Salon Marketing Hacks You Can't Ignore in 2021

It's a great time to be a salon business owner. If you're offering a range of services for hair, nails, skin, and body treatments, then you'll find this is a profitable market to be in.

In 2018, salons generated $5.24 billion in revenue.

Photo by Statisa 

The problem is there's a ton of competition to contend with. There are nearly one million (967,013 to be exact) hair salons in the US as of 2020. And there's an expected 8% growth between now and the end of the year.

Photo by IBIS World

How do you make your salon stand out in your locale?

The answer lies with your salon marketing techniques. So we're going to show you what you can do to attract the new generation of consumers (the digital natives).

Let's dive in!

Build Up Social Proof for Your Salon

The internet is the new phonebook, which means everyone's using it to find a beautician. But they're not as quick to pick the first salon they find.

Instead, they're looking at the reviews associated with the business before making a decision. This makes it critical to have your Google My Business listing claimed and optimized for search.

Then to ensure prospective clients are impressed, you can ask your clients to leave you ratings and reviews.

With high ratings and positive feedback, you can increase the position of your listing to the top 10 or even the top 3.

By implementing this salon marketing tactic, you can grow your visibility and increase foot traffic to your salon.

Be Active On Social Media

Social media is life -- or so it seems for the younger generations. Many of them are spending hours on these platforms each day.

YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook continue to be the top three platforms for American adults.

Photo by PEW Research Center

You can use these platforms to showcase your cosmetology skills. For example, you can post images of your clients before-and-afters on Facebook and Instagram.

Then if you decide to start a YouTube channel, you can show your stylists in action. But don't just use it to gloat and promote -- make sure you're offering insights and helpful information.

For instance, how to maintain your hairstyle at home or how to properly wash and condition your hair. Offering reviews for certain products can also build authority for your salon.

Create a Loyalty Program (Yes, These Still Work)

Having a loyalty program offers a win-win scenario for your salon and its clientele.

Consumers join loyalty programs because they want two things:

Savings and rewards.

You can accommodate this by offering incentives for return customers. For example, a discount for their third and fifth salon service. Then after they get their 10th service, they get a free service of lesser value.

This helps your salon to retain more clients and get them returning regularly, which adds money to your bottom line. Just a 5% increase in customer loyalty can boost your profits by 25% to 100%!

Just make sure they're able to track their rewards digitally (via an app).

Host Timely Promotions

Various events occur throughout the year that calls for a new hairdo:

• Back to school (kids and college students)
• Holidays (turkey day, X-mas, V-day, etc.)
• Weddings (spring, winter, autumn, summer)
• Birthdays (collect this data from clients)

Now, you can capitalize on this by personalizing your promotions. You can do this with the help of a CRM, which can be used to collect information about your clients.

You can then send out b-day promotions a week or so in advance (be sure to include a coupon). And if you have eyes and ears on social media, you can learn things about your clients like an upcoming anniversary or wedding ceremony.

But even if you don't have this intel, people are getting married throughout the year. So at the start of each season, offer deals for spring weddings, winter weddings, etc. Include styles that are popular for weddings of that season.

Allow Your Clients to Pay Online

Convenience is everything to the upcoming generation that's accustomed to instant gratification. This means going completely digital with your business model.

We practically live in a cashless society as it is. So why not support it?

If you're not already accepting payments online, then now's an excellent time to do so. You can use tools like contactless payment to set it all up and handle the processing of transactions.

You'll be able to accept plastic and mobile wallet payments seamlessly.

Add a Selfie Booth to Your Salon

Now, here's a salon marketing trick that can earn you some points with the younger crowd. We all know how this group enjoys taking selfies, so why not accommodate them with a privacy booth to do just that?

You can make the booth unique with a nice backdrop (or mirror) that's tagged with your salon's name. This is free advertising for you -- folks on social media will see the beautiful hairstyle and the salon name right behind them.

You can also count on your clients geo-tagging their photos (since they do this just about all of the pics they post anyway). This will make it even easier for people to find your business, so make sure you have your social media pages all set up!

Take a Next-Gen Approach to Your Salon Marketing

What's worked for salons years ago isn't going to guarantee you success in 2021 and beyond. The buying power is shifting to younger customers, which means you'll need to use effective marketing solutions.

You can forget about traditional marketing methods:

• Radio (It's all about streaming your own playlists)
• TV (Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube are the new television)
• Fliers (Who checks the mail anymore?)
• Newspapers (What's that?)

Instead, you can use these salon marketing hacks to prepare your business for the future.

If you're ready to future-proof your salon, then start with going digital for your payment processing. Check out GoSite Payments to see how simple it is!