5 Marketing Non-Negotiables for Med Spas to Scale in 2026 (Without Chasing Trends) - Med Spa CEO

Transcript

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In this episode, how can we really create five non negotiables in our marketing system that is actually trust stacking for us, that is actually really calling in the types of humans that we want to work with and also building our visibility in a way that creates a lot of demand for us so that we can charge what we want to charge so that we don't have to worry about whether or not next month is going to be flat or, you know, lower or what have you right now to be real. Real here fluctuations month to month when you are growing a business rapidly and growing it to new levels is normal. But putting that aside, let's dive in. Are you growing a business or creating the Most sought after MedSpa in your market? Welcome to the MedSpa CEO podcast where growth means better results, bigger profits and a schedule that actually gives you your life. I'm Heather, strategist to the industry's most profitable esthetic practices. From solo injectors to multi seven figure teams, I'm here to help visionary leaders like you package your brilliance, scale with clarity and build a business that feels as beautiful to run as the results you give your clients. It's time to set the standard, not blend into the industry noise. If you're ready to lead, to be seen, and to grow a category of one brand, you're in the right place. Hey beautiful friend. If you're a longtime listener of the podcast who's been dying to work with me but hasn't pulled the trigger yet, I have an incredible opportunity to work with me for a fraction of the cost. If your estheticians can't explain your signature plans or your new injectors panic every time they have to sell a high ticket consultant, it's not their fault, it's the system. Or more specifically, your lack of one. That's exactly why I built Ask Heather AI, the first strategist level tool for aesthetic and wellness CEOs who want to scale with precision and stop flying by the seat of their pants. Inside, you get three powerful tools, each designed to solve the exact gaps that keep your growth tied to to you. Turn your basic menu into a branded high ticket signature offer suite your whole team can sell. Train every team member to lead premium consults with confidence even if they've never sold a thing. Write magnetic messaging that attracts premium patients without sounding like every other clinic online. These are the same frameworks we've used to scale clinics to seven figures and beyond. And they used to cost five figures to access. Now you can have them in your back pocket try ask Heather AI for 30 days and see what happens when you stop guessing and start scaling with words that work. Head over to heatherturveen.com trial to learn more. Hello my beautiful friend. Welcome back to another episode of the podcast. I'm so excited you are joining me. This is going to be such a juicy episode. I'm so excited. Real quick though, if you did not listen to the episode that precedes this episode, this is one of those. Not all of my episodes are this way, but this one, I really would pause this one and go and listen to the episode that is right before this one. It's where I unpack my marketing ecosystem, my business plan and I kind of pull back the curtains on the behind the scenes of my entire business model and business. In this episode I am titling becoming famous with your marketing ecosystem and how you can use the marketing ecosystem, the authority method and building your business model and your marketing. Marketing is everything, right? Which is why when I say marketing ecosystem I mean everything. So how you can use what I talked about in that episode and the five key things you need in order to become famous with your marketing ecosystem so that you can have more visibility, so that you can have more patients who will pay you a premium for what it is that you do so that you can actually build the foundation, my friend, to be like a rocket ship in 2026. Okay, so this episode is all about those five key areas, channels if you will, that you will need and that I recommend having or starting to build out the next episode after this. I'm going to actually give the concrete assets that I would start to build that would live within these concrete this marketing ecosystem and these things that you need as well too to build your authority, to become known, to pre sell all of the benefits that you get when you become a rock star leader that is like famous for what it is that you do in your local market and beyond. All right, so in this episode we're gonna talk about the five really non negotiable things that I see for guaranteed growth in 2026 without chasing every but one of the things that has really shifted, especially in the online space and you've probably heard people talk about it and I don't. I think the aesthetics industry is experiencing this as well too is that there is this trust recession that is happening where consumers and customers this means your patients and your clients are becoming a lot more savvy. They're becoming a lot more discerning when they are choos somebody to actually for their aesthetic needs for their wellness needs and what have you. And so we want to take take into account that that is happening in the background and that we actually want to trust stack. We've talked on here before, like how do we create trust stacking assets? I'm going to be in the next episode really talking about the specific things, but in this episode, how can we really create five non negotiables in our marketing is actually trust stacking for us, that is actually really calling in the types of humans that we want to work with and also building our visibility in a way that creates a lot of demand for us so that we can charge what we want to charge so that we don't have to worry about whether or not next month is going to be flat or, you know, lower or what have you right now to be real. Real here fluctuations month to month when you growing a business rapidly and growing it to new levels is normal. But putting that aside, let's dive in. So These are the five core things that I think are non negotiables in 2026 and beyond. And they're not new in the sense that I have believed in these things for years now. But I think that in our industry especially, many of you have gotten away with not having to invest the time and money into some of these things as consistently because you have gotten away with just word of mouth and referral and you haven't maybe grown your team or, you know, you didn't have as much competition 10 years ago or 5 years ago even as you do now. And so the things have changed or maybe just your desire for growth has changed and you have new levels and a new vision for yourself that you want to make sure that you have the structure in place to help you achieve. So one of the first things that I think most of you need in order to ensure that you can become famous in your market is paid advertising. It may be meta advertising for many of you, it will be. It might be Google, it might be local ads of some sort. But where will you be paying so that you get consistent visibility for yourself? I really think most of you, if not all of you, should have at the very least a certain, even a small amount of budget that is going to meta ads, even if you're learning how to do them yourself. That even if it's boosting posts, which I hope your strategy is beyond that. But there is no reason there is still the best, most highly targeted advertising we have is meta advertising. For better or for worse, if you will. There is nothing that is the same, really, truly, there's nothing as targeted, there is nothing that is as highly capable of reaching the humans that you want to reach. And what's incredible is that when you have the rest of our system that we teach our clients to do that foundation, you can really run ads more confidently because you have that backend system that you can trust that is going to make sure that every dollar that you put into your advertising, the return on ad spend is going to be that much higher. So some of the problems that most of you have with advertising, when you've tried it or experimented with it, or felt like you didn't have a great system for it, or you didn't have a great agency for it, is that you don't have the back end system in play. Some of you may just have hired an agency that you just had a bad experience with, which does happen. I will say this with meta, Facebook, Instagram advertising, whatever you want to call it, and even with Google Ads, if you're doing YouTube ads, whatever other paid ads you are doing, is that there can feel like there's a little bit of smoke and mirrors when you are talking with your agency about it or whoever you hire, whether you do an ad manager, what have you. And I think there is a little bit of truth to that, even with the rep, reputable companies, because some of it is an experiment, meaning I don't care how experienced your company is, every new campaign, every business that is new to them is an experiment at first. Yes. Some of them have really, really a long history of being able to produce certain results for businesses that are just like yours. But with advertising, it's one of those things that every time you launch a new campaign, it's a new thing. So keep that in mind. But there is no better way, especially in a local market. And some of you may be doing things where you're expanding beyond the local market. If you have any kind of business offerings that are like mine, you can become like a local celebrity by just consistently investing in ads. Because meta ads show up literally everywhere. So I really want you to consider what will your paid ad Strategy be in 2026? I shared mine in the last episode, what it was in 2025, 2024, and then my plan for 2026, the next episode, I'll kind of unpack a couple of the assets and things that I would incorporate into your top of funnel ad strategy. In this episode. We're just talking high level about those key pieces that I think will be really truly helpful for you to have if you can find a way to consistently have paid advertising, my clients who have figured out and have it happening in the background. Now, when I say figured out, you are never done figuring out meta advertising, my friend. It is like, oh, last month was really good, this month took a dip. We gotta switch it up. Our creative fatigue. If you commit to the process of like, I'm gonna continually figure out how to get meta ads to work for me so that I'm constantly getting new folks coming in the door, I'm constantly getting new eyeballs on my business, then you will be so much better off than thinking that it's, oh, you're gonna figure it out and then run that ad and it's just, it runs forever. You have to have the time to really and the energy and the money to experiment, to adapt, so on and so forth. So number one is really having some sort of a paid strategy. Paid works if you work it and is incredibly confidence building to know that you have that coming in the background as well. The second is organic. Okay, so where will you be having your organic game plan? So I told you, mine is Instagram. My main organic is Instagram and repurposing to other spots. So I repurpose my podcast to YouTube, I repurpose my podcast to Instagram and other parts. But where will your organic strategy be? Will it be Instagram? Will you be doing PR of any sort? Will you be doing TikTok? What will your consistent organic strategy be that you will be committing to? The organic strategy helps any of your paid strategy as well too, because you'll find that you will have people who will start following you when you're running paid ads that aren't ready to buy from you or book with you. And so having the organic strategy actually work with the paid strategy is incredibly effective. And knowing that you are doubling down on what you are focusing on organically will help you keep the eye on the prize. And I really recommend not overextending yourself when it comes to organic. Keep it simple. Where can you show up consistently? Where do you and your team innately know how to show up? Where do you already consume a lot of content so you already kind of understand the nature of, you know, I have peers that are friends that are all in on LinkedIn and they know how to build businesses from like to build to business develop on LinkedIn. I don't know of LinkedIn. I don't actually spend time on LinkedIn. So I don't. That's not part of my organic strategy. And I, you know, One of my buddies in my Mastermind, she's a LinkedIn, Melissa Henault, she's a LinkedIn expert. And, you know, it's tempting sometime when I'm in Mastermind, she's talking about LinkedIn and how awesome it is, but I have to put my blinders on sometime and remember, okay, what is my focus organically for my organic strategy. Okay, so now you have paid, you have your organic third, a content hub. Now, I used to say that this was optional, icing on the cake, but I would really challenge you to have a consistent, even if it's once a month, place that you are producing content of some kind. This could be the blog on your website, it obviously could be a podcast, it could be YouTube. But where are you producing content so that you are developing your point of view, you are developing your authority, you are developing your expertise, you are, you know, giving yourself the opportunity to show up in search and what have you. What's funny is, is that I have recently started to have clients who have told me that they have found me through ChatGPT. They have searched for a coach, they've put in all these parameters, and ChatGPT spits out me, and that would not happen if I did not have a content hub happening in the background. And, you know, if you're trying to rank for search locally, you need to have content showing up on your website as well too. So where will you be producing content consistently? Like I said, it could be monthly content, but where can you consistently create content? This will also help your organic content as well too, because when people opt into your ecosystem, if they've opted in through paid, then you have your organic content and you have a content hub going as well too. It's just going to help, you know, really sell folks on your authority and give that social proof that you will want to have as well, too. Number four is internal. So what internal marketing will you use? Is it email? Is it text, is it in person events? That's the part three of the marketing ecosystem that we talk about a lot is how will you internally market to the patients that you already have that either spent money with you or have opted into your email list. So for me, like I shared in the previous episode, those backend email sequences that I have that are automated in the background, that if they come into my first offer and then they go to the next offer and so on and so forth. Those backend email sequences I set up once and yes, I might optimize them over time, but they are happening automated in the Background for me ensuring that every single person that I spend money on to opt in to buy one of those offers at the top of the funnel that I talked about. Whether they're opting into one of my low ticket offers or they're opting into a lead magnet, it maximizes automatically because I have them set up as automations, those email sequences in the back end. And if you have ask Heather AI if you have the authority method or msa, we have all the email sequences that you could want to create so that when you are spending money on ads, so that when you are spending time and effort and money on your organic and your content hub, that you ensure that that internal marketing lever is set up so that you can maximize the amount of money that you make off of all of that investment on the front end. So the fifth thing is your on demand conversion triggers. Okay, so these are the trust building assets and the intentional micro commitments if you will, that you have baked into your marketing ecosystem that actually helps folks get pre sold into your stuff and have other ways to micro commit into your world. This is the part that most medspa and aesthetic practices skip. So if you know anything about the the authority funnel, magnetic funnels, the things that I teach in the authority method, I am really bullish on you having guides. You'll have offers and guides. We're going to talk about this in the next episode, that is after this let in a little bit more details. But you have those guides that are designed to thread back to your signature offers that you have so that folks can learn more about you, learn more about how you can help them achieve the results that they want through an easy email opt in lead magnet as well too. So will you have guides? Will you have many chat DM automations? I would include having a very good consult script. This follows into those like triggers if you will. Like where are the leaky parts of your bucket in your marketing ecosystem where people are falling off? We want to make sure we have those built in. I would also argue just having an annual consult ensures that you have in that in person part two of your marketing ecosystem. The retention mechanism happening on the back where everybody gets an annual consult every single year. That's an example of actually mapping out your marketing ecosystem in a way that ensures you maximize any of your investment on the front end. What this does at the same time is also help you build that engine that will help create that fame and visibility and authority that you want to have so that you can attract patients that are all in on your recommendations so that you can become known for what it is that you do and actually build the demand and the revenue that you want with these five non negotiable channels, if you will. That will help be the foundational building blocks for what you need to ensure that you have just rocket launch growth in 2026. All right, I'm going to wrap up this episode here at this point because in the next episode we're going to dive in to to the marketing assets, including the offer suite, how to build the foundation, how to connect the front end part of your marketing to your offer seat. Similarly to how I talked about in the episode so that preceded this when I shared my entire business model with y'. All. All right, my friend, that is what we're doing this episode. I cannot wait to help you in the next episode where we're going to dive into this strategy each even more. I will see you next week. That's it for today on the MedSpa CEO podcast. If this show's been valuable to you, the best way to say thank you is to leave a quick rating and review. It means the absolute world to me. I read every single one and it helps more women like you find the support they need to grow something they're proud of. I'm so glad you're here. Here.

Med Spa CEO Podcast — Episode Summary

Podcast: Med Spa CEO
Host: Heather Terveen
Episode: 5 Marketing Non-Negotiables for Med Spas to Scale in 2026 (Without Chasing Trends)
Date: December 17, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Heather Terveen dives into the five essential, “non-negotiable” marketing channels and systems that every med spa and aesthetic practice owner needs in place to scale successfully in 2026—without falling into the trap of endlessly chasing new marketing trends. Heather’s approach centers on “trust stacking” and building an intentional marketing ecosystem that increases local visibility, attracts high-quality clients, and sets up your practice for sustained, profitable growth.

She emphasizes the importance of systematized marketing that brings in consistent demand and premium patients, so you can not only grow profits but also enjoy more control over your business and personal time. This episode is high-level; the next episode promises to break down actionable “marketing assets” within these five core areas.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Understanding the Modern Marketing Landscape (03:10–06:20)

Trust Recession: Consumers are more discerning and savvy than ever. Simply relying on word-of-mouth or past strategies isn’t sufficient as competition and client expectations have evolved.
"Trust stacking" is the antidote—deliberate, layered marketing elements that build credibility, authority, and patient confidence at every step.
- “There is this trust recession that is happening where consumers and customers—this means your patients—are becoming a lot more savvy. They're becoming a lot more discerning.” (05:22)

2. The Five Non-Negotiable Marketing Ecosystem Channels

Heather’s “must-have” channels for 2026 are:

1. Paid Advertising (08:44–15:42)

Vital for consistent visibility and demand.
Local med spas must invest—even modestly—in paid ads (Meta/Facebook/Instagram, Google, YouTube, etc.).
Paid ads make you “locally famous” by keeping your brand omnipresent to ideal clients.
Campaigns always require ongoing experimentation and adaptation; don’t expect “set it and forget it.”
Integrate Paid with a Strong Backend: Ads work best when paired with reliable backend systems that nurture leads and maximize ROI.
- “Paid works if you work it, and it's incredibly confidence-building to know you have that coming in the background as well.” (15:31)

2. Organic Marketing Strategy (15:42–18:31)

Choose 1–2 organic channels to master (e.g., Instagram, TikTok, PR, YouTube).
Focus on where you and your team naturally like to create content and where your potential patients spend time.
Organic content enhances paid efforts—many leads from ads will vet your brand organically before becoming clients.
Don’t stretch yourself thin—better to “put your blinders on” and double down on what you do best.
- “I really recommend not overextending yourself... Where can you show up consistently? Where do you and your team innately know how to show up?” (16:48)

3. Content Hub (18:33–22:20)

Blogs, podcasts, or YouTube channels function as authority-building "home bases."
Present yourself as an expert; develop a unique POV in the industry.
Content hubs fuel SEO and can now even generate leads via AI tools like ChatGPT.
Consistency trumps frequency: Even monthly content suffices if it's consistent.
- “I would really challenge you to have a consistent—even if it's once a month—place that you are producing content of some kind... developing your authority, developing your expertise.” (19:01)
- “Clients have told me they've found me through ChatGPT... That would not happen if I did not have a content hub happening in the background.” (20:58)

4. Internal Marketing (Email, SMS, Events) (22:22–25:38)

Automated email/text remarketing, segmented by client stage and history, is the key to maximizing front-end investments.
Internal marketing ensures you nurture relationships with existing clients, increasing retention and lifetime value.
Backend automations work in the background to upsell and resell as clients move through your ecosystem.
- “Those backend email sequences... are happening automated in the background for me, ensuring that every single person that I spend money on to opt in... maximizes automatically.” (23:03)

5. On-Demand Conversion Triggers (25:44–30:25)

Micro-commitment assets like lead magnets, guides, DM automations, and premium consult scripts.
These trust-building touchpoints move prospects seamlessly toward booking high-ticket services.
Also includes in-person triggers like annual consults, ensuring continual engagement and preventing “leaky buckets” in your marketing.
- “These are the trust building assets and intentional micro commitments... that actually helps folks get pre-sold into your stuff and have other ways to micro-commit into your world.” (25:49)
- “The retention mechanism happening on the back—where everybody gets an annual consult every single year—that's mapping your marketing ecosystem to maximize any of your investment on the front end.” (28:55)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Commitment to Paid Ads:
“You are never done figuring out meta advertising, my friend. It is like, Oh, last month was really good, this month took a dip. We gotta switch it up.” (14:30)
On Organic Strategy Focus:
“I have to put my blinders on sometimes and remember, okay, what is my focus organically for my organic strategy.” (17:27)
On Content Hubs and AI:
“Clients have told me they've found me through ChatGPT. They put in all these parameters, and ChatGPT spits out me... That would not happen if I did not have a content hub happening in the background.” (20:58)
The Biggest Gap in Med Spa Marketing:
“This is the part that most medspa and aesthetic practices skip. If you know anything about the authority funnel... I am really bullish on you having guides... designed to thread back to your signature offers.” (26:33)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Topic | Timestamp | |---------|-------|-----------| | 1 | What is “Trust Stacking” and Why it Matters | 03:00–06:20 | | 2 | Non-Negotiable #1: Paid Ads | 08:44–15:42 | | 3 | Non-Negotiable #2: Organic Strategy | 15:42–18:31 | | 4 | Non-Negotiable #3: Content Hub | 18:33–22:20 | | 5 | Non-Negotiable #4: Internal Marketing | 22:22–25:38 | | 6 | Non-Negotiable #5: On-Demand Conversion Triggers | 25:44–30:25 | | 7 | Recap and Next Episode Preview | 30:28–32:04 |

Heather’s Final Takeaway

To win and scale in the med spa industry in 2026, you need more than referrals, reputation, or one-off tactics. Intentional, layered marketing ecosystems—built on these five non-negotiables—are the new standard for creating both authority and demand. This approach, according to Heather, is your ticket to “rocket launch” growth, higher profits, and more freedom without the stress of constantly hustling for business.

“What this does at the same time is also help you build that engine that will help create that fame and visibility and authority that you want to have so that you can attract patients that are all in on your recommendations... and actually build the demand and the revenue that you want with these five non-negotiable channels, if you will.” (29:20)

Next Episode Preview:
Heather promises to break down the concrete “marketing assets” to build within these channels — going from high-level ecosystem to actionable steps for immediate implementation.

For More:
Tune in to the next episode for actionable details, and consider checking out “Ask Heather AI” for frameworks on messaging, consults, and signature offers tailored to med spa growth.