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Think Outside The Box — A Guide to Unique Salon Strategies

Women visit beauty salons on a monthly basis to feel and look good. While some women take out the time to visit salons to maintain their hair, skin, and nails, others enjoy the relaxing treatments and ‘me time’ they provide. According to SBDCNet, $20 billion are spent every year on salon treatments. The target market for salons and spas is women between the ages of 35 and 64.

There are high-end salons that charge premium pricing and offer top-of-the-line products and lower-end ones that offer more affordable treatments and services. What they all have in common is active marketing strategies.

Every salon wants to increase its client base. They all want to earn more revenue and earn a good reputation for themselves. Unfortunately, just providing services won’t do the trick. Salons much actively try to market their services and treatments to become popular.

Here are some of the most innovative marketing strategies that will help set your salon apart from the crowd:

Don’t ‘Follow the Leader

While most market players follow their competitor’s strategies, playing follow the leader isn’t a great option if you want to reach the top. Often, competitors undertake research and analyze their business to figure out a way to best represent themselves to their target audience. They hit on a nerve with their audience, which catches their attention.

Copying another salon’s USP won’t go down well in the industry, nor with your clients.

Instead, focus on setting your business apart from your competition. Take Uber for example; they offered an alternative taxi service to consumers. They provided convenience and greater control to their passengers, which caught everyone’s interest.

Analyze the success of your salon: what are you best known for? Which service contributes to your profits the most? What do your clients love? These questions will help shape your unique selling point to customers.

Shape your marketing strategy around those factors and your business will surely be a success!

Dare to be different

Generally, in the beauty industry, there are very few trendsetters. An individual/business begins a certain hair and beauty trend and it goes viral. The increased demand for ‘trends’ leads to other salons offering such services. At the end of the day, most salons are offering the same services, making it difficult for customers to differentiate between them.

In order to attract business towards your salon, you need to be different. How about having a 24-hour nail salon? Most women these days have acrylics or gel nails. Traditional “at-home nail polish” is a thing of the past. With how fast-paced our lives are these days, many women can’t make it to salons during their 9 to 6 hours to do their nails.

Another unique strategy could be to ditch the mirrors. Women who visit a hair salon frequently know how boring it is to get their roots done or to get some more highlights put in. Some women admit to feeling upset when sitting in front of a mirror for multiple hours. They can’t help but notice their ‘flaws.’

Considering the fact that clients only need to see the final product of a hair dye job, why don’t you consider removing the mirrors and having a more interactive setup?

Increase your social media following

The internet is everything today. We use it to look up symptoms, directions, and even the person we are going on a date with. Use this to your advantage when it comes to your beauty salon.

Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter have millions of people signed up. Using these platforms to promote your business is one of the most lucrative marketing strategies you can adopt.

Don’t just make an account on these platforms and expect magic to happen! You need to work actively to see your following grow and your business too. Advertise a special discount for your social media account followers. They will be encouraged to follow your page and you will have a bigger audience to market new deals to.

In addition to that, you could get your clients to post a ‘check-in’ or selfie for a free service. Who doesn’t love a free manicure or neck massage, right?

Introduce unique deals

Women love having spa days, which is why spa and salon gift cards are such a popular gift for birthdays and Christmas. While gift cards are a great way to make a good first impression on clients, offer group services too. This way an entire group of friends can get services done together on special occasions like birthdays. The ‘birthday group’ can have their mani-pedis done together while enjoying some refreshments.

Another great way to attract ladies to your salon is by offering flash deals. Introduce a jaw-dropping discount on a particular service every once in a while. This will encourage many customers to visit your salon that very day. Most of us love catching a good discount, so offer a 50% off on, let’s say, HD brows and inform all clients via social media. Your salon will be busy within no time.

One thing you must keep in mind when offering flash deals and discounts is that you must deliver. It’s your golden opportunity to make a good impression with your customers, don’t drive them away by being lackluster or unorganized. If you’re taking on the responsibility of such a deal, you must be able to handle the pressure of a busy salon.

 Invite influencers and bloggers

Depending on the salon you run, you can invite local bloggers to check out the services you offer. You could ask them to review their salon in place of complimentary services. You could opt to pay them a fee for their review, but that would be less authentic and believable to their audience. Make sure they mention the fact that your salon hasn’t sponsored their words, but that it was left to their own opinion. Provide influencers with a discount code so that their followers would be encouraged to try out your salon too!

Looking for more advice on making your salon a success? We, at Salon Income Booster, cater to businesses and help them increase hair and beauty salons income and salon retail merchandise for optimum growth. We provide everything from marketing strategies to income generation, we provide end-to-end solutions to all salons.

We also assist new businesses in the industry with their investment plans by offering consultation.