Thought process
How does a salon suite owner determine how to focus time to grow the business?
“Don’t be busy, be productive.”
Action steps
Avoid actions and activities that do not produce a good return on your investment. Find the best marketing strategies that are suited for your salon suite and focus your time and resources there.
Grow your salon suite by focusing on salon marketing strategies
Set up the salon at a well-known location
Salons located in the city have a high customer influx than those located in the outskirts. Locate your salon in an area with a dense population for more clients.
SMS marketing
Many people have mobile phones. Choosing SMS marketing where you send promotional messages, offers, and other information on beauty is a great idea. Customized messages can be crafted for different customer groups.
Introduce seasonal offers
There are many festivals, events, and holidays in a calendar year. Take advantage of events like Halloween, New Year to give offers to your clients. Using the festive seasons to carry out promotions by giving offers is one of the most effective ways of winning new customers.
Attracting new clients
“Much effort, much prosperity.” Euripides
Attracting new clients to your salon is easier said than done. Here are some effective salon client acquisition tactics that you can use:
- Extending new clients and referral reward offers
- Optimizing your website for search
- Consistently publishing new content on your website and new posts on social media platforms
- Attending local business and networking events
- Developing a buzz-worthy with genuinely unique client experience
- Sponsoring targeted social media campaigns and paid hyper-local marketing tactics in your city
Having an active marketing strategy that increases engagements on social media, email, website, and other sites are crucial for the success of your salon business. Some packages like My Salon Suite and Salon Plaza are designed for salon suite owners. They offer the most consistent and effective marketing solutions resources for suite owners. See more here.
Increasing the average ticket
“Work to become, not to acquire.”
The essential resource for a business owner is time. You can increase the ticket price to help grow your salon suite without necessarily increasing the working hours. Here are tips to increase the average ticket price:
- Promote and sell more retail products
- Move clients to a higher service level or increase their appointments
- Suggest add-ons during consultation based on their desires and styles
- Expand your retail inventory for a broader client appeal
It is very appropriate to sell gift cards. A study found that 72% of gift card shoppers spend more amount than of the gift card when redeeming it. One in four will also purchase an item they had not planned to buy. Gift cards will increase your average ticket price.
Using pricing tactics
“Change your thoughts, and you change your world”- Norman Vincent Peale
Price is one of the 4 Ps of marketing. This article published on marketingdesks.com lists ten different pricing strategies that you can use to increase your sales. The way you display and price your products can impact the psychology of clients positively.
For instance, if two items have identical prices, the buyer can pick either of them. If the two items have varying prices, 67% percent are likely to choose the cheaper item. Another tactic is price anchoring. Consider a case where two items are priced differently. A bottle of wine for $20 and another at $60. Bargain buyers will choose the cheaper item while prestige buyers want the pricey one.
Growing brand awareness
“success is the accumulation of small advantages over time”- Aaron Lynn
Marketing is not all about people who are ready to buy your service right now. Increasing your brand awareness helps start building a relationship with people who may need the service in the future. You can use the referral efforts to reach potential customers.
Building authority
“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.”- Rumi
Building expert authority is an excellent way of increasing your salon brand reach. It will be easy for a person to refer their colleague or friend to your salon because you are the best. Building expert authority within a client base helps you reap more referrals. It also helps to get your clients to upsell, products, and service recommendations.
You can use email marketing, social media, client consultation and website, and other interactions to share your expertise with others. As you build authority, you build trust. Clients are easily persuaded to take actions you recommend to them.
Commit to a social media campaign in 2020
Social media is very powerful and has a broad audience. It is also the least expensive for your hair salon advertising. It is straightforward to sign up and get set up your campaign.
Update and refresh your website
It starts with your website. Make it look professional and update it regularly. The site is the first contact people have with your business, and the first impression is paramount.
Evaluate and adjust
What strategy were you using last year? Did it work? What was the Return on Investment? Is there anything you can do differently today? Asking yourself these questions at the end of every year will help you make marketing strategy decisions.
Commit to one new strategy per year
Every year is a new opportunity to try a new marketing method. There are countless marketing strategies that you can implement for your salon booth rental and turn out great. Try one at a time each year.
Commit to making more time for marketing
How much do you spend on marketing? Could you increase the budget? Is marketing cost-effective?
Trying more marketing options is highly recommended. You can also compare with techniques that other salon suites are using, and they are getting better results. Ensure you have a target for any marketing option you implement.
Use Facebook Ads to promote a discounted offer
Facebook Lead Ads are geographically targeted to the ideal audience and give you a big discount. You can also collect names and email addresses directly and use them for email marketing.
Reward customers who give referrals
When a person finds hairdressers or stylists they like, they recommend them to their friends. Why not reward a customer who brings you a new client? You can give cash discounts or free services in the next session.
Market your salon using professional photos on Instagram
Instagram is one of the top platforms to grow your business. An estimated 50% of brands are using it. Over 30% of women in America are also using Instagram. For business purposes, make it look professional. You need to spend time on photoshoot and editing to get the best posts to upload on your salon Instagram account.
Pro Tip: Use relevant hashtags on all your posts.
Use a mobile app for booking services
Small businesses have benefited a great deal by acquiring software or mobile apps that help schedule appointments with their clients. The benefits of the app include in-app booking, push notifications, and loyalty programs. It is very easy to maintain the clientele base when you have a reliable app service and get new clients.
Create a video showcasing your services
Clients are very concerned about their appearance. In most cases, they do a background check about your salon and services if they are coming for the first time. To accomplish this, have a video demonstrating your techniques.
A short and professionally produced video on your website or social media helps your prospective clients connect with your brand. The video can include highlights of your employees working on other clients.
Tell people what makes you unique
A common mistake in marketing is telling people what you do without telling them why you are different from the rest. Ensure your website or social media posts show the differences that make you the best choice.
Take the salon to the public
Take your salon to a well-prepared public stand with a couple of salon chairs and equipment. Invite passers-by and get them blown out for free or at a discount. Have a contact sheet where those who are interested in visiting the salon can fill, and you can reach out to them later.
SEO optimizing
Set up a website with an appropriate domain name. Get some content for your site that is best for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). With optimization tools, your site will rank high on Google and other search engines. This helps you get more clients from online searches.
Television advertising
Television Ads are very effective since there are millions of people watching television. Besides cable Tv or dish providers, have your ads shown on online streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
