Vanessa McDonald

Vanessa McDonald Helping beauty & skin clinic owners fix revenue leaks with retention-first strategy. Known for skin journey marketing & confident, momentum-led growth

SMC is Australia’s Only Marketing Agency Specialising in Client Retention for Beauty Salons & Skin Clinics. We get your business. We know you want to perform more facials. We understand the treatments & skincare brands you offer. We are committed to the professional beauty & skin clinic industry. We are your marketing team. IS THIS YOU?

• You're a passionate therapist, and you love treating skin.

You're a dedicated leader with a team you are developing & committed to educating. Your goal is to limit your time in the treatment room and work on your business.


• You pay for an industry-specific point-of-sale software program every month but do nothing with it when it comes to the system's marketing features. You know there is untapped potential to make more money in your database which, is underutilised.


• You've accepted if nothing changes, your business will always fall short of its full potential. You're ready to take the excellent beauty salon you have built to THE NEXT LEVEL. There's no question that you are great at what you do; however, you feel stuck when marketing. ENTER THE SMC AGENCY TEAM! Salon Marketing Creative Agency's primary focus is to help beauty salons increase their revenue using the most valuable asset they own - the client database. Take "marketing" off your to-do list and put it onto ours, today! Check us out today! https://www.smcagency.com.au/

04/09/2026

Another $677 treatment package just SOLD and it’s after 9:30pm on a Friday night 🤯💰

The clinic is closed. The clinic owner is probably sitting on her couch watching a movie, she would have just received the exact same notification I did telling her who purchased, and meanwhile our Oasis 7D AI agents are still over there having conversations and SELLING treatment packages for her 😂

I mean… WHAT?!

No staff member sitting there following up leads. No one on the phone. No one needing to be trained on how to close the sale. The clinic is literally CLOSED and sales are still happening.

And the best bit is she can go to bed tonight, wake up tomorrow morning, open her live sales tracker and see how many more packages were sold while she was sleeping 🤯

I know this is what we do and I probably shouldn’t still be this shocked by it, but it BLOWS MY MIND every single time one of these notifications comes through 😂

This is what our Oasis 7D message + voice agents are doing for clinics right now and it is FRIGGIN WILD 🤯

If you’re sitting there thinking, Vanessa, what the hell is Oasis 7D and how does this actually work? 😂 Hit the link in my bio, click Oasis 7D and you can have a look at the website and read some of our case studies.

Or just DM me. I’m always happy to answer questions ❤️

02/09/2026

Have you ever asked ChatGPT about your own clinic? 👀

Because your potential clients probably are.

And I’m not talking about asking ChatGPT as the clinic owner. I mean asking it like a consumer would.

Try these two prompts:

💬 “I’m thinking about having a facial at [YOUR CLINIC NAME]. How do they review?”

💬 “I’m thinking about having a facial in [YOUR SUBURB]. Who do you recommend?”

Then have a look at what comes back.

Does ChatGPT know who you are?
What does it say about you?
Does it recommend you?
And if it doesn’t… who IS it recommending instead? 😬

If you’ve never done this before, go and do it now.

Then come back and tell me what you discovered in the comments 👇 or DM me if you’d rather not share it publicly 😂

Because how your clinic shows up in AI search is becoming something you absolutely need to know about.

01/09/2026

🧪 I conducted a little social media experiment last night… and the results were pretty bloody interesting 😂

I conducted the experiment on my new personal/lifestyle account, which I only started two weeks ago. It’s Vanessa McDonald if you want to check it out. And… before you head over there! I need to give you the heads up, it’s more of a personal account/lifestyle vibe and it’s in no way professional! It’s the opposite to professional and def not everyone’s cup of tea)🫖

Anyway… back to the experiment. Earlier this week it passed 400 followers and, as of today, it’s had more than 165,000 views 🤯

Now, I have NEVER had traction like this on social media before. Never. Ever.

Almost all of the content has just been me talking to my phone. Nothing particularly polished or curated, just me being me.

So last night I decided to test what would happen if I posted the COMPLETE opposite… a beautifully curated reel using photos from a $3,000 photoshoot, with the perfect audio and everything looking schmick.

And given around 50% of my audience is male, I thought this particular reel might do rather well with the gentlemen 😂

For context, I normally wake up after posting to thousands of views. One of the reels has had more than 42,000.

This one?

162 views 😂💀

I think that tells us something.

We keep hearing that perfectly curated, “on-brand” content is out and raw, real, authentic content is what people actually want to see… and for the first time, I’ve actually had enough traction on an account to test that theory for myself.

So if you’re spending HOURS trying to make everything look perfect before you post it, maybe don’t.

Pick up your bloody phone and talk to people.

Hopefully my little experiment gives you some fresh ideas about the type of content actually worth your time 🙌

01/09/2026

Getting ready for a date with a very handsome (and significantly younger) man tonight 😂🔥 and naturally, date prep includes making sure the skin is skinning ✨✨✨

There are two things men ALWAYS comment on… my smile 😁 thanks DENTAL BOUTIQUE™️ | Cosmetic & General Dentist and my skin. So I like to give both a little help 😂😉

This morning I was wearing my Trudermal LED LED neck + dec mask when Wayan came to service my room and asked what all the lights were for…

Apparently he thought I was going to a party because of the lights 😂😂😂

I mean… he wasn’t entirely wrong 😏

But seriously, Trudermal LED gifted me this mask about two years ago and I’ve been consistently using it for around 12 months now. The difference in my décolletage is bloody incredible. It was cactus 🌵FOR REAL and I ALWAYS wanted it covered, whereas now I’ll happily wear a strapless dress on a date without even thinking about it ❤️

And THAT is the kind of result that makes a product easy to talk about and recommend to your clients.

Clinic owners, what LED masks are you stocking? Are they easy to retail and are your clients loving the results?

Now… back to getting ready for the hottie 😂🔥

24/08/2026

🙌 I’m back from burnout, baby!

I’d heard about burnout. I’d spoken to people in business who told me they’d burnt out. Hell, I’d even been warned about burnout…

But it wasn’t until I actually burnt out, and I mean I was literally f*cked (and no, not in a good way 😂), that I truly understood what burnout actually feels like.

Now I do… and wow. 😮‍💨

Most clinics think rebooking is a scheduling conversation.It’s not.It’s a continuation conversation.When a client hears:...
15/06/2026

Most clinics think rebooking is a scheduling conversation.

It’s not.

It’s a continuation conversation.

When a client hears:

“Would you like to rebook?”

they’re no longer being guided.

They’re being asked to decide.

It sounds like a small difference.

But small differences in language create very different behaviours.

One conversation creates momentum.

The other creates hesitation.

One guides the next step.

The other leaves the client to figure it out themselves.

That’s why the highest-performing clinics don’t leave progression to chance.

They intentionally design the conversations that move clients forward.

Because clients don’t need more options.

They need clear direction.

And that’s where many clinics unknowingly create a Continuation Gap™.

Not because the treatment wasn’t right.

Not because the client wasn’t happy.

But because nobody clearly guided what came next.

Continuation Conversations are one of the simplest ways to improve client continuation.

Because language shapes behaviour.

And client continuation is the behaviour.

Retention is the outcome.

What’s one phrase your team says every day that could be creating hesitation instead of momentum?

Every long-term client starts with a first appointment.This was mine.The first photo was taken when I was 44.The second ...
10/06/2026

Every long-term client starts with a first appointment.

This was mine.

The first photo was taken when I was 44.

The second was taken 12 months later after completing a corrective skin journey.

The third photo is me today at 54.

Not because I continued the same treatments for ten years.

But because my skin journey continued to evolve as my skin changed.

Over the last ten years, I’ve invested well over $50,000 with the same clinic.

Not because I was sold a package.

Not because I was locked into a treatment plan.

But because every stage of my journey had a clear next step.

This is where many clinics lose long-term client value.

They focus on getting the client to say yes to the corrective journey.

But saying yes isn’t the finish line.

It’s the beginning.

The biggest Continuation Gap™ often appears after the client gets the result they came for.

The skin improves.

The confidence returns.

And then the client quietly disappears.

Not because they weren’t happy.

But because nobody showed them what came next.

Client Continuation is the behaviour.

Retention is the outcome.

Every long-term client starts with a first appointment.

The question is:

What happens next?

10/06/2026

🤔One question could be costing your clinic thousands.

Not because your team isn’t asking.

Because they’re asking the wrong thing.

Many clinics finish an appointment with:
“Would you like to rebook?”

It sounds harmless.

But it turns continuation into a choice.

The client now has to decide.

Strong clinics guide the next step.

They don’t ask clients to find it themselves.

🙌 Here are three simple Continuation Conversations you can implement today:

→ Instead of:
“Would you like to rebook?”
Try:
“Let’s get your next appointment organised so we can keep your skin journey moving forward.”

→ Instead of:
“Would you like any products today?”
Try:
“To support the results from today’s treatment, this is what I’d recommend using at home.”

→ Instead of:
“Just see how you go.”
Try:
“The next stage is usually where we start seeing the real change, so let’s map that out before you leave.”

Small conversation shifts create major behavioural shifts.

That’s why Continuation Conversations are a core part of the Client Continuation System™.

The goal isn’t to convince clients to come back.
The goal is to create client continuation by guiding the next step in their skin journey.

Because clients don’t need more options.

They need clear direction.

Great treatments don’t create retention. Continuation does.Most clinics think retention is won in the treatment room.It’...
04/06/2026

Great treatments don’t create retention. Continuation does.

Most clinics think retention is won in the treatment room.

It’s not.

Because the moment a client walks out the door, life takes over.

Work.
Kids.
Appointments.
Distractions.

And if there isn’t a clear next step, even happy clients disappear.

The clinics with the strongest retention rates don’t just focus on delivering great treatments.

They intentionally design what happens after the appointment:

✓ Clear treatment pathways

✓ A team-led rebooking process before the client leaves

✓ Home care guidance

✓ Follow-up communication

✓ Ongoing touchpoints that keep clients engaged

Retention isn’t a treatment problem.

It’s a continuation problem.

When clients know exactly what’s next, they stay connected, stay committed, and stay longer.

Retention starts with continuation.

👇 What’s the biggest reason you think clients don’t return after a great treatment?

So many clinics are still working harder than they need to when it comes to marketing.Most of the pressure comes from re...
16/05/2026

So many clinics are still working harder than they need to when it comes to marketing.

Most of the pressure comes from reactive campaigns, inconsistent ex*****on, and no real ownership inside the clinic.

When you build a clear marketing rhythm internally, everything becomes easier, faster, and far more consistent.

Book an initial consultation if you’re ready to build a better way forward.

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PO Box 2007
Clovelly, NSW
2031

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+61 421492447

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