How I count the women in a med spa's zip code in 20 minutes

A clinic owner once told me her town was "too small for ads."

She said it like a fact. She had tried ads before. They did not work. So she decided there just were not enough women nearby.

I asked her one question. "How many women live within 15 minutes of you?"

She did not know. Most owners don't. And that is not a flaw. Nobody ever showed them how to check.

So we checked together. It took about 20 minutes. The number was much bigger than she thought.

Here is how I do it.

Why I count first

Every new clinic I work with starts here. Before ads. Before offers. Before anything.

I count because a feeling is not a number. An empty Tuesday feels like nobody wants you. But the count usually tells a different story.

The count turns a scary feeling into a small, clear target.

It also keeps me honest. If the market is truly tiny, I want to know that before I spend a dollar. If it is big enough, I can stop worrying and get to work.

This is step one of my bigger method. You can read the whole thing in The 300 Women Playbook.

What you need

You need three things.

1. A map, so you can see the area around your clinic.
2. The free Census site at data.census.gov.
3. A Meta Ads Manager account. You do not need to spend any money in it.

Grab a notepad too. You will write down a few numbers.

Step 1: Draw your circle (5 minutes)

Open a map. Put a pin on your clinic.

Now ask one question. How far will a woman drive for your best treatment?

For most med spas, I start with about 10 to 15 miles. In a big city with heavy traffic, I make it smaller. In a small town, I often make it bigger. Women there are used to driving.

Then look at the zip codes inside your circle. Write each one down.

Most clinics end up with somewhere between five and fifteen zip codes. That is fine. Yours may be different.

Step 2: Count the women (10 minutes)

Now go to data.census.gov.

Type in your first zip code. Look for the table that breaks people down by age and sex. It shows how many women live there, in age groups.

I add up the women aged 30 to 60. That is the group that books most aesthetic treatments in the clinics I see.

Write that number next to the zip code. Then do the next one.

When you are done, add them all up. That is the number of women in your circle.

A quick note. Census numbers are not perfect. They are a little old by the time you see them. People move. But they are close enough to give you a real starting point. And close enough is all we need here.

Step 3: Check what Meta can reach (5 minutes)

Now open Meta Ads Manager.

Start a new campaign. You will not publish it. You just want to see one number.

In the ad set, set the location to your circle. Set the age to 30 to 60. Set the gender to women.

On the right side of the screen, Meta shows an estimated audience size. It is usually a range.

That is how many of those women Meta thinks it can show your ad to.

Compare it to your Census number. They will not match. They never do. Meta counts people on its apps, not people in a survey. But if both numbers are in the same ballpark, you are on solid ground.

What the numbers mean

Here is an example so you can see the shape of it. These are made up numbers, not a real clinic.

Say your Census count is 30,000 women aged 30 to 60. Meta shows a similar range.

Now, most of those women do not want a treatment this month. That is normal. Life is busy.

Say just 1 in 100 of them is ready right now. That is 300 women.

Three hundred women. That is your real market this month. Not 30,000. Just the few hundred who are already thinking about it.

Your number will be different. Maybe it is 150. Maybe it is 600. The idea stays the same.

Your growth sits inside a few hundred women near you.

What happened with the owner who said her town was too small

When we finished her count, she was quiet for a second.

Then she laughed. "That is a lot more women than I thought."

Her old ads had not failed because of her town. They failed because of what they asked for. Her old agency sent women to a form. Then the plan was to call them and chase them. Facebook learned to find women who fill out forms, not women who book.

That is a common story. I wrote about it in Prepaid bookings vs leads.

Once she saw the count, the question changed. It was no longer "are there enough women?" It became "how do I reach the ready ones?"

That is a much better question. And it has a clear answer.

How I reach the ready ones

I don't try to find each woman by hand. That would take forever.

Instead, I show one clear offer to the whole circle. A specific package for one treatment. The women who are ready stop and look. The rest keep scrolling.

Then I ask for a deposit, not a form. She picks her time. She pays. She is booked.

Facebook learns from that. When you ask for deposits, it finds more women who pay.

If you want to see how I build that offer, read How I get more women in the door at a med spa.

Mistakes I see when owners count

Here is what I watch for.

Drawing the circle too big. A woman who lives 40 miles away might see your ad. But she will probably book closer to home. A huge circle makes the count look great and the ads work worse.

Counting everyone. Men and women of all ages make the number look big. But it is not your market. Stick to the women who book what you sell.

Stopping at the big number. Thirty thousand women sounds like a lot. But you are not marketing to all of them. Shrink it down to the ones who are ready.

Thinking small means hopeless. A small town can still fill a calendar. You just need a few hundred women, not a city full.

The 20 minute count on one page

1. Put a pin on your clinic and draw a 10 to 15 mile circle.
2. Write down every zip code inside it.
3. Use data.census.gov to add up the women aged 30 to 60 in each zip code.
4. Check the same circle in Meta Ads Manager to see who you can reach.
5. Shrink the big number down to the few hundred who are ready this month.
6. Reach them with one clear offer and a deposit, not a form.

That is it. Twenty minutes, and you know your market.

Results vary by clinic, by offer, and by town. But in my experience, the count almost always shows the same thing. The women are there. They just have not heard your name yet.

Quick answers

How do I find out how many women live near my med spa?

Use the free Census site at data.census.gov. Search each zip code around your clinic and look at the table that splits people by age and sex. Add up the women aged 30 to 60. Then check the same circle in Meta Ads Manager to see how many of them you can reach with ads.

How big should my med spa target area be?

For most med spas I start with a circle of about 10 to 15 miles. In a busy city I often go smaller. In a small town I often go bigger. The right size is how far a woman will drive for your treatment.

Is a bigger market always better for a med spa?

No. You do not need a huge market. You need a few hundred women who are ready to book this month. Most single location clinics can grow a lot from a market that feels small.