So, you’ve designed a website, created a logo, or even purchased business cards, but is that enough?
Well, flocking new customers to your doors and setting-up appointments is a dream of every salon owner. And this is where well-versed and creative marketing approaches can add a valuable asset to gear up your business, plus fostering relationships with customers.
This concludes – for increasing customer retention and expanding your business, you must have to look for marketing ideas to take your salon business to the next level.
With a new year upon us, there are ample opportunities to make 2021 your best year that will stand your business out from all other salons in your area. For this, you need to understand how you can market your salon to attract – and keep – clients.
By keeping all this in mind, we pull together a list of proven salon marketing strategies, salon promotional ideas, and salon advertising examples that profitable salons use. These marketing ideas will help you find your target audience and entice them to come in-store for earning a respectable return on investment.
So, let’s get started.
Table of Content
Top Salon Marketing Ideas
- Add Loyalty and Referral Programs
- List Your Salon on Online Directories
- Use Salon Scheduling Software
- Manage Online Salon Reviews
- Promote your Business on Social Media
- Organize Contest in your Salon
- Capitalize on Holidays and Special Events
- Think About Gift Cards
- Offer Discounts and Add-On Services
- Generate Video Content
Overall Takeaway
Top Salon Marketing Ideas
● Add Loyalty and Referral Programs
Attracting new customers is important – the main source of receiving profit. And, the best type of getting new customers is offering referral programs. When someone (like family or friend) will recommend your salon to others, they’ll be more likely to become loyal customers after their first visit. By using salon referral programs, you can incentivize your current customers to suggest their friends.
But similarly, it’s also essential to reward those ones who stay loyal to you. Adopting the right marketing idea – loyalty programs means you’re encouraging your customers to return and build further personal relationships. In this, you can offer a huge discount or free services (like a hair-cut, blowout, or add-on treatment) for every 10th or 11th visit of your customer.
● List Your Salon on Online Directories
The most important question you must ask yourself is – is your salon business available on search result pages?
In fact, 70% of people search online before stepping into any store! If your business doesn’t exist in Google and other search engines, it means you simply don’t get the desired result. That’s why it’s essential to get your salon visible on search result pages. For this, you need to set up Google My Business Account, which is important for marketing your salon. Facebook is another amazing directory to list your business so that active users can find your salon easily.
● Use Salon Scheduling Software
Installing scheduling salon software is an excellent option to promote your business in the market. The software will allow your customers to book appointments easily online. It’ll help make it more convenient to schedule and optimize the process for both staff and your clients. The software is featured with appointment scheduling, real-time calendar updates, inventory management, reports & analytics, point-of-sale, loyalty reward programs, and more that customers can view online. Even, the customers can easily decide when they need to book their appointments for their preferred treatments. In case, if the customer will cancel the appointment, the software will notify you, which further will free up the time to schedule another booking.
● Manage Online Salon Reviews
Make it easy for customers to decide – why do they need to choose your salon store?
By collecting a good amount of reviews for your salon on Google, Facebook, and others, it’ll give confidence to other customers to step into your store. This will also allow your business to rank well in search result pages. That’s why it’s always essential to ask your customers to share their experience after a service. When you receive positive reviews from your customers, these will take your business higher, making them more accessible for people to read. Don’t forget to share positive reviews in a post on various social media channels.
● Promote your Business on Social Media
According to Pew Research Center, many people are checking social multiple times per day.
One of the amazing marketing ideas to thrive for success is -social media! Promoting your business through various social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other channels will bring a huge benefit to your business. Setting up a social media account for your salon will make it easy to get the attention of interested visitors. Don’t forget to optimize the hashtags and keywords for attracting new customers. Additionally, modify your advertising and social marketing strategies based on each platform for providing a more personalized experience for users. Additionally, you can also post images of your products & services, quick tips, giveaways, run contests, and many others via your official social media channels.
● Organize Contest in your Salon
Running a contest in your salon and on social media sites is a great way to attract and retain new customers. You can offer giveaways who most likely visit your store. By organizing contests, you can offer freebies to first, second and third runner-up. This will allow them to stay connected with your brand. Such marketing ideas can also allow your loyal customer to refer your store to your friend and family. So, they can also grab the benefit of the next contest.
● Capitalize on Holidays and Special Events
The more compelling marketing idea is themed promotions. It’s a great way to stand out in your salon among the leaders. How? – by offering discounts and coupons on your various salon services during holidays and special events. “Buy One Get One Free” is another amazing idea to draw the attention of customers.
So, whether it’s Valentine’s Day or Christmas Eve, infusing your promotional ideas with a fun and seasonal theme will create a better presence in the market. The big days when you can earn more profit – Bridal Season, Halloween, Black Friday, December Holidays (Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Hanukkah), etc.
● Think About Gift Cards
Gift cards are a great way to expand your business, especially during the holiday season. Offering a special gift certificate means providing an opportunity to offer free services to their close ones. These are the perfect gifts for last-minute shoppers that might know their loved ones need salon services or products. So, adopt this marketing strategy to heighten up your brand among competitors.
● Offer Discounts and Add-On Services
In order to make enough profit for your salon business, it’s time to focus on a strategy to increase the amount each customer spends during their salon visit. A great way to reach this point is offering – add-on services. By adding services during an already booked appointment, it’ll immediately increase your profit. For example, hair colour glossing, scalp peeling treatment, anti-ageing hand mask, and others along with already purchased services. Offering discounts and coupons on various services will also give you a new way to earn more.
● Generate Video Content
Have you ever thought about posting a video of your products and services? If not, it’s time to adopt this marketing idea.
With the availability of various video platforms, it’s actually easy to create and post your own video. By simply using your phone and posting them on YouTube or other social media channels, you can easily increase the customer engagement rate. Make sure your created video is informational and relevant. Mentioning various beauty ideas and tips will automatically increase your conversion rate. Additionally, you can also provide an idea of proper cleansing or exfoliating or some other skincare process.
Overall Takeaway
So, it’s time to improve the overall productivity of your salon business by adopting these amazing marketing ideas. Whether you’re the owner of a small salon or just a beauty salon, it’s essential to keep your marketing consistent to capture a large number of customers and a high conversion rate. These salon automation tips and marketing strategies will definitely fill the gap and increase your bottom line.
Any more salon ideas?
Let me know in the comments box below.