5 Salon Marketing Strategies That (Actually) Work
I’ve been in this space for a while now. Helping salon owners step up their marketing game to attract more new clients.
The thing is, most business owners get excited about new cool marketing tactics.
They get started, study, post, send, film, edit, and spend money, but soon realize it was much harder to make it work than that guy or gal made it sound.
They stop.
Thinking they are failures, that they did something wrong.
But in reality, they didn’t. It’s just that marketing is hard. A lot of businesses and people want attention today. So to cut through, you need to be smarter about your marketing than other salons in your area.
I’ve found 5 principles that, if followed, make all the difference.
Let me walk you through what they are.
1. Picking activities that align with you
Shocker, I know.
What you enjoy doing matters.
For some reason, we tend to oversee this, thinking that just because another salon is killing it on TikTok, we must be doing it, too.
I’m not picking on TikTok. It’s good for many, but if you don’t feel like participating and contributing on the platform, don’t do it. The same goes for email marketing, Facebook ads, blogging, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Medium, etc. Don’t do it unless it resonates with you.
There are endless ways to market your business, and I know you can find ways that intuitively fit you and your team.
You are your business's biggest source of energy. Build what you do around that. Anything else is like sailing upwind—it’s hard.
Of course, the strategies we execute cannot only be based on what comes naturally to us and that we enjoy. You need to use channels and messages that resonate with your ideal clients, and that also makes sense for the business.
Finding harmony between the three is the key.
2. Find the reason you’re different
“John, I need more clients to fill the books. Can you review my Google ads and look at my website?”
I hear this all the time.
Even if many salon business coaches preach it, there is no “secret formula” for online ads. Nor is there a place on your website where moving your “book now” button would suddenly fill those gaps in the calendar.
In 95% of the cases, business owners are simply not giving a good enough reason for people to care about them.
Why they are different.
If you don’t give people a reason to care about you, you will only attract clients who come to you because: 1) they live very close, so it’s convenient; 2) you have a low price they like; or 3) it’s your mum.
To reach beyond that group, you must find that reason and start communicating it.
I’m not talking about a tagline or slogan but your bigger “why” which you bring to life in everything you do.
I refer to this as your salon’s vibe.
You already have a vibe.
But is it what you want it to be? And are you communicating it well enough?
Statistically (as in out-of-my-experience statistically), you are not.
I have so much to say on this that I had to create a full course that walks you through A-Z on building your brand.
Lesson 1 is embedded below, and you’ll find the rest on YouTube.
3. Make it part of your everyday
Let’s move into action and start running some real marketing.
The best place to start is with what you’re already doing. In the existing interactions with your clients.
This is where it starts. We cannot build a profitable business unless a high share of clients return to us. It just doesn’t work.
At the same time, the best form of new client marketing is the word of your clients.
This fuels everything.
From regular word-of-mouth to how the online algorithms judge if they should promote your business or not.
Yes, collecting reviews for your salon is important.
You must move all activities that improve the client experience from activities to habits. These things must happen in your team without constant supervision.
I wouldn’t take habits lightly, though. It requires persistence and supervision until habits are formed. But it’s like a spaceship. Significant energy is required for takeoff but almost nothing when in orbit.
Other than habits, you should also leverage systems and automation. This is big, and the right system can save you a lot of energy while also enhancing the experience clients have with you.
Check out my salon software top list here.
4. Infuse energy now
The fact that you’re reading this article and have made it all the way to point four tells me something about you.
You’re intelligent, and you like to learn about things you’re about to embark on. You want to ensure you have the knowledge to build the best version of your business.
I admire this.
These are powerful traits.
But also your biggest risk.
Intelligent, planning-oriented people tend to procrastinate more, wanting everything to be perfect and understood before making a move.
If you can relate, I want you to drop that fear of doing something wrong.
There isn’t such a thing.
We need to do to learn. It doesn’t matter how many blog articles you read or YouTube videos you watch, you need to start moving as well.
Here’s why.
I’m guessing you’re reading this because you have books to fill. So let’s get moving on solving at least part of that problem.
Getting some early results will also give you the energy to keep going.
Doing is also the best way to learn and to really understand what strategies align with you and your business goals.
So, let’s not get too strategic here. Create a campaign with a goal that makes sense for your business's current state and activate it using whatever channels you already have.
Some ideas on channels:
- Your team: The personal interactions that are taking place with your clients are the most powerful ones
- Your client email/phone list: Send your campaign out using the lists you have
- Social: Post on the social platforms where you have a presence today
- Paid ads: Google and Facebook/ Instagram are the most common alternatives, but there are more. This is the most powerful way to get your campaign out there, particularly if you haven’t built any other strong channels yet. But there’s also a learning curve, so you may want to consider hiring someone to help.
If you want to explore more, here’s a webinar on ads I did with Jessica (a true Google Ads expert).
5. Let it work while you sleep
Eventually, we want to reach a place where we don’t need to rely on new campaigns and activities to attract clients.
Your marketing should attract new clients even when you’re not paying attention.
This requires strategic work—things we do consistently today that will serve us for years.
You will not see the same immediate result as with the campaigns discussed in part four earlier. However, balancing long-term vs. short-term activities is important. Your business needs both.
Examples of “always-on” marketing activities that you can invest in today are:
- A website that is optimized for search engines
- Investing in good systems to automate parts of your business — including SMS and email marketing for salon clients
- Regularly collecting client reviews on your Google profile
- Make sure your business is listed in all relevant places online
There’s more, but that should be enough to get you started :)
Your next steps
My goal with these five steps is to give you a new perspective on your salon’s marketing strategy.
It’s the same 5 steps I use when helping salon owners build their businesses.
I call this framework AVICA:
- Alignment
- Vibe
- In-Salon Habits
- Campaigns
- Always on
If you want to learn more about AVICA and access free training that explains it in depth, I recommend you download my business guide and join our community at TheSalonBusiness.com.
