Hair Salon Ideas: Website, Event, and Marketing Ideas

When you give someone an amazing haircut, you earn their appreciation. But how do you translate that into customer loyalty and new clients?

Find out how to grow your salon business with these effective hair salon marketing ideas.

Hair Salon Marketing Ideas

The best salon marketing often means getting innovative and trying a lot of things. Different tactics will help attract new clients and keep your existing clients coming back. Consider offering freebies like a free drink to get people talking and excited. For example, some businesses offer your drink of choice while you’re getting pampered — and customers love it. Or you could have a happy hour during your slow times to bring in customers and help create a festive atmosphere. 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, allowing you to make data-driven decisions to optimise your marketing efforts and enhance overall salon performance, all while considering important salon need-to-know costs.

Email marketing is a powerful way to keep clients in the loop about new offers and incentives. Square’s email marketing service allows you to collect customer information right at your register. And if you use salon booking software, like Square Appointments, it can also help you capture clients’ email addresses.

And not only that — the tools automatically create lists of loyal, casual, or lapsed customers so you can target your emails. Let regular clients know about a new service you’re offering, or give lapsed customers an incentive (like a free deep-conditioning treatment) if they book a service within two weeks.

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. Try theme days (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, 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 twice the engagement, and are retweeted 55% more than those without. They recommend 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 — and so does a modern, cleanly designed website. It’s the key to making a good first online impression with prospective clients. Create an Online Store with Square using Square’s website templates - no web design skills needed!

Think beyond the website. Your online marketing should extend beyond your website. It’s important to create a Google My Business profile, adding your location, contact details, photos and relevant keywords so prospective clients can find you and feel confident picking up the phone to make an appointment. Be sure to regularly monitor reviews 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. Excellent customer service oils a squeaky wheel and you’re also showing prospective customers that you’re willing to go the extra mile.

Hair Salon Event Ideas

If your salon offers special-occasion hair services such as weddings, book a booth at a local bridal show or offer to style models for a prom fashion show. Also reach out to wedding planners in your area to discuss a referral system. And don’t forget to post your salon’s best updos and event hairstyles on your salon’s Pinterest account.

You can also host your own event to raise awareness about your salon — and build your client base. Invite local influencers and other local business owners.

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.

Hair Salon Ideas for Giving Back

Here are some hair salon ideas to make a positive difference in your immediate community and beyond:

You’re in the business of making people look good and feel their best. You know the transformative power of a great hairstyle — so it could be a natural fit to support a group who organises haircuts for people donating their locks to cancer patients and others in need.

Did you know your salon can help clean up after an oil spill? We shampoo our hair because our natural scalp oils stick to it. Hair is excellent at soaking up crude oil too. You can donate hair clippings to The Hair Recycling Scheme, which works with the organisation Matter of Trust and forms it into hair mats and emergency hair booms, used to clean oil spills as part of their Clean Wave programme.

When you give back, your hair salon is acting as a source of good. When you let your clients know about your programmes, your efforts will also act as good marketing for your salon. Win win!