As hairstylists, we’re not taught to be marketers, but I do believe that marketing should be our number one priority. Whether you’re first starting out or reinventing yourself, you’re building a clientele. You’ll always be selling yourself, your services, and your products. And I believe there are three areas that - if you can master them - can help you build your clientele, improve customer retention, and increase profits:

●      Marketing strategies at the salon

●      Marketing strategies in the community

●      Marketing strategies online

 Let’s look into them one by one.

Salon Marketing

Referral Programs

One form of in-salon marketing we’re doing is a referral program. It’s important to make referring as easy as possible for your clients. If it’s too complicated, they’ll be overwhelmed and won’t refer you. So to make referring a no-brainer, have lots of marketing materials available to help you speak about the referral program. We started using mirror clings with QR codes that take people to a page that includes our referral program. Another option is just to hand people a card or put it in their gift bag when they’re leaving.

Welcome Gifts

Another thing we’re trying right now is a welcome gift, which is meant to create a wow factor for new guests. Our welcome cards thank our guests for choosing us and offer $10 off their next service with an expiration date of two months. We also offer free eyebrow waxes and deep conditioning treatments, which are simple, quick services for us to offer but add a lot of value to the guest experience as a reminder that we care about them.

Following Up

It’s also important to make sure you follow up with new clients. I love sending a text message the next day thanking them for their visit and offering to answer any questions they might have. It’s an easy thing to do that adds another layer to that “wow” experience and helps us stand out from other salons.

Loyalty Points

One more great marketing strategy is loyalty points. Loyal customers spend 67% more on products and services than new customers, and a loyalty point system is a great way to reward and incentivize your existing customers for visiting you all year instead of someplace else. Currently, we offer four tiers of points. For example, for 1,000 points, the customer gets a free travel-sized deep-conditioning treatment. It costs us five dollars but it’s a great extra little thing that gets the customers excited. Plus, we can write it off as a business gift.

Cross-Promotion

Another area we’re always working on is cross-promoting, because if a client comes in for only one service, you’re missing an opportunity for them to take advantage of all the services you can provide. All it takes is having the right conversations during the guest service experience. As you’re doing their eyebrows, you can be talking about their lashes, their hair color, informing them about your full menu. Because the more that they can stay in-house spending their money and time with your salon, the less likely they’ll leave the salon to go somewhere else.

A great way to cross-promote is to do a salon tour, which is an easy segue into showing what else you offer. Know that cross-promotion takes teamwork on everybody’s part, keeping everything neat and organized, and maintaining a team mentality where everybody supports everybody.

The Guest Experience

Now let’s talk about the guest experience. See, guests value their experience more than they care about price. And there are so many ways to elevate the guest experience, which gives you a 42% higher chance to up-sell your services, 33% more chance to improve retention, and makes you 32% more likely to improve customer satisfaction.

So how do you elevate the guest experience? Cultivate your relationship with your clients. Listen more than you speak. Engage in conversations. If you’re not sure what to speak about, talk about what you know best: hair or lashes or whatever service you’re offering.

Offer thank you gifts. Recently, we did a customer appreciation promo where we sent every guest home with a homemade sugar scrub, which added an extra unexpected surprise they loved.

Write a thank you card or a birthday card. Offer services that center around what’s going on in their lives to show you’re listening and you care. For example, if you know somebody’s wedding is coming out, you can reach out to offer lash extensions or spray tans.

When a client changes things up, like trying a new hair color, for example, reach out to share your excitement and check in to make sure they’re happy with their results. It shows you sincerely care.

Rebooking

And last, but not least, make sure you’re rebooking your clients, which is one of the fastest ways to grow your books. I know there’s been a lot of controversy about this, but at least in the beginning, you need to be rebooking to provide convenience to your customers and ensure a predictable income for yourself.

Community Marketing

When I left to open up my own suite, what helped me most to rebuild my clientele was being present in the community. This can mean a lot of different things depending on your demographic, market, brand, and vision. For me, I would show up to weekly events to start building relationships with people. You can get involved with the city’s Chamber. Meet up with other local business people. Find where your target market shops and eats. Check out events. Be social. Put yourself out there.

Most importantly, get visible. You can host events in your own salon or open a pop-up bar someplace with a lot of foot traffic: anything that is going to allow you an opportunity to meet face to face with somebody. And when you do this, it’s not just about passing out a generic business card. Focus on building relationships. Have a real conversation, more about the other person than yourself. Listen and take an interest. The more consistent you are with getting out there in the community, the more clients will come in.

Online Marketing

Facebook Groups

One thing my team is great at is being all over Facebook groups, responding when - every day - people ask “Who does lashes? Who does spray tans? Who does facials?” Make sure your team knows to tag each other. That teamwork can help get your name out there. You can also get into Facebook groups to post pictures of your work.

Email and Text Marketing

It’s also crucial to get an email and text marketing strategy. We send out emails weekly to our customers that lead them to our blog, another great way to add value and educate your clientele. Plus, the more information you offer on your website, the better your SEO and the higher the chances you’ll be found on Google.

Text marketing is an even more valuable way to get in front of your existing clients, letting them know when you have last-minute openings, what promotions you have going on, and so on. There’s nothing more valuable to clients than to hear about these things straight from the stylist. You can even send voice messages to your top customers.

Social Media

Now, social media is a beast of its own. But one thing that many people are missing in the beginning is understanding who their target market is. On Instagram, you can look at your insights and see exactly who your demographic is, who is following you, and what age group they’re in. This can help you determine what type of images to post.

The key to social media is being consistent as well as searchable. Use hashtags relevant to who you serve and your area. Try to post photos that showcase your work that are striking enough to cause people to stop scrolling. Think about how to create those beautiful images. You can use the high-quality camera on your smartphone to take portraits of clients or models. Pay attention to details, making sure that the thing you’re showing off - hair, lashes, nails, whatever it may be - is what pops in the photo.

Make sure that your bio is clear and concise, explaining where you’re located, who you serve, and what your specialties are. Have a link to your bookings if you can. Everything should be as clear as possible because online users’ attention spans are shockingly short: it only takes 2.6 seconds for people to either stay or leave a page.

So think about what the “wow factor” will be on your page. I believe it’s through images. Even if you don’t have a big portfolio of your own yet, you can post other photos from Pinterest or stylists you admire and add a caption about how you find it inspiring. That way, your feed will be filled up from the very beginning. Just make sure that any time you post other people’s work, you give the proper credit. That way there are no hard feelings.

Online Reviews

And, of course, you have to be on Google and Yelp. Don’t be shy; make sure you consistently ask customers for reviews, as many people will find you just through Google or online reviews.

General Marketing Tips

There are plenty of clients out there; they just don’t know who you are, what you do, or if you’re the right fit for them. That’s where marketing comes into play. Especially because, for numerous reasons, we tend to lose about 10 to 25% of our clientele every year. So we have to have the right strategies in place to wow our existing guests in addition to attracting your ideal clientele into the salon.

The most important thing is to stay consistent. If you try it once and don’t get the instant results you’re looking for, it can be discouraging. But it takes time to build the momentum you need. And starting off with fewer clients isn’t a bad thing. It gives you the opportunity to maximize guest experience, hone in on your craft and skill, introduce them to other services you offer, and really establish your relationships.

 Another important tip is to always test and track the various marketing strategies you try out. When something isn’t working, don’t scrap it right away. Try to do some tweaking to improve it. With time, you’ll find what works for you.