In this 6-minute read:
- Creative and effective ideas to market your hair salon
Marketing, advertising, promoting–whatever you want to call it, you need to do something to get your hair salon’s name out there. It’s awesome that you opened a hair salon, but now it’s time to think outside the box to make sure that you can get new clients.
These hair salon promotion ideas can help you grow your customer base.
With Womply Email Marketing, you can turn customers into regulars and get more repeat business with targeted emails that send automatically when customers transact with you. Learn more, plus get free reputation monitoring and customer insights when you sign up for Womply Free!
1. Create a website for your hair salon
Every business should have a website. This can (and should) be the hub of all your digital marketing activity. If you create any online ads, you’ll want them to point back to your website. If you write a blog or have a portfolio for your work, post them on your website first before sharing.
Your website is the place to list your prices, contact information, and really drive new clients down the funnel to ultimately schedule an appointment with you.
If you’re not sure how to get started, check out this article: 5 best DIY websites for small businesses on a budget
Plus, here’s a great article to help you design and build an effective website for your salon.
2. Create online directory listings for your salon
For most services, especially salon and beauty services, customers are looking for online reviews to point them to the best in the business. But before you can start getting those reviews, you need to set up the listings where you can get them.
A few good places to start are Google My Business, Facebook, and Yelp. These are platforms that can also show up in search results on Google or Bing when a customer is looking for salon services.
You can treat your online listings as additional opportunities to book new appointments too. Customers can contact you through your online listings if you optimize them with your contact information and services. Be sure to include photos of your work on these platforms too. If you can convince them to call you before every landing on your website, that’s a huge success!
Go deeper: 24 free listings sites your hair or nail salon should be on
3. Get regular online reviews for your hair salon
After you have your directory listings set up, you can start receiving online reviews from your customers. This is a great way for your customers to help promote your salon.
You do need to be careful about asking for online reviews. It’s against most review platforms’ policies to solicit positive reviews; so no prize raffles or incentives should be given for reviews. But you can provide encouragement to get some feedback from your customers about their experience.
- Ask customers how their visit went
- Strategically place official signs throughout your salon that say “we’re on Yelp” or “Review us on Google”
- Use reputation management software to remind customers via text or email that you appreciate their online feedback
Learn more: How to respond to reviews
Go deeper: How to get more reviews for your hair salon
4. Engage in local SEO (search engine optimization)
If you’re smart, you know that today’s customers search online for local businesses like hair salons. It’s the first place they look.
Local SEO is how you get your website or business listings to show up at the top of Google’s local search results. It can take a long time to get there, but in the long run, it will be worth your efforts. By the time you are showing up at the top of the results, you’ll be getting regular organic leads and may even be able to cut back on other paid methods of advertising.
Here are some resources you can use to get started:
- 10 free SEO auditing tools: Why and how to use them
- Local SEO services: What every small business owner needs to know
- Local SEO: 15 free tips for better search rankings
5. Get your hair salon involved in social media marketing
Social media is a huge marketing channel that beauty services like your hair salon need to take advantage of. More and more frequently, customers are contacting stylists directly from their Facebook or Instagram profiles.
A reason for this is that these platforms are very visual and great for showing off your work. When someone is looking for a new hair stylist, they want to know that you can create the look that they want. They are looking for proof of that in your photos.
You can also engage with customers via Facebook Live or Instagram Stories and get them even more involved with your business.
A few ways to get the most out of your social media marketing:
- Post all of your contact information on your profiles: business name, address, phone number, email, website, etc.
- Share photos of your work regularly
- Have contests or giveaways every now and then to help increase your following
- Provide a place at your salon where customers can take cute photos of their new look and encourage them to tag your salon on social media
You might be interested in: The complete guide to Facebook marketing for small businesses
Go deeper: Why every local business needs to be on Instagram
6. Create partnerships with other local businesses
Partner with other related businesses in your community. Dress shops, florists, and event venues are a great place to start.
Find some community partners like these that you can set mutually beneficial relationships. You can refer customers to one another and even provide discounts if they use a referral code that you sent them (and vice versa).
Share your partner’s brochures and business cards with your customers and ask them to do the same.
7. Set up a loyalty program
Once someone finds a hair stylist they love, they are usually in for life. But another way that you can encourage repeat customers or promote your other salon services is to set up a loyalty program.
You can create a real-life or virtual punch card or even subscribe to an online loyalty program service that gives your customer a discount after they’ve spent $100 or had three appointments with you (or whatever parameters you decide).
Learn more: The 6 elements of an effective customer loyalty program
8. Host events at your salon
Hosting events is a great way outside of traditional marketing to promote your salon.
You can hold events with community partners, like a wedding vendor party, for brides-to-be to plan for their wedding. Or you could have educational parties where you teach individuals about hair health and care.
You can even turn these events into virtual events if you don’t have the space or if circumstances don’t allow for in-person events.
Share news of your events on your social media channels and website to get new people to come check out your business.
9. Don’t forget about email marketing for your hair salon
Email marketing is still an effective promotion technique… in fact, it has the highest ROI of any marketing method. It’s good way to share some of the items we’ve already talked about, like loyalty program discounts and events.
You can also use email marketing to check in with your customers, notify them of special sales or events, and provide helpful tips. Not every email has to ask for an appointment.
Check this out: Top 10 best practices for small business email marketing
Read more: Why email marketing should be your top priority this year
If you need additional help with email marketing, Womply has a great solution for you. Our automated email marketing engine can help you schedule out messages that are carefully crafted for your customers and build relationships with them that will last a lifetime.
Learn more, plus get free reputation monitoring and customer insights when you sign up for Womply Free!