Marketing and industry trends on the agenda at Professional Spa & Wellness North

Above, left to right: Catherine Ferma, spa and salon director for the Sanctuary Spa and St Tropez at PZ Cussons Beauty, Liz Holmes, spa director at Rockliffe Hall,John Bevan, vice president and managing director of SpaFinder Wellness Europe, Jeremy Smith, founder of spa consultancy Blue Spa & Leisure 

Successful marketing and spa industry trends were on the agenda on the first day of the inaugural Professional Spa & Wellness North conference

Angie Petkovic, managing director of Apt Marketing & PR, highlighted the importance of the customer journey in creating a winning spa. Petkovic also stressed that spas need to ensure that their marketing and the actual customer experience correspond. 

She also pointed to the importance of training your staff well, ensuring they show enthusiasm and encouraging them to progress and advance within the business. Petkovic also explained that communicating with clients after their visit to the spa, via email, for example, is essential to securing repeat business.

While she underscored the importance of engaging with your client base, engagement does, she added, have to be planned and carried out thoroughly. Petkovic said: “All these things, like social media, need to be done, but they need to be done well. If you can’t do it well, don’t do it at all.” 

Participants in the Trends and Realistic Ways That Your Spa Can Adapt To Them panel discussed the importance of knowing which trends are right for your spa to integrate. 

Catherine Ferma, spa and salon director for the Sanctuary Spa and St Tropez at PZ Cussons Beauty, Liz Holmes, spa director at Rockliffe Hall, Jeremy Smith, founder of spa consultancy Blue Spa & Leisure and John Bevan, vice president and managing director of SpaFinder Wellness Europe agreed that spa should not adopt trends simply because “it’s what everyone else is doing”. 

The panellists highlighted the growing male spa market, corporate wellness and the demand for natural products as key current industry trends. 

The second day of the event, held as part of Professional Beauty North at the Manchester Central exhibition centre on October 19-20, saw business coach Pete Scott speak on the topic of helping your staff reach their full potential. 

The programme on day two also featured a retail workshop, with presentations by Lorna McLeod, spa manager at Ribby Hall Village, Colin Farndon, spa director at Armathwaite Hall Country House Hotel and Spa and Gill Morris, director, GMT Business Training.