Quick and easy marketing for your salon

We’ve mentioned it before: waxing really is the bread and butter for most salons. But, there’s no easier money than a quick retail sale. Many therapists feel awkward selling products as it’s not in their nature. Clients, on the other hand, expect a certain level of advice or product knowledge.

I always like to look at it this way: if your friend had a problem that you know a solution for, you would help them, wouldn’t you? It’s the same with your client. For example: when you’re waxing someone, and they tell you they’re prone to ingrown hairs, it’s your chance to sell an ingrown hair treatment. Or when you perform a facial, it’s the perfect opportunity to assess the condition of your client’s skin and give them advice on proper skincare. A sale for a face mask or cream that will actually benefit them will follow pretty naturally.

Sale away

Of course it’s not always this easy and we tend to lose our focus on selling when treating clients. But try to touch on retail sales in your staff meetings to keep the momentum going.

But, cross-selling products can only be done if you have the clients to sell to. Looking back on winter, there may have been days where there was more downtime than you had wanted. Using the right marketing and branding tools can help you get those clients through the door even during the slow season.

For us, Online Marketing is the most effective tool for getting new clients.

Get social

Let’s start with social media. It is extremely important in your branding efforts to create engaging accounts. We’re very lucky in our line of business; we create beauty—and everyone wants to see beautiful images. Use that to your advantage when you create your social posts.

Use before and after pictures to show your followers what you can do, and post videos and instastories of lesser known treatments to excite people about the results they give. Once your account has compelling content, it’s time for the hardest part: you can actively grow your number of followers. You can do this by posting product images and tagging your suppliers. When they re-post you, it helps you reach a bigger audience. Or ask your clients with a big online following to do a shout out to receive a free product.

Social Media is the easiest and most accessible way to start getting your salon some attention.

Another great way to get more followers is to give away free treatments to people that tag their friends in your posts. With social media the sky is the limit; just make sure that your social media lines up with your core values and branding. You don’t want people to LOVE your online presence, but be disappointed when they visit your salon in real life. Keywords here are Authenticity and Consistency.

There are some very handy tools available online that can help with that consistency. Hootsuite is a free online tool that lets you schedule your posts across your different social media channels. You can plan it all out in one day and not worry about it for the rest of the week. For designing I would definitely recommend Canva. It’s a free and easy-to-use tool that will make your Instafeed look amazing without having to pay a designer.

Think like a customer

Once your online presence is solid, it’s time to focus on getting more hits when people search beauty salons via Google. I won’t bore you with SEO talk, but there are some simple things you can do yourself to get more traffic on your website and more clients through your door.

A true must have is an up-to-date Google My Business page. Many people make decisions based on Google Reviews and a beautiful Instafeed before even going to your website.

The higher you can get your salon in a Google search, the greater the chance for rewards (note: rewards may not include chocolate).

With Google My Business you will show up on Google Maps when people look for local beauty salons, with images of your choice and the reviews people have left you. All they have to do is click to make the phone call and book in. You only have to set it up once and your visibility online will be so much better.

Which leads me to another important thing: reviews and ratings are becoming more and more important in our daily lives.

I don’t know if anyone has seen that episode of Black Mirror where every interaction gave people the opportunity to rate someone’s personality and their whole life was affected if their ranking went up or down.

That’s kind of like how it is with Google and Facebook rating.

reviews and ratings are becoming
more and more important in our daily lives.

Before going to your website, potential clients want an honest overview of your clients’ experiences with your salon. Reviews will help you get more people through the door. And don’t worry if there’s the odd negative review, it will only make you look more authentic. The way you deal with those negative reviews is very important though. If it’s a genuine complaint, apologise online and try to get in touch with the customer directly to make things right. Always follow-up online and always thank people for their positive reviews! You can even put a poster on your counter to ask people to leave a review on Google.

So, if you take anything away from this blog, it should be to invest time in creating a beautiful Instafeed that fits your salon’s personality, and an up-to-date Google My Business page with good reviews. These small changes in your online presence can make a big difference!

Want more information about branding, marketing or retail in your salon? Get in touch with me via malou@caronlab.com.au!