Coming up with new and fresh ways to market your salon is a never-ending process. You’ll need to get creative and stay on your game to attract new people as well as keep the interest of current clients. If you’ve run dry on ways to promote your business, we’ve come up with these easy salon marketing ideas:
Salon Marketing Idea 1: Get Creative with Salon Promotions and Competitions
People love to win free stuff! So, put your salon advertising hat on. Come up with a fun contest and promote it on social media, in your salon, and through your newsletter. Hair salon specials are also a great place to start.
Salon Promotion Ideas and Examples:
- Give away a free haircut for the client with the most referrals
- Boost client rewards points for shout-outs on social
- Share a gift card for the highest number of new social followers, or to sign up for your newsletter
- Hold a randomized drawing for a gift set of products
Just remember that the more valuable the reward, the more likely you’ll have engagement from your clients.
Salon Marketing Idea 2: Create a Client Appreciation Event
Host a client event every once in a while to let them know just how much they mean to your business. It could be a cocktail party, after-work get-together, a formal event, or even just a simple watch party. Just make an effort to provide proper thanks for their ongoing support.
Looking for salon event ideas? Consider some of these ideas:
- 3 Steps to Successful Salon Events
- How to Throw Great Salon Parties
- Salon Tip: Host a Client Appreciation Party
Salon Marketing Idea 3: Partner with Charities
Partner with a local chapter of a national charity. Either get involved in one of their events or create your own fundraising event for them. A cut-a-thon, walk-a-thon or pledge drive are really great places to start.
Such involvement shows your salon clients that you care.
Salon Marketing Idea 4: Network at Local Events
Salon marketing ideas can go beyond advertisements and promotions. In fact, there are many opportunities to network in your community. Consider joining the local chamber of commerce in your town, community groups, and other networking groups.
Outside of broad events, consider researching local salon events and gatherings in your area. These are a great place to generate new ideas and perspectives through industry networking.
All are opportunities to get to know people, hand out business cards, and spread the word about your salon business. Make it a habit to attend events and possibly even become part of a panel or committee.
Salon Marketing Idea 5: Get Involved in Your Community
It speaks volumes when a small business owner takes the time to get involved in their community – so step up.
Participate in local functions, charity events, and fundraisers by donating your time as much as possible in order to gain exposure.
Shelters for women, veterans, and the homeless are great places to start. Also, consider career drives at local schools, work programs, and refurbishment projects in your town.
Salon Marketing Idea 6: Teach a Class or Workshop
Offering a class or workshop is an excellent addition to your list of salon marketing ideas. It’s also another worthy endeavor for your shop’s image.
You could teach in your salon or partner with local colleges, community centers, or other venues to offer beauty or grooming related classes or workshops.
Hair Class/Workshop Ideas:
- A braiding or easy up-do class for at-home styling
- Single father workshops to show caretaker dads how to care for and style their little girl’s hair
- A shaving and grooming class for younger teenage boys
Salon Marketing Idea 7: Produce Specialty Events
Have specialists in updos, braiding, formal hairstyling, and makeup? Look into participating in local bridal expos. These are highly targeted events that could generate a lot of traffic past your booth and into your salon chair for a one-time event.
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Salon Marketing Idea 8: Give Away Salon Promotional Items
People love freebies. So, why not consider customizing a few high-use items? A few easy salon marketing ideas include ordering branded keychains, pens, mousepads, coffee mugs, or other promotional items. That way, people will think of your beauty business when they use the items.
Salon Marketing Idea 9: Ask for Salon Reviews
Many consumers search for reviews online before they try a new product or service. Salons are certainly no different, especially since it involves so much interaction with people. What’s more, according to Invesp, customers are willing to spend 31percent more on a business with excellent reviews.
Set aside the time to ask your happiest clients about creating a review through popular platforms like Yelp, Google Reviews, and Facebook, to name a few.
Salon marketing can be a lot of trial and error, but nothing has proven to be more valuable than word of mouth referrals and online reviews.
Salon Marketing Idea 10: Get Social
We can’t talk about salon marketing ideas without mentioning social media. With nearly half of the world’s population using social media platforms, they’re a natural place to reach new customers or engage existing ones. According to Pew Research Center, most social media users log into their accounts at least once per day and many people are checking social multiple times per day.
According to Hootsuite, 60 percent of Instagram users say they discover new products on the platform. Sherpa Marketing found that more people follow brands on social media than follow celebrities. On Instagram alone, 80 percent of people follow at least one business.
Step up your efforts on social media by posting your work to your salon’s Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and Pinterest whenever possible. Set aside some time to engage with your followers. Also, provide expert advice with quick tips, detailed tutorials, product and tool use videos, giveaways, etc., through your various social media channels. Keep up your efforts in order to maintain engagement.
Salon Marketing Idea 11: Make Video Content
There are many ways to market a salon, but maybe none better right now than video. With a host of video platforms at the ready, it’s actually quite easy to create and post your own content. You can even just use your phone and post your videos on YouTube or Vimeo and share it on your various social channels. There are even some great video apps just for creating and editing video content for social media.
For salons, create a series of how-to videos that will help your clients style their hair at home. For spas, consider the idea of proper cleansing or exfoliating, or some other skincare process. The ideas for a beauty business are simply endless.
Here are some great ideas for other types of videos that you can make.
For those looking to go a step further, here’s some expert advice on equipment.
Salon Marketing Idea 12: Blog All About it
Blogging is a great way to generate interest in your salon. According to an article on Blog Hubspot, blogs can help drive traffic to your website, can convert into leads, help establish your authority, and can drive long term results.
To take advantage of this powerful medium, set up a blog section on your salon’s website. Next, take some time to write quality content that appeals to your clients.
Salon Blog Ideas:
- Offer beauty advice
- List and advise on hair styling ideas
- Provide makeup tutorials
- Cover skincare tips and best practices
- Recommend helpful hair products and tools
Don’t forget to look into best SEO practices. This way, your content has a better chance to rank on search engines like Google. By doing that, you’ll gain credibility (and potential new hair clients) through your posts.
Salon Marketing Idea 13: Set up a Selfie Station
One of our favorite salon marketing ideas is to set up a selfie station.
To create the perfect setting for your selfie area, locate a patch of neutral wall, or use a pop-up background. You can also design a personalized background with your salon logo, social media handle, and/or hashtag.
Whatever you decide to use, make your selfie station a fun experience for your clients. That way, they’ll want to take a few snaps before they leave the salon. After all, it’s when they look (and feel) their best that they’re willing to share.
Be sure to ask clients to tag you and your salon in posts. You may just get a quick testimonial for your efforts. If your salon has a rewards system in place, consider awarding points for each tagged post shared.
Salon Marketing Idea 14: Stay On-Trend
Being in the beauty business, you should play your part. Your hair and makeup should always be on-point. Also, your wardrobe should be appropriate for your salon environment. Remember that clients look to you for advice on such matters. They won’t take you seriously if you don’t meet expectations.
To keep your look up to date, make subtle changes often. If your clients see your look evolve, they are more likely to as well.
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Salon Marketing Idea 15: Set Trends
Your hair clients want to know the next trend, so why not be the inspiration?
Create new hairstyles and take some pictures (that selfie station will work out just fine) that you can use for various needs. You can just keep it simple, using a client, friend, your salon receptionist or another hairstylist. Changes in hair color and makeovers are always popular when it comes to hair images. Just keep the looks wearable and make it easy for people to know what to ask for the next time they’re in the salon.
To be memorable, name your hairstyles/trend something fun and catchy. Maybe create a hashtag with it. Flaunt your new trend on social media, your blog, and your salon newsletters and e-blasts.
Salon Marketing Idea 16: Hire a Pro to Help with Salon Promotions
Want to take your salon’s promotions up a notch? Consider hiring a professional photographer and creating a unique collection of work that you can use for various purposes. Just think how great your advertising will look when a pro is involved. A seasoned beauty photographer can also give your work credibility with imagery worthy of publication in hair or beauty related publications or possibly entering any number of industry competitions.
Here are some photoshoot articles to help in the process:
- Engaging Your Team with In-Salon Photo Shoots
- Get your Team Together and Shoot
- 4 Top Beauty Photographers Share Photo Shoot Tips
Salon Marketing Idea 17: Generate Publicity
Make an effort to follow the work of local journalists and get to know them if possible.
After introducing yourself, invite them into your salon for a complimentary service. When you do meet with them, politely ask if they would consider a story about you, your staff, and/or your salon.
Keep in mind that there needs to be something newsworthy for them to write about. They might be interested in your personal story or how your hairdresser team participates in fundraisers and trends.
Perhaps they could be interested in skincare advice, hair styling tips, makeup tutorials, etc.
Salon Marketing Idea 18: Get Local Representation
If you’re too busy to generate your own publicity, hire a local PR professional to drum up additional salon marketing ideas. That way, they can work in the background as you run your shop. They would come up with story ideas, write pitches, and follow up with local media to land published work.
Salon Marketing Idea 19: Advertise Locally
There’s no question that advertising your salon locally is a necessity in some fashion or another.
Why?
Because not only is your competition likely doing it, but you also need to reach new customers, generate traffic, and strengthen your image. It also doesn’t hurt to make sure you’re more known in your market.
There are many ways to promote your salon. Consider local newspapers, magazines, and other print publications. You can also ask for a listing and/or advertise on their websites.
For added coverage, ask to write an article using your expertise for their blog. Ask for a link back to your website in exchange. You can also get involved with local events such as sporting events, concerts, fashions shows, and even fundraisers. Look into advertising in their event programs or with signage at the event itself.
Salon Marketing Idea 20: Use Automated Email Marketing
Are you using email for salon communications? If not, now’s a great time to start sending automated email greetings to your clients.
Salon Email Marketing Examples:
- Thanks to a new client
- Happy birthday greetings (without having to check the calendar)
- Client reminders when they haven’t been in for a hair appointment in awhile
- Reminders about hair product inventory
All of this is designed to make your salon clients feel special and provide great customer service.
The beauty with automated emails is that they can be set up in advance and automatically run. This means that you don’t have to dedicate time or ask a staff member to do it. This becomes much easier if you have salon management software to help automate the process.
Salon Marketing Idea 21: Send Promotional Emails
To send your salon clients promotions, use a mass email program with templates to make the process easy.
Tell shop clients about your salon’s new hair products, any upcoming salon promotions, or other exclusive deals. Be mindful not to send emails too often, or you may lose their trust.
Salon Marketing Idea 22: Generate Regular Communications
Send email newsletters or promotional e-blasts to your clients at least once a month. Just keep it up at regular intervals.
In your communications, offer hair styling tips, trends, and advice. Other news about your salon or your hairdresser services will also work. However, it’s essential to keep your content as informative as possible (versus overly promotional).
Salon Marketing Idea 23: Use Text Message Marketing
One of the hottest items showing up on any salon marketing ideas list has to be text message marketing.
There are several ways to communicate with your clients, but nothing has a better open rate than text message marketing. According to an article in Business2Community: “SMS text messages have a phenomenal open rate of 98%. No other marketing tool can offer a similar rate, making SMS Marketing one of the most effective ways to get your message to your customer. In contrast, email marketing reports a 22% open rate; this significantly reduces your chance of success.”
With Text Message Marketing, it’s easy to set up a campaign for each season, holiday, special event, or promotion. You can also use it to help fill cancelations or make product recommendations to bolster your retail sales. Or, better yet, use texting just to say thank you for being a great client… because a little gratitude really does go a long way!
Salon Marketing Idea 24: Produce Print Pieces
Occasionally, the only way to reach some people is by printing promotional material. In such cases, consider creating brochures for your salon or a menu of your hair services. You can also design postcards to help promote your business or showcase a recent trend, upcoming event, or an individual promotion. You can send by regular postal means when appropriate, but also consider leaving a stack of postcards or brochures at your front desk for anyone who wants one.
Brochures and postcards are used to generate interest outside of your beauty business. We recommend carrying a stack of your salon’s printed material when you venture out and share when you feel it’s appropriate.
Also, consider asking other local businesses for permission to leave a stack behind or to post one on a public bulletin board. A smart business owner will deduce that supporting your business will lead to you supporting theirs.
Salon Marketing Idea 25: Need Help with Salon Marketing Ideas?
Don’t have time to market your salon? Consider hiring a professional to step up and handle your salon marketing for you.
They would brainstorm and pitch ideas and then work to make them come to life. Most marketing professionals can help with copy for blog posts, plan and deploy your social media efforts, even research and buy ad space as needed. And, most have great contacts for designers, videographers, photographers, and other professionals that can help take your salon to the next level.
Regardless of which tactics you choose to use, the key to successful salon marketing is diligence and consistency. So, get creative, think long-term, and even get help if needed – just be sure to keep at it!
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Imagery courtesy Unsplash • Photos by Kelsey Chance, Allie, Toa Heftiba, You X Ventures, Shari Sirotnak, Matthias Blonski, Cesar Saravia, and Aw Creative.
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