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When you give someone an amazing haircut, you earn their appreciation. But how do you translate that into new clients and sales? Find out how to grow your business with these effective hair salon marketing ideas.
Hair Salon Marketing Ideas
Like a new hairstyle, the best salon markteing ideas often mean getting innovative and trying a lot of things. Different initiatives will help attract new clients and keep your existing clients coming back. Small tactics like offering freebies, samples, or value-added services will get people talking and excited. For example, Biba Salon in St Kilda, Melbourne offers you a beverage of choise while you’re getting your hair styled — and their customers love it. Memorable experiences like this ensure that the next time they need a haircut, they’re more likely to think of your salon. If you sell with Square, it’s easy to see when your busiest and slower times are with your Dashboard analytics.
As you start bringing in new and loyal clients, ensuring that you’ve got their details and preferences saved on file will help you service them better in the future. Square’s Customer Directory tools automatically create lists of loyal, casual, or lapsed customers so you and your team can check their customer profile before their visit, and better service their needs the next time they’re visiting.
Social Media Hair Salon Ideas
In an image-driven business, photos say more than words. Share cool images on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to give your social media efforts a boost. Days with specific themes (complete with hashtags), like #MakeoverMonday to showcase before-and-after photos of clients. Use hashtags like #ManeMonday to show off your salon’s best looks of the week. Throwback Thursday (#tbt) and Flashback Friday (#fbf) are a fun opportunity to look back at the styles you and your staff regret from your past (hello, 80’s perm).
Speaking of hashtags, how you use them for hair salon marketing should depend on the social media platform. According to research by Sprout Social, tweets with hashtags get double the engagement, and are retweeted 55% more than those without. Sprout recommends one to two hashtags for Twitter, but no more or engagement drops. On Instagram you can go nuts with hashtags. Sprout Social finds Instagram posts with 11 hashtags receive 79.5% more engagement. Facebook bucks the trend. Research found that posts without hashtags have a 1.30% median viral reach per fan, compared with 0.80% for posts with hashtags. (In other words, you’ll reach more people on Facebook if you avoid hashtags.) Good to keep in mind when you’re combing through hair salon marketing ideas.
Hair Salon Website Ideas
- Design a clean site. A great haircut makes a strong first impression — just as much as a clean, fresh-looking website. It’s the key to making a good first online impression with prospective clients. Our friends at Weebly make it easy to build your own beautiful website using their drag-and-drop interface. No web design skills needed! And your Weebly site seamlessly integrates with Square so you can grow sales on one platform.
- Think beyond the website. Your online marketing should extend beyond your website. It’s important to create a business Facebook page, adding photos and relevant keywords so prospective clients can find you and feel confident picking up the phone to make an appointment. Why stop there — once you’ve finished your business Facebook page, do the same on Google. Be sure to regularly monitor review sites and respond to customers who post critical reviews, doing what you can to make it right. For example, if someone writes that they were unhappy with the color of their dye job, you can empathise with their frustration and invite them to come back within the next week for a complimentary touch-up. You can also encourage customers to use Square Feedback — sending you direct, 1-to-1 feedback right from their digital receipt — as a way to reduce public-facing negative feedback, and give you the opportunity to address a bad review before it hits the internet.
Hair Salon Event Ideas
If your salon offers special-occasion hair services, book a booth at a local bridal show or beauty event. Also reach out to wedding planners in your area to discuss a referral system. And don’t forget to post your salon’s best event hairstyles on your salon’s Facebook or Instagram account. For more tips, read our post on how to amplify your small business with Instagram.
You can also host your own event to raise awareness about your salon — and build your client base. Invite local influencers with large followings on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Many salons have art exhibits featuring local artists. This is a great way to get fresh art on your walls, and hosting an art opening can bring new, potential customers to your salon.
After implementing several of the ideas above as part of a solid marketing strategy, your hair salon will be styled for succcess.
