Supriya PorwalIt is a short story of an entrepreneur who has recently set up a salon. His staff is very talented and customer-friendly. He spent bundles on starting a salon business right from leasing the real estate and hiring the staff to the registration and buying equipment. Sadly, after pouring in hard-earned dollars, efforts, and resources, they fail to attract customers to the salon.
We all know that no customers mean no business, and soon, he has to shut the salon business down. He was very puzzled as to what to do and what not. He comes up with an idea to explore intelligent tactics digitally. He typed a query on Google- How to earn more clients in my beauty salon.
Not to surprise, but he got 5, 44,000,000 results.
It was overwhelming!
Now, things have become more difficult for him. He was looking for an action plan and come up with endless tips, which are impossible to implement in reality.
Well, this is a common story of nearly every start-up and existing salon businesses in 2020. The new players are finding- attracting the customers is a hard nut to crack in, and the existing salons are experiencing- the loyal customers are disappearing quickly.
Moreover, post-COVID outbreak, the woes of salon businesses are deepening. Don’t fret! Realizing the need for actionable ideas in salon businesses, we have summarized the seven surefire ways that help you make potential customers step inside the salon.
Let’s dive in!
Target audience with help of salon mobile app
Every customer who is walking to the salon is not necessarily the ideal customer for the salon. It means salon businesses should invest time and effort in reaching out to the customers who are looking for the services that the salon provides; stay nearby location; can pay for the services.
Targeting the right customers at the right time helps the salon in earning the customer who stays loyal, willingly book the services, and spread good word of mouth, which ultimately boosts the salon’s profitability.
Read More: How Can Salon Business Presume The Sales To Pre-Pandemic Levels?
Get found on Google with help of Business Page
If you are not on Google, then you lose your customers to the competition. When you set your mind to be visible on Google, it’s a good choice but it will become excellent if you improve the salon business visibility at the top of the page through Google ads, organic SEO, and making the business lists on Google my business page.
With the creation of Google My Business account, it helps you increase the local audience outreach as the customers can instantly see all the salon-related information like- services offered, timings, phone number, and location.
Continuously SEO optimizing the salon website content, design, and images help your salon to get to the top of the search engine results. The result- the top-ranking websites easily found by the customers.
Paid ads- PPC is a premium option, but it put your business in front of potential customers searching for salon services in your region. Getting a position above the fold is highly useful for the salons where competition is high, or salon owner has enough bundles to spend.
Improve conversion rate
The website is a 24/7 virtual salon receptionist where customers expect the same welcome that they receive at the salons. You need to check the experience that customers gain after landing on the website- getting interested or feeling scared?
The high bouncing rates indicates that there is something wrong with your website, that’s why the customers are not making booking appointments. What to do?
You need to fix a couple of things, including improve loading speed, make it mobile responsive, keep the design clean, clear, and concise, content should be up-to-the-mark, keep opening hours and phone number in the header, and put CTAs that tempts the customers to book the appointment right away.
Read more: Best features list beauty salon appointment App Solution?
Social power with daily posting
With Facebook marketing, mainly the people understand creating a Facebook business page and then wooing the users with intriguing posts to improve social conversation and then conversion. But, it’s not that effective. Facebook ads found the most effective option for Facebook marketing. Though, it requires a well-planned strategy to get everything right. If it works right, you will find potential customers drooling to your salon.
Instagram has also emerged as a user-friendly channel to shout loud, reach out to new audiences, and build the brand. It requires a few tips to follow- creating a business Instagram profile to get detailed stats to reach and attract the customers, and advertise easily; mention the website link to bring the customers to the website; post enticing visuals that catch the maximum eyeballs at first glance; engage the customers with new photos, using hashtags, or asking questions.
Online reviews – an important asset!
In addition to social media marketing, online reviews are a powerful tool that can make your website social-proof, build trust, and improve Google ranking as well. See how?
The potential customer weighs the trust in the salon based on the friends’ recommendations or online reviews before making the bookings. The high ratings and reviews are the evidence of happy and contented customers, which Google values the most, and ultimately local ranking of salon improves.
Incentivize for recommendations
It makes perfect sense to make your loyal customers a promoter of the salon. If the army of loyal fans willing to recommend the salon to their nearest and dearest, you should make them feel good and reward them with an incentivization program.
Believe me: it works wonder in tempting the customers to refer the salon to more people and make the referrals visit the salon for services.
It goes by making loyal customers first leave an online review and rating after the visit, and then rewards can create a big difference in the number of referrals they are bringing to the salon. You can keep the discount for next bookings between 10%-20% that’s worth the efforts they made.
Build mobile app for own Salon
Last but not least, don’t forget the people search for salon business more on mobile rather than desktop. Having a mobile app built helps people to browse and book the services on-the-go immediately.
Plus, mobile notification is a great medium to take the users to the salon app and read the offers and discounts that the salon has launched for weekends or special occasions. The hire dedicated mobile app development brings your business close to the customers’ hearts and heads because only interested customers will download the app, otherwise not.
Takeaway
In customer-centric businesses, the customers are the lifeblood of the businesses. The salon business is no exception. To attract and retain customers is all-important to keep the business going and earning. The above mentioned seven tactics let you shift the gear, avoid the slip-ups, and handle the business smartly. What’s your take? Do you find the tips and tricks valuable enough to make the salon businesses jump on the success bandwagon? Let us know your views in the comments section below.
Himanshu Patel
