When staff time does count
- Commission: if providers are paid per treatment, each free treatment costs that commission unless you agree a different rate for promotional slots.
- Lost sales: if a free patient takes a slot a paying patient would have booked, you lose that sale. Put free treatments only in hours that are really quiet.
- Extra hours: opening a new shift for the promotion is a real cost.
Treat promotional slots as inventory
- Release set days, hours or a weekly number of free appointments.
- Paying patients always keep priority.
- Show availability honestly before booking.
- Slow the ads when the slots are full; raise them when you release more.
- Unused slots do not roll over into an open promise.
This is how the First Visit Method keeps a free offer from taking over the calendar.
The first-month budget
First-month investment = ad spend + marketing fee + direct cost of completed free treatments.
Track the result as described in how to measure a med spa promotion.
A visit without a purchase is not automatically a loss
Some people will enjoy the treatment and buy nothing that day. Some of them will come back later, book the treatment again or mention you to a friend. Those outcomes are possible, not guaranteed. Measure them where you can trace them honestly, and do not count on them in the budget.
Returning patients make up most of a typical med spa's patient mix. The American Med Spa Association's 2024 report found an average of 73% of patients are repeat patients (AmSpa 2024 report recap).
Keep the offer honest
- Show the terms at the start, including new patients only, limited slots and any screening. See the FTC guide to the word "free".
- No purchase required, and never conditional on a referral (AmSpa on referral rewards).
- Give the full treatment. A shortened version that loses the result is not the offer you advertised.
Common questions
Should free treatments require a deposit?
Start without one and use confirmations and reminders. If more than about a third of promotional bookings are missed, add a card hold that is released when the patient arrives. The treatment stays free for anyone who shows up.
Does giving treatments away cheapen the brand?
Not when it is a full treatment, delivered well, in limited slots with clear terms. It works as an introduction to your clinic. A rushed or reduced version is what damages the brand.
What if free patients fill the calendar?
They should not, if you only release set promotional slots and keep paying patients first. When the slots are full, slow the ads. Add slots only when your team has the time.
Want to know what a free first visit would cost your clinic?
Request a free marketing audit. Tell us the treatment you have in mind and your quiet hours, and we will help you check the math.
Request your free marketing audit