By Rob Kotevski July 9 2009
Salon marketing can be a fickle beast, but now comes a way to tame it. It's possible to keep your cool and keep your business at the same time.
Marketing can sometimes be a minefield at the best of times. During uncertain economic times, salons need to work even smarter to remain profitable in the twenty-first century.
Speaking at the winter hair trends seminar, Goldwell’s Natalie Defreitas told hairdressing salon owners how they could make their way through the brave new world, ensure their salon stood out from any competition and make the Internet work for them.
24/7 salons
With a wealth of information at their fingertips, consumers know they can access instant information to almost anything. Clients now want access to brands twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and the Internet is driving this change. It is crucial to the survival of a salon for it to have an online strategy, in some capacity at least.
At the very least, the salon should have its own website with easy to find contact details and operating hours. This should be but one aspect of a hair salon’s online presence. A forum or discussion board on a salon’s website allows readers direct contact with salon owners. It is important for salon owners to become part of the dialogue surrounding and regarding their salon.
If managers decide against a forum page, ensure there is a feedback function that allows enquiries to go directly to the salon. Try Googling your salon and the cutters and colourists working with you and see where their names pop up in conversations across the World Wide Web.
Hair stylists and salon owners should consider allowing clients make bookings online as studies show the majority of bookings are made online, after hours. Forward-thinking salons also have a price list on the site. Why not consider a voucher system where clients can print off vouchers and redeem them in your salon?
It is much cheaper to retain an existing client than it is to go and find a new one. Clients will spend thank to emotional connections and the relationships they have with businesses.
Facebook can be a useful marketing tool, and some salons are embracing social networking sites even further and becoming a part of the Twitter phenomenon.
For those new to the concept, Twitter can be thought of as a quicker, simpler and more streamlined version of Facebook. Twitter users regularly update their profile page answering a simple question: What are you doing now?
Individuals, companies, celebrities and even politicians have all joined Twitter and it is easy to follow and be followed in order to expand one’s number of ‘followers’. Twitter has proven to be a great marketing tool, as it allows business owners direct and instant contact with readers in a medium even faster than email. Twitter can become a great way to inform current and potential clients about news or special offers from your salon.
The N Word
There is much to be said for increasing the number of visitors to a salon the old-fashioned way in the real world. Networking is just a fancy way of saying striking up a conversation with someone else. They may or may not be someone you have dealt with in the past. Consider talking to your friends, family, nearby retailers and even suppliers.
Some salons have introduced VIP nights where they invite selected members of their social circle to the salon on an evening where it would normally be closed to the public. This will allow the guests to receive the VIP treatment, with discounted hair treatments and a sample of some hair products stocked in your salon. Remember that the most effective form of marketing is word-of-mouth.
Windows isn’t just a program for your PC
It has been said that windows are the eyes to the soul. Salon owners need to realise that for passers-by of any business, the front window can be a picture that is worth a thousand words.
You don’t need a lot of money or a complete salon refurbishment to keep the salon constantly changing. Update visual merchandising in your front window regularly. Make use of seasonal celebrations to tailor your message throughout the year. Changing visual merchandising regularly will give the front of your salon new energy and spark curiousity in pedestrians walking by – hopefully they will be interested enough to come inside.
The relationships you really need
It is much cheaper to retain an existing client than it is to go and find new a new one.
Acknowledge and reward loyalty with a loyalty scheme tailor-made for your salon. Have your client book their next appointment before they leave the salon after their cut. Clients will spend thanks to emotional connections and relationships. Get to know your client and the local community.
Read about more salon tips from the hairdressing industry.