Ideas for Promoting Your Beauty Salon and Spa

Mugs with Beauty Salon's imprint

Do you own or work in the beauty industry? Need some ideas on ways to promote your business? There is always a season for proms and brides and pretty bare feet…not to mention facials, lovely long tresses, and heavenly massages during weekend getaways. If you work in the salon and spa industry, you know the best time to promote your business is all the time!

Here’s some marketing ideas for you to get the most out of your campaigns and affordable salon and spa promotional items to advertise your marketing efforts.

1. Partner up. Salons have many complementary businesses. For example, wedding planners, dress shops, and limo companies are all businesses that could refer clients to you (and you could refer business to them). Create a network or even a “package” that you and your fellow business owners promote together. For example, maybe you create a “Wedding Bundle of Services” where you, the wedding planner, limo company, florist, and photographer all promote your combined services as a “package” deal.

Here’s another idea when it comes to partnering up: share the cost of a tradeshow booth at events like bridal expos. For example, the limo company could have the booth and the most signage (and pay the bulk of the costs), but someone from your salon could be there as an “added value” with free bridal makeup kits.

2. Offer rewards for referrals. Give a discounted or free service to existing clients for each referral they send in. You might even want to combine the reward with an incentive for the referred client, as in “10% off for a friend, 20% off for you” or “give a friend 10% off and get a free mani-pedi.”

3. Offer a “Birthday Bash” Pamper Session. Everyone has a birthday, right? Make sure you get this info from new clients and then send them a birthday card on the first day of their birthday month with a special offer they can use anytime during their birthday month.

4. Think in terms of Discount Diva. The best way to keep your clients coming back is by booking them for their next appointment before they walk out your door. So when they’re paying their bill, let them know that if they book their next appointment right now, they’ll receive a discount off their next service. You could also mix it up and offer discounts for people who book their next appointment within, say, six weeks as opposed to eight (or whatever time frame makes sense for the service: hair, nails, waxing, etc).

5. Encourage social sharing: Set up a “selfie station” in your salon where clients can take before-and-after pictures and share them with friends on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social networks. Of course your logo shows clearly in the background at the selfie station.

6. Put your brand in their hands: Give away high-visibility promotional items with your logo such as custom pens, purse mirrors, lip balm, bags, water bottles, and coffee mugs to serve as “mini billboards” promoting your salon to your clients’ friends and family. Be sure you’re prepared for all the fresh new faces by having plenty of cool promotional products on hand…products that will help spread the word and make your clients keep coming back!

Imagine if your “regulars” referred just one new client a month. Fortunately, building a strong beauty salon and spa business through partnerships, referrals and incentives doesn’t require a huge budget or special expertise — just a strategic, consistent approach that helps you turn happy customers into your best promoters.

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