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Marketing greatly influences your current and potential clients’ perception of your business and can determine whether or not they book that first appointment or recurring appointments.
Because of its impact, marketing should be a focus point when you are open a salon, but it doesn’t stop with launch or when your salon begins to take off. Marketing is a continuous, innovative process that can dictate the success of your salon and must be practiced day in and day out.
Let’s break salon marketing down into three parts, to better understand the tactics you should use at each stage of your business:
- Initial salon marketing efforts
- Marketing to reach new clients
- Marketing to build relationships
Marketing Strategies to Open Your Salon
Naming your salon is foundational for your business overall, and for your marketing in particular. It’s important to select a unique salon name that not only catches people’s attention but also supports your brand. This is your opportunity to use your creative abilities and differentiate yourself from competitors.
A couple of questions that can be helpful when selecting a unique salon name include:
- What clientele do you want to attract?
- What vibe do you want your salon to have?
Once you have a name, here are a few other ways to market your salon when you are first opening up:
- Create a website for your salon with appointment scheduling software that gives clients 24/7 access. With salon software, the accessibility of your salon’s calendar allows clients to seamlessly request appointments without having to call during working hours.
- Set up social media accounts for the salon so prospects can learn about your story, the staff, and services offered. You can use social media as a key communication tool to relay information about your salon and spread brand awareness.
- Host local events when you first open your salon to create buzz. You might even consider hosting a launch event with friends, family, and neighboring businesses.
Marketing Strategies to Attract New Clients
Creating marketing strategies that target new clients helps you expand your business and grow your salon. Some marketing tactics that help you attract new clients in your local area include:
Social media advertising
It’s important to create a social media presence where you can showcase your work, promote salon offers, and provide discounts for followers. You can also use social media as a powerful advertising tool to reach a new audience. Social media advertising can be an efficient use of funds because you can get very specific about the audience you’re targeting. Explore different Facebook or Instagram advertising options that can help enhance your marketing efforts and reach potential clients.
Blogging
Whether it’s hair and beauty tips, before-and-after pictures, or educational how-to videos, creating and keeping up with a salon blog can help you become an industry expert and leader in the community. Write content that intrigues your target client base and share it via social media or email.
Online reviews
Positive online ratings encourage new clients to come check out your salon, which makes Yelp and other crowd-sourced review sites key for business growth. You can capitalize on this opportunity by encouraging clients to leave reviews and displaying these testimonials on your website or in the store.
Marketing Strategies to Keep Clients Coming Back
There are simple salon marketing tactics you and your staff should always use to maintain a relationship with existing clients and turn them into advocates for your salon:
Personalized letters
Sending personalized cards for clients’ birthdays or during the holidays is a great way to build rapport and showcase superb customer service.
Email marketing
Email marketing allows salons to send messages that promote the business and offer exclusive deals. You can send out news about the salon, discuss the latest style trends, promote seasonal offers, and even promote new products in the store.
To do all that, it is important to keep your customer directory software up to date, so you can easily reach out to your customer base. Your email marketing efforts can be tracked by email open rates and measured by the amount of clients that come in as a result of a specific email promotion.
Add-on services
Having hair stylists suggest add-ons, like a deep conditioning treatment, adds value to the overall service for the client and increases sales for the salon. You want to keep add-ons small, so the appointment doesn’t run longer than expected.
Client feedback opportunities
When using salon point-of-sale software, you can set up a direct customer feedback option for your guests, right after you take their payment. Allowing customers to give feedback about their experience can help you improve your customer service.
Loyalty programs
A customer loyalty program offers exclusive discounts, special sales, or free products for guests who visit frequently. Offering up a loyalty program incentivizes guests to come in or buy products more often, so they can reap the benefit of the rewards system.
Many loyalty programs use a star-based system; clients earn stars based on spending and when they reach a certain amount of stars, they qualify for a special offer. This can be managed and tracked through your POS system, so you don’t have to track your customers’ spending or their progress in the rewards process. Some salons put an expiration date on the reward earned, which is added motivation for clients to come to the salon more often.
Here are a few recommendations on how to set up a customer loyalty program.
Gift cards
Gift cards are a great way to boost sales for your salon because they guarantee future purchases. There are many strategies to run a successful gift card program that can help you ramp up your salon sales and improve your bottom line.
Marketing should be a key component in your salon’s growth plan. But remember that as your salon grows, your marketing needs to grow with it. So be sure to revisit your marketing plan regularly to add new tactics and revamp any that seem stale.
