You’ve picked the perfect place for your salon and you’ve hired the most experienced hairdressers in the area. Seems like your salon is on its way to success, right?
However, no matter how perfect your salon is, it’s basically a failure if you can’t attract enough clients and keep existing clients coming back for more.
In short, how you market your salon is important, but at the same time, it can be easier said than done.
With that being said, let’s take a look at some actionable salon marketing ideas that can help you secure more clients and retain existing ones.
Let us start with the first one.
- Optimize Your Google Maps Listing
The majority of today’s consumers (including your salon’s prospective clients) will search online for their options before visiting a salon with queries like “hair salon near me”.
Meaning, your salon needs to show up in your prospective client’s search results, mainly on Google, or else you technically don’t exist for them. The thing is, for these local queries, Google will prioritize results from Google Maps rather than the organic results, so you’ll need to perform Google Maps SEO.
You might also want to consider listing your business on other platforms like Yelp or TripAdvisor, as well as other online directories relevant to your location.
- Well-Designed Website With Salon Booking System
A professionally-designed, functional website is your salon’s digital storefront and online business card. Your prospective clients will check your website before booking your service, so even if you already have a pretty strong social media presence, your social media profiles are not sufficient replacements for a well-designed website.
Today, however, building a professional-looking website is fairly easy and affordable with platforms like Wix, Squarespace, and even WordPress, so there’s simply no excuse not to have one.
Also, today’s clients will expect your website to have reliable, online booking functionality. Also, 40% of salon booking nowadays happens outside business hours, so if you don’t facilitate 24/7 online booking, you’re going to miss out.
Fortunately, with solutions like Bookeo salon scheduling software, integrating reliable online booking and scheduling features to your website is now very easy to do.
- Manage Positive Social Proof
92% of all consumers look at online reviews before deciding on purchasing a product or service. Meaning, you have to make sure your salon has enough reviews and maintain positive social proof.
Encourage your clients to leave positive reviews and social media mentions. A lot of the time, all it takes is to simply ask them at the right time (when they are satisfied with your service), but you can also incentivize them, for example by offering discounts in exchange for reviews on Google Maps.
- Offer Referral Discounts
There are many ways you can use to generate referrals for your salon. The simplest way is to offer group discounts (your clients get a discount when they come together with friends), but you can also establish a real referral campaign and offer commissions to clients who bring in new clients.
You can also work with other businesses in the area to give each other referrals with cross-promotion campaigns. For example, if the nearby restaurant has a customer that is looking for salon services, you can let this restaurant offer a small discount if they use your salon.
- Effective Social Media Marketing
Yes, in today’s social media age when most of your clients are actively on social networks, it would only make sense to promote your salon on social media.
The question is, how should you do it?
Regularly and consistently post on social media with visually pleasing and engaging content, like well-taken photos and videos showcasing your salon’s services. Then, you should support this content with paid ads (i.e. Instagram Ads) according to your available budget.
Another effective approach is to reach out and partner with relevant influencers in your area, so they can help promote your salon to their followers.
- Create Customer Loyalty Program
Acquiring new clients is one thing, but retaining existing clients by keeping them happy for repeat businesses can be more profitable for your salon in the long run.
To maximize retention, you should offer an attractive loyalty program with attractive offers, for example:
- Offering discounts or freebies for every 10th visit or so. This will encourage your clients to keep returning, which can also provide more opportunities to keep this client happy. This may lead to more referrals and positive reviews.
- Offer special discounts and gifts on their birthdays, as well as other relevant occasions (their wedding anniversary, etc.)
- Offer exclusive items and services only available for loyal customers. Everybody loves exclusivity, and this approach can be very effective in improving customer loyalty
- Arrange special occasion promotions, for example by offering special promotions on New Year, Mother’s Day, prom night, and so on. A buy-one-get-one offer can be effective for these occasions.
- Email Marketing
If you’ve collected emails through your online booking system (like Bookeo), you can start building your email list so you can send your salon’s newsletter. In your emails, you can send your salon’s promotions, product recommendations, styling tips, or even run contests and giveaways.
Emai marketing still remains one of the most effective marketing channels with the highest ROI, so don’t underestimate it. However, it’s also important not to send too many emails, as overwhelming your clients with too frequent emails can be counterproductive.
- Local Publications
Even in this digital age, don’t underestimate the importance of local publications.
Reach out to local newspapers and magazines, and aim to get a feature in these local publications so you can:
- Reach out to more people in your area by getting favorable coverage from these publications
- Improve customer trust
- Get valuable backlinks to your website (from authoritative online publications)
By being covered by local publications, you can further establish your position as a credible business in your industry.
Closing Thoughts
The 8 actionable ideas and tips we’ve shared above can be a great foundation you can use to develop a comprehensive marketing strategy for your salon
Above anything else, marketing your salon business is about knowing and anticipating your target audience’s needs and preferences. If you understand their needs and provide your value accordingly, you can attract more clients, retain them, and convert them into advocates that will help grow your business in a sustainable way.
