Hints and Tips to promote your Salon!

Recent research indicates that despite Covid-19 closures, the hair and beauty industry is a growing industry.  Whilst this is great for all of us who work within the industry, it means there are more businesses out there and now more than ever, learning how to standing out from the crowd and efficiently engage with consumers is key. Within this blog we have collated a variety of
hints and tips to draw in customers and enhance your salon presence.

1. Branding needs to be on point!
One of the most important factors when marketing any salon is making sure your
branding is effective, it should tell a story, express your purpose and vision for your salon and highlight how you are unique from your competitors. Tone of voice,
colour scheme, brand logo, and imagery are all aspects that make up branding.
These factors will influence what consumers think and feel about your business.
Competitor research is a great way to see what your competitors are doing as is industry research (look at previous award winners in your location, this is a good way to get ideas of good practice and inspiration for your own brand.) We've found this really useful article on branding for salons.

2. Use all Social Media Platforms
Social media is becoming the biggest way brands advertise their brand and products, so it is a brilliant tool for promoting your salon. Instagram and Tik Tok are a couple of the biggest platforms suited to salons content.  Use these platforms as a portfolio of your work to entice new and existing customers into your salon. There are some great resources to help you plan content, Hubspot offer social content templates and articles alongside a myriad of other useful business templates.  Design Apps such as Canva can assist you to created beautifully branded content and platforms such as Hootsuite and Later are a great way to schedule in advance and take the pressure off of managing your social platforms every day.

3. Offer Competitions and Giveaways
Competitions and giveaways are a great way to give a lot of exposure to your brand and increase engagement. Most social media platforms are geared up to  hold rules for the competition like “share on your story” or “comment 5 friends
below” and facebook particularly can guide you through the process of setting a competition step by step.  Working with other businesses in your area can also give you the opportunity to widen your reach, for example, is there a nail salon you can collaborate with for competition prizes and promoting your respective services to each others audiences?

4. Website
Clients will usually check out your website before making an appointment, therefore it is important to regularly update your website. The design of your website should reflect that of your salon and whole branding look. This will allow clients to gage what your salon is like but also make it memorable for them if all your platforms correlate.
Information to include on your website:
- Service offered
- Price list
- Opening hours
- Location
- Contact details
- Social media links
- Reviews
- Images of your work

Take a look at this step by step guide on how to create a Salon Website.

5. Loyalty Schemes
Offers and loyalty schemes are a great way to entice clients into your salon. Loyalty cards can be cheap and easy to make, and they can provide clients with an incentive to book an appointment when they can redeem their loyalty points or discounts etc.  This blog by FiveStars offers some ideas for the most popular loyalty scheme ideas you could look  to implement in your own salon.

6. Email Newsletters
Signing up to email platforms such as Mailchimp or Klaviyo are a great way to communicate to your clients whether its promotional offers, business updates/news, blog posts, or asking for reviews.

7. Regularly review
The most important thing to remember having invested time and money into your marketing is to regularly review what's working and revise those marketing activities that are not delivering.  These hints and tips are just a starter, The Salon Business has written a great blog going into more detail about growing your salon business and offering 41 of the best salon marketing ideas, promotions and strategies.

8. Finally
Don't forget, if you have a trade account with us, please get in touch with your Account Manager as we are always happy to talk marketing and promote your salon across our own social platforms.  Tag us in your posts, try and try to include your geographical location, products and shades used in hashtags as this will make it easier for customers to find you.  Also make sure you are listed on our salon finder as many of our customers use this when deciding to progress from Clip-ins to more permanent extensions.