How to get clients for a new med spa
The short answer. In the first ninety days, three things fill a new clinic’s calendar and nothing else comes close: a complete Google Business Profile, a booking link that works on a phone in one thumb, and the first thirty reviews. Paid advertising amplifies those. It does not substitute for them.
Below is the order to spend in, what each stage realistically returns, and the two rules that decide whether your list-building is legal in Canada.
A new clinic’s problem is not awareness. It is that the people two streets away searching for exactly what you sell have never heard of you and have four other options with reviews. Everything below is aimed at that person, in the order they can be reached.
If you are still at the planning stage, the money side is in what it costs to open and the sequence in how to open a med spa in Quebec.
Before you open: the three that must exist on day one
A complete Google Business Profile
For a local clinic this is worth more than a website. It is what puts you in the map results for “near me” searches, and those searches are the single largest source of new local demand. Claim it, verify it, and fill every field: hours, services with prices, the booking link, and real photographs of the actual rooms. Add the second language.
Do this before the build-out finishes, because verification can take weeks and a profile with no reviews needs a running start.
A booking link that works with one thumb
Most first bookings happen on a phone, often in the evening, often from the map result rather than your home page. If the path from “interested” to “booked” involves a contact form and a callback, you have inserted a business day into a decision that was ready to close in ninety seconds.
Test it yourself on your own phone, at night, on mobile data. Not on the office wifi on a laptop.
Both languages, from the start
In Quebec this is a legal obligation as well as a commercial one, and a clinic that launches in one language has quietly cut its addressable market. Budget it as content rather than translation — a mechanically translated page is obvious to a native reader, and the French search results for most treatments are far less contested than the English ones.
The first ninety days, in order
| Weeks | Where the effort goes | What it realistically returns |
|---|---|---|
| −6 to 0 | Profile verified, booking live, both languages, opening photos | Nothing yet — this is the foundation everything else stands on |
| 1–4 | Friends-and-family and soft-opening appointments; ask every one for a review | The first reviews, which are what make weeks 5–12 work |
| 5–8 | Local paid search on your exact services and neighbourhood | First predictable bookings; expect to pay to learn what converts |
| 9–12 | Rebooking discipline, referral asks, the first content pages | The beginning of demand you do not rent |
Reviews are the compounding asset
Thirty honest reviews change the economics of every other channel: the map result gets clicked, the ad gets trusted, the referral gets acted on. Ask every satisfied client, in person, at the counter, while they are still in the building.
What you must not do is offer anything in exchange. Google’s policy is explicit that incentivised reviews are prohibited and can get content removed or the profile penalised.1 The ask itself is free and it works; a discount attached to it puts the whole profile at risk.
Paid search: start narrow
A new clinic cannot outbid an established one across a whole city, and should not try. Start on the services you actually want more of, in the neighbourhoods you can realistically serve, in both languages, and let the cost per booking — not the cost per click — tell you what to keep. Expect the first six weeks to be tuition.
Which channel that should be, and why the counting is harder than the buying, is in Google Ads or Instagram.
Email and SMS: the rules are not optional
Building a list is the highest-return thing a clinic does, and it is also where Canadian clinics most often break the law without noticing. Commercial electronic messages fall under Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation, which requires consent before sending, clear identification of who is sending, and a working unsubscribe mechanism in every message.2
In practice, for a clinic:
- Get consent at the point of booking, as a separate, clearly worded opt-in — not buried in a terms checkbox.
- Keep the record of when and how each consent was given. If you cannot show it, you do not have it.
- Honour unsubscribes immediately, across every list, not just the one they clicked from.
- Do not buy lists. Ever. A purchased list is unconsented by definition.
The client information you hold alongside it — contact details, treatment history, photographs — is personal information, and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner publishes what a business must do to handle it properly.3 Decide your retention and consent practices before you have five thousand records, not after.
What does not work for a new clinic
Launching on a discount. A half-price opening fills the calendar with people who came for half price, and teaches the market what your services are worth. It is very hard to unwind. A first-visit rate is fine; a fire sale is not.
Buying followers or engagement. It moves a number that no client checks and no algorithm rewards, and it costs money that could have bought a real appointment.
Spending on brand awareness before the profile is complete. Sending traffic to an unfinished profile with no reviews converts badly and you pay for the lesson twice.
Chasing every platform at once. One channel done properly beats five done thinly, and a new clinic does not have the hours to do five.
The channel you own
Paid traffic stops the day you stop paying. Reviews, rebooking and content do not. By month three the question worth asking is what proportion of next month’s bookings would happen if the ad account were switched off — and the honest answer at the start is usually “very few”. Moving that number is the whole job of year one.
New Age Spa runs four clinics in Greater Montreal and is opening the model to franchise partners in Quebec. Franchise partners inherit the marketing system rather than rebuilding it — the comparison is in independent or franchise.
Frequently asked
How long before a new med spa is busy?
Plan for six months of operating costs and treat anything sooner as upside. The calendar usually starts to feel predictable somewhere in months four to six, once reviews and rebooking are both working.
How much should I spend on advertising at the start?
Enough to learn, in one channel, on the services you want more of. Judge it on cost per booking rather than cost per click, and do not scale a channel you have not yet made work at small scale.
Can I offer a discount for a Google review?
No. Google prohibits incentivised reviews and can remove the content or penalise the profile. Ask in person instead — it is free and it works.
Do I need consent before emailing clients?
Yes. Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation requires consent before sending commercial messages, identification of the sender, and a working unsubscribe in every message. Collect consent as a clear, separate opt-in at booking and keep the record.
Is social media worth it for a new clinic?
As a place to show real work to people already considering you, yes. As a source of cold bookings on its own, it is slower and less predictable than the map result and search.
Next in this series
Sources
- Google, Prohibited and restricted content for Google Business Profile. Checked 30 August 2026.
- Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation. Checked 30 August 2026.
- Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Privacy for businesses. Checked 30 August 2026.
General information for people planning or running a business in Canada — not legal or marketing advice. Anti-spam and privacy obligations are enforced independently of intent; confirm your own practices with the bodies linked above or with counsel. This page is not an offer to sell a franchise; where the law requires one, an offer is made only by disclosure document.
