According to the Royal Mail’s Address Management Unit, more beauty salons opened on UK high streets last year than any other type of independent business.
Indeed, this booming industry (estimated to be worth £1.92bn) saw as many as 626 new beauty and grooming salons set up shop - a net increase of 10 per cent on 2016.
And this growth shows no signs of abating; in fact, experts forecast that the beauty market will continue to grow by 21.1 per cent over the next five years. But for all the positive signs of the sector’s growth, there are some drawbacks: namely an ultra-competitive and over-saturated market. What this means is that, if you too are looking to take a slice of the proverbial pie, you will need to devise a robust marketing strategy.
One way you can do this is by incorporating several tried and tested techniques into your beauty salon business plan. Here’s how to get started.
Build a website
Building an attractive and easy-to-use website should be a priority in any beauty salon marketing plan. To prospective customers, your website is your digital shopfront: a window into your offering and a means of legitimising your business. Your website must also be easy to navigate and provide useful information, such as services, prices, details about your business, and contact information.
Having a website also means you could appear in search engine results for related queries, such as ‘beauty salon near me.’ This extra traffic should hopefully translate into further sales.
Reach out via email
Email marketing is a great way to retarget those who have visited your salon, or who have visited your website in the past. Providing a customer has consented to you sending marketing emails, this medium is a great way to promote any deals you run or any changes to your business. One way to support this is by collating email addresses from previous and prospective clients via a subscription facility on your website.
In doing so, ensure your subject line includes eye-catching words, such as “limited availability” or “last chance deals”, which will encourage readers to click. Email marketing platforms, such as MailChimp, are particularly useful for managing email lists and establishing target audiences.
Build a social following
Social media is essential for brand building. There are currently 50 million businesses using Facebook Pages and more than 25 million using Instagram to connect with their customers. It is, therefore, not surprising that around 92 per cent of businesses agree that social media is important to the promotion of their brand.
As such, your salon marketing plan should initially focus on the two most visual social platforms: Facebook and Instagram. Each has its own idiosyncrasies and benefits: Facebook, for instance, is a great platform for reaching large audiences, targeting demographics with paid advertisements, and posting links to areas of your website. Instagram, on the other hand, shows off your products and services in a visual-only environment. Instagram is exceedingly popular with younger audiences and has a per-follower engagement rate of 4.21 per cent (58 times higher than Facebook).
Create video content
One of the most effective ways to showcase your beauty services online is via video. Prospective customers will be keen to use businesses who are experts in their field and can turn out professional work. Video allows you to display your best work and convert sceptical customers.
Try using YouTube to engage your online audience: create beauty tutorials, highlight your services, and ask your established customer base to create testimonial videos. You can then promote these videos via your other social pages.
Build consumer trust with reviews
With ample choice in the beauty market, you will need to prove that you are a credible, authoritative and professional outfit. In the online world, this can be tough, as consumers are unlikely to have yet met you or your staff.
A trusted review site will help you to cut through the noise. Yelp and Trust Pilot are two of the most popular online, and can often change the way a customer perceives your brand. Responding to customer queries and acknowledging reviews – both good and bad – are essential to building rapport with customers.
Once you have your beauty salon marketing plan in place, the next step is to get your business insured. This will help to protect your greatest assets against unforeseen events, such as accidents, theft and property damage. With Premierline’s beauty insurance, you can rest easy knowing your business is protected.
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