Building Annual Subscription Memberships in Aesthetics

Annual subscription programs provide many benefits for both patients and practices. For patients, membership plans spread costs across an entire year, making procedures more accessible. For practices, annual subscription programs keep patients returning for services more regularly and supports practice loyalty.

Define Your Subscription Program

Create a plan for long-term success:

Determine KPIs: First, establish goals to measure the success of your program. For example, you may track repeat business from patients in their 20s, or annual revenue per patient for patients in their 40s. Collect baseline data before you launch your membership program.

Choose Your Target Patients: Target specific patient personas. Patients in their 20’s will need a different program than patients in their 40’s and 50’s.
Identify Your Target Annual Revenue Per Patient Category: Next, determine what programs to build based on your target audience(s) and growth goals, i.e. a subscription model. Measure baseline customer spending data to help establish target package prices and services that fit patient needs.

For example, if you determine a patient in their 20s is spending on average $500/ year with an average of 3 visits per year, there may be an opportunity to drive more annual revenue through a membership program. Consider packaging multiple services to increase their annual spending to $750/ year. By spreading expenses over 12 months, practices have seen increases in both the number of visits per year per patient and the average amount spent per visit. For older demographics, you can create programs that provide monthly or every-other-month services for a higher price point.
Identify Your Margins on Treatments: Before you begin packaging membership programs, make sure you understand your profitability per treatment. This will be important when creating bundled programs to maintain strong margins.

Identifying Your Target Audience

Practices often use membership programs to target three key demographics: young patients starting their aesthetic journey, older patients who are ready for multiple treatments, and new patients to drive incremental revenue. Here are some suggested ideas for different audiences:

Target a younger demographic: Kiss clubs or skincare membership programs are great ways to engage demographics who are prone to “one and done” treatment churn. The goal of these membership programs is to introduce them to aesthetics and drive loyalty. This demographic is comfortable with subscription services and capturing their buying power early yields long-term financial rewards for your business.
Target an older demographic: Older target audiences allow you to create higher-priced programs. Typically, this demographic needs more frequent and extensive treatments. These programs can provide monthly or every other month access to services to drive a steady visit cadence.
Target new patients: Develop specific programs that you will heavily market that will appeal to new patients. These programs can be offered at a lower price point that meets your profitability goals, with the intention of “getting a foot in the door” with new patients. Activate your current happy customers with a referral program to help spread the word and drive engagement with new patient membership programs.

Package your subscription programs for profitability. These programs should not involve deep discounting of your products or services. Establish a target margin and hold firm. Provide value-adds that don’t negatively impact your profitability. If you’re offering different tiers of membership, check your profitability by tier. Higher tiers should cost more, show more value to patients, and hold strong profitability margins.

Device-driven treatments can help add margin to subscription programs. Consider including both injectables and device-based treatments to achieve target profitability.

Examples of Annual Subscription Programs