Discount, free consultation or free treatment
| Offer | What the patient hears | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage off a first treatment | "I still pay, but less." | The patient must decide to buy before they trust you. The discount cuts margin on every sale. |
| Free consultation | "A sales meeting." | No result to take home. It fails the walk-away test. |
| Free complete treatment | "I get something real." | Needs limited appointment slots, clear terms and a treatment that is cheap to deliver. |
The walk-away test asks one thing. If the patient buys nothing and never returns, did they still get something they would normally pay for? More on that in should your med spa offer free consultations?
A 10-point scorecard for choosing the offer
Score each candidate treatment on these ten points.
- Free provider, room and device time in your calendar.
- Who may assess and perform it in your state.
- Direct cost, meaning consumables and commission if you pay per treatment.
- Normal price and how much patients value it.
- Whether the patient sees a result after one visit.
- How many people can safely have it, and what screening it needs.
- Whether ads for it fit Meta and Google policies.
- Which of your other treatments it leads to naturally.
- Likely 90-day revenue per patient, not menu price alone.
- Whether you can track bookings, shows and purchases for it.
The best offer is rarely the one with the highest score on a single line. It is the one without a weak line.
How common treatments score as a first visit
| Treatment | Strength | Main limit |
|---|---|---|
| HydraFacial or similar | Known name, visible glow, leads to many skin treatments | Proprietary consumables; check your real cost |
| Dermaplaning | Instant result, low consumables | Leads mostly to facials and peels |
| Express facial | Low cost, easy to schedule | May not feel worth the trip |
| LED session | Cheap once you own the device | Feels like an add-on, not a reason to come |
| Chemical peel | High perceived value | Screening, downtime and consent |
Why the right offer changes by clinic
Two clinics on the same street can need different offers. One has a HydraFacial machine that sits idle on Tuesdays. The other has a busy aesthetician and a laser that is booked all week. The first can give away HydraFacials in quiet hours. The second may do better with a short dermaplaning session, or with no free offer at all.
That is why the First Visit Method starts by reading the clinic's own menu and calendar before choosing anything.
Keep unrelated services in separate campaigns
A facial offer leads naturally to skin treatments and, through a licensed provider, to injectables. It does not lead naturally to medical weight loss, hair restoration or intimate wellness. Recommending those during a facial can feel like an ambush. Give each service family its own offer and its own ads.
Test before you commit
Run the offer as a small pilot with a limited number of promotional slots. Measure bookings, shows, paid treatments and 90-day revenue. Then decide. Our guides on measuring a promotion and budgeting a free treatment show the numbers to watch.
Common questions
Should my offer be the treatment I most want to sell?
Usually not. The treatments clinics most want to sell are often expensive, need several sessions or require a consultation. They tend to work better as the second step after a first visit. See our article on what treatment to advertise first.
Is a discount better than a free treatment?
A discount costs you margin on every sale and still asks a stranger to pay first. A free treatment in otherwise empty slots can cost less than it looks, and it removes the first barrier. The right answer depends on your costs and capacity.
How long should a new patient offer run?
Long enough to measure it. That means at least a month for bookings and attendance, and 90 days to see repeat visits. Keep the number of promotional slots limited so paying patients always have room.
Want a second opinion on your offer?
Request a free marketing audit. Tell us which offer you run today and we will say whether we would keep it, change it or replace it.
Request your free marketing audit