Key Point

• Artificial intelligence can be used by massage therapists to aid in business communications and marketing, but it should be used wisely and with a sharp eye for editing. 

There’s a lot of chatter in the world about artificial intelligence (AI) programs. The AI programs relevant to massage therapists include writing tools that offer the ability to assist in creating content for almost every part of our businesses.

I want to emphasize the important words in that previous sentence: tools and assist. AI does not eliminate the need for thought and discretion in the message you put out into the world. But it can make creating those messages much easier. AI does not remove the uniqueness of your business, but it can help you be consistent in the tone and style of your messaging to attract the best clients for you. 

There are new programs frequently popping up and increasing integrations of AI into existing social media and content creation tools. We’re going to cover the popular and easy-to-use program ChatGPT (chat.openai.com) and its simple uses in your business.

Letting AI Work for You

ChatGPT has been available since late 2022. Since, it’s become a commonly used tool for all kinds of businesses. There is a free version that can likely do everything you need for small
business use.

I’ve found AI is most useful in creating and polishing written content. Many business owners don’t have experience writing marketing copy like email content or social media posts, and most of us have no experience with branding or creating a consistent message and feel for our business. But these are important marketing tasks that can determine if our business attracts the right new clients or lets them slip by. 

ChatGPT solves that lack of experience issue. Give the program a clear and specific prompt, and it will complete the task. Let’s dive into some examples of using ChatGPT in a massage business. 

ChatGPT in Action

Maybe you can write a decent blog post or email newsletter, but you aren’t confident in grammar or spelling. You can task ChatGPT with something like: “Check the grammar and spelling of the following article and correct any errors.” Then, paste your content in, submit the prompt, and let the program generate a corrected version.

I sometimes worry that my content is boring or that I haven’t written it in the best tone for my brand. I can ask ChatGPT to “rewrite the following article in a fun and personable tone,” and like magic, my article is much more entertaining to read.

If you have a hard time composing your thoughts in full sentences, you can give the program bullet points and request it to form the ideas into a marketing email to clients. ChatGPT will then create a fully formed message. 

Here’s a fun example: At a family event, my cousin mentioned how hard he found it to write an email to his clients about increasing the price of his services. We tasked ChatGPT to write an email in a friendly tone to announce the increase in pricing for his service. 

Boom. In 30 seconds, we had solid email copy that needed only a few edits to be perfect. Then, just for fun, we asked ChatGPT to rewrite the email in iambic pentameter. (He did not use that one, of course, but it was fun to read that version aloud!) 

Need to fire a client but can’t find the words? I asked ChatGPT to “compose a clear and kind email firing a massage client because they are often late or miss appointments. Use 200 words or less,” and the program did just that. Read it for yourself:

Subject: Important Update Regarding Your Massage Appointments

Dear [Client’s Name],

I hope this email finds you well. I want to express my appreciation for your ongoing support of our massage therapy services. It has been a pleasure working with you.

However, I wanted to address a recurring issue that has been affecting the quality of our sessions. Over the past few months, there have been instances of appointments being missed or running significantly late [sic]. As you know, punctuality is crucial for ensuring a relaxed and effective massage experience for all clients.

To maintain the high standards we set for our services and respect the time of other clients, we regretfully must part ways with clients who repeatedly miss or arrive late for appointments [sic]. In light of this, we believe it would be best for you to seek massage services elsewhere.

Please understand that this decision is not taken lightly, and we genuinely hope you find a more suitable place for your massage needs. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors. 

Thank you for your understanding, and if you have any questions or need recommendations for other massage therapists, please do not hesitate to reach out. 

Sincerely, 

[Your Name]

[Your Massage Therapy Clinic] 

I would certainly make some edits to this email, but it’s a good foundation for a professional and clear email when dealing with a difficult situation.

If you find it challenging to come up with an email, blog content, or social media posts, you can use ChatGPT as an idea generator. I asked, “What are the FAQs of massage clients?” and it gave me a list of common questions that was a great launching pad for multiple blog or social posts. 

But with using AI comes great responsibility on behalf of the user. AI is not perfect. It can make factual errors, attribute quotes incorrectly, or write in a perspective that does not match your beliefs. 

For this reason, you should not depend on AI to create full articles or health information from scratch. “Make a list of 10 ways to treat frozen shoulder” is a great starting point that will provide ideas to include in your own article. “Write a blog post about curing frozen shoulder through massage” is likely to result in a factually incorrect article that violates a massage therapist’s scope of practice. Use this tool wisely and with a sharp eye for editing.

Likewise, information pasted into AI programs is not private. Data entered into ChatGPT can be used to train the program for future use. There is a setting to opt out of sharing your history and content, but it is wise to assume everything you put in could be seen and stored.

When I first started using AI programs in my business, it felt very strange. I doubted it would be a useful tool and thought it would be an oversized, complicated program. But after just a little practice, I realized AI is much like a calculator; it simplifies the complicated work I could probably do on my own, but saves me so much time and energy. 

Give it a try, and see how AI can serve your business!