When you run a salon, you need to constantly come up with new ideas and promotions to keep customers hooked. To stay on top of your game, you need to be pretty darn creative. Let’s face it, the competition in the beauty space is immensely fierce and the only way you can stand out is by putting your best foot forward. Finding salon marketing ideas can be quite time-consuming. Well, the good news is that they are many creative ways in which you can lure new clients to your beauty salon. We’ve chalked out some of the best ideas for you.
Try these marketing ideas for your hair salon and use the best salon software to track results. This will give you a fair idea of which marketing technique is working and which isn’t.
6 Hair Salon Promotion Marketing Ideas
1. Get your hair salon listed on Google My Business
When you’re looking for a business in the vicinity, what do you do? You probably open Google Maps, right? The first step in promoting your business is ensuring it gets found by your prospective customers. Go on the Google My Business website and create an account. Fill in all the vital business information such as contact details, website, address, pictures, etc. A lot of salon owners tend to skip this step thinking its time consuming and expensive. However, remember, it is free of cost and just takes a few minutes. When customers close to you are looking for a salon nearby, your business name will immediately pop up.
2. Group discounts always work
Don’t let your salon be like any other run-of-the-mill beauty business. Turn your space into a social destination where people would love to come with their friends. For the longest time, salons would run the “buy one, get one” offer. While it works well, it often eats into the profits of the business. Don’t limit your salon to the ‘buy one, get one’ model. Instead, think of long-term promotion ideas that would entice customers to bring their girl gang. For example, a referral program can work wonders for your hair salon. Each time your client brings a friend along or sends new clients your way, pamper them a little with a free service or discount coupon. You can even offer the new client a discount on their first service.
No matter what discount or offer you use, encouraging existing clients to bring friends to your hair salon is a great way to attract new clientele. To keep a track of the number of new clients coming in every month, use MioSalon Lite, the best salon software that offer advanced features for free.
3. Treat hair salon promotions as a community initiative
An important thing to remember about your salon is that you’re not just any other business. You’re an immensely local business that addresses the hair and beauty needs of a client. For this reason, ensure you reach out to your community as part of your hair salon promotions.
You can start by forming partnerships with local beauty brands. Before doing so, establish the kind of salon you own – is it a hair salon, nail salon or massage centre?
Let’s assume, you are predominantly a hair salon that offers haircuts, hair grooming services and hair colouring. In such a case, you can establish strategic partnerships with another salon that specialises in nails or other beauty services such as waxing and facials. This can be a win-win for your outlet as well as the other business. Let’s accept it that we’re all here to bring in more clients, right?
Another way of serving new clients is by shifting from “money making” for a bit. Of course that’s your goal as a salon owner. However, sometimes, a little goodwill goes a long way in bringing your business into the limelight. Dedicate one day in a month to people who can’t really afford your services. Offer a free hair spa, hair cut or one of the cheapest service from your menu to a few people from the community who serve and help you on a day-to-day basis. Doing so will not win you a client but will definitely uplift the local community. Share pictures of this activity on your social media pages, and you’ll definitely win the hearts of your followers.
4. Offer a convenient booking platform
Wondering what’s the best marketing idea for hair salons? Well, this is it! Offer customers booking convenience and they’ll be at your doorstep. Online booking can help you get more appointments from existing clients. When customers realize they can book an appointment themselves, they tend to book often. The ease of doing it makes them want to do so. You can also share your online booking link on your social media pages.
MioSalon Lite allows you to set up your online booking system for free. It’s easier than you think. Other advanced features of the free salon software include an online booking mini website, online booking widget that can be integrated into your Facebook, Instagram and Google My Business Page, payment integration, spam control and much more. Setting up an online booking system takes less than 30 minutes. If you still haven’t done it, do it now!
5. Make the most of holiday promotions
When you’re a salon owner, you should be making the most of holiday promotions. There are countless promotion opportunities that will come your way. Keep in mind that clients want to look their best when they’re meeting family for a get together or catching up with friends over a holiday. Thus, you should consider introducing holiday offers and deals. If your promotions are relevant, clients will remember you during this timeframe and avail your offers. If you aim at targeting niche clients, make sure you’re specific about your messaging. You can even use the best salon software to run campaigns and send out your marketing messages.
6. Offer free samples and product giveaways
If you want to etch your salon in your client’s mind, consider giving them free samples. Everybody loves freebies, and you should be capitalising on that. If your supplier is giving you heaps of travel-sized products, and you don’t know what to do with them, consider running this promotion for a limited period. Check your salon software to get a list of your active clients, inactive clients and so on. Randomly choose a few names, and send them these products. They will not just be happy to receive these freebies, but will also be reminded of your salon.
However, don’t make this a frequent practice as customers might get accustomed to it. If you don’t want to hand out samples for free, you can even make customers earn it by running a contest/giveaway on your social media pages. This is also a great way to increase your social media fan following.
These are some of our favourite hair salon marketing ideas and promotions. Take time to consider what works for your hair salon and what doesn’t. However, remember to create a marketing strategy and keep at it. Being persistent is key if you want to flourish. If you’re having a tough time tracking results, use MioSalon Lite. It is a free salon software that gives your salon access to highly advanced features.
