opening day isn't the finish line. It's the starting line.

Here's what to focus on next.

Take Advantage of Your "Recently Opened" Window

Your Google Business Profile shows a "Recently opened" tag for 90 days after you open. Use that window to build momentum on Google.

Make Google Reviews a Weekly Priority

You open with zero reviews, and patients can't leave them until you're officially open.

Aim for at least 3–5 new Google reviews every week. Automatically request a review after every patient's first visit, when her experience is fresh.

Google's Business Profile guidelines note that more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking.

Call Every Lead Within 5 Minutes

Your opening buzz will bring in a wave of leads. Don't let them go cold.

Research published in the Harvard Business Review found that companies that contacted online leads within an hour were nearly seven times more likely to qualify them than companies that waited even one hour longer.

Keep Nurturing Your Waitlist

Not everyone on your waitlist will book right away. Move them into your 120-day nurture sequence so your clinic stays top of mind until they're ready.

Turn First Visits Into Treatment Plans

Every first visit is an opportunity to build a long-term relationship.

Map out a treatment plan, pre-book the next appointment before patients leave, and introduce your memberships.

For more, read patient lifetime value for medspas: how to calculate and increase it.

Start Your Retention Calendar

Even in your first few months, start marketing to your new database with SMS and email campaigns tied to holidays and seasonal sales.

For the full month-by-month calendar, read how to build a medspa marketing plan (with a 12-month template).

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Common Pre-Opening Marketing Mistakes

Waiting Until the Doors Open

If you start marketing on opening day, you'll spend your first months building awareness you could have built before paying rent on an empty clinic.

Making Your Business Look Open Before It Is

Don't set up your Google Business Profile or website in a way that tells people you're open when you're not. Use Google's future opening date feature, and be clear about your opening timeline everywhere.

Collecting Leads Without a Follow-Up System

A waitlist of 500 people is worthless if nobody follows up. Set up your CRM and nurture sequences before you launch your first ad.

Leading With Deep Discounts

Discounts bring buzz, but they can also bring patients who never return. Lead with value and exclusivity instead.

Running Meta Ads With Too Little Creative

One graphic and a caption won't carry a launch. Plan at least 4 videos and 2 graphics for every campaign.

Not Training Your Team Before Opening

Your marketing can generate hundreds of leads. If your front desk can't answer questions, follow up quickly, and book appointments smoothly, those leads go to waste.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How far in advance should you start marketing a new medspa?

Start at least 90 days before opening. Build your website, CRM, and Google Business Profile before that, so you're ready to capture leads as soon as marketing begins.

Can you create a Google Business Profile before your medspa opens?

Yes. Google lets you add a future opening date up to one year in advance. Once verified, your profile appears on Google 90 days before your opening date, and you can publish posts and photos. Customers can't leave reviews until you open.

What should a new medspa post on social media before opening?

Film the entire build process. Tell your story of why you're opening the clinic, share construction progress, film your equipment coming off the trailer and being installed, and introduce your providers. Turn that footage into behind-the-scenes Reels, and use the best ones as Meta ads.

How do you get clients before opening a medspa?

Build a VIP waitlist with Meta ads, pre-sell founding memberships and packages, partner with local businesses, attend community events, and invite local creators to preview your treatments.

When should a new medspa start running Google Ads?

Launch Google Ads two to four weeks before opening, once patients can book appointments. Before that, focus on Meta ads, which can build awareness before people know to search for your clinic.

How much should a new medspa spend on marketing before opening?

A good rule of thumb is about 10% of your goal monthly revenue. Put the largest share toward Meta ads, followed by setup, community events, and Google Ads closer to opening.

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Conclusion

The best medspa openings don't happen by accident.

They're built in the 90 days before the doors open.

To recap:

• Build your foundation first: website, CRM, Google Business Profile with a future opening date, and social profiles
• Film the entire build: tell your story on a tripod, film your equipment coming off the trailer and being installed, and turn it all into Reels
• Create a compelling pre-opening offer: a VIP waitlist, founding memberships, or presale packages
• Follow a 90-day timeline: build awareness, build momentum, then convert your list
• Lead with Meta ads before opening, and launch Google Ads 2–4 weeks out
• Get into your community with events, partnerships, and local creators
• Make opening day an event, then focus on reviews, speed-to-lead, and retention

Start today by setting your opening date on Google Business Profile and building your waitlist page. Those two steps alone will put you ahead of most new clinics.

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