No matter what beauty or self-care service your salon provides, your business is essential.
Surely your most regular customers will agree, with plenty scheduling multiple appointments a month, but many salons still have difficulty reaching new clients. This is partly because of the rise of online subscription companies that market quick, mail-order DIY treatments but also because customers can be nervous to try new salons or services.
It’s important to find what sets your company apart and what you believe new customers should know about you with so many competing businesses.
Once you decide your unique value, it’s easy to make that the center of your campaign. From there, whether you’ve selected an irresistible promotion or branded your shop as absolutely cutting-edge, you’ll need to focus on getting the word out. This can be achieved through a mix of targeting and exposure. And, if you follow our advice, your salon will be ready in no time.
Targeting & Exposure
These concepts are very simple. Targeting is finding where your customers live, work, and play and advertise to them in those locations.
For example, if you introduce a rewards program, your customers might file their home address or zip code with the rest of their information. If you find that most of your customers live in one area, you might consider sending out a mailer campaign to hit that entire zip code.
Or if many of your customers mention working out at the same gym, you might choose their bulletin board as a place to put up fliers. The important thing is using what you know about your current customers to distribute your advertising to a place where you know current and potential customers are likely to see it.
Exposure is how your ad actually reaches your customers. Some examples of terrible exposure are annoying online popups or crazy fliers tucked under your windshield wipers. Our instinct with this kind of media is to throw it away, which often means wasted campaign dollars for the advertiser.
Understanding what kind of media your customers are drawn to and where and how to present it to them will ensure your campaign’s success.
Coupons vs. Branding
Branding campaigns can be helpful once you secure a strong customer base or when you are trying to implement a new vision of your business. Once your doors are open and your brand in place, you can focus on bringing in new customers with a direct-response coupon campaign.
A coupon for a free or discounted specialty service may have the best success. If your salon offers something that you think customers would really enjoy but are often too afraid to purchase on their own, consider offering it as a BOGO.
For example, if you offer free eyebrow threading with any purchase of a haircut or a facial, you’ll incentivize a customer’s larger purchase and maybe lure in a new regular for a specialty service.
If your promotion blows them away with great customer service, they may keep coming back just for that one specialty procedure and stocking up on other treatments while they’re there.
Coupon Presentation
Once you create an enticing offer, it’ll be up to you to get the word out. Examine your customers’ data to find the best place to target your advertising and then research exactly how much it’ll cost to print your full campaign and advertise there.
One easy option for any local business is grocery store advertising. On average, 20,000 people visit grocery stores every week, and grocery stores pull in most of their customers from a 3-mile radius of the store. That means hyper-local targeting and a super-easy way to reach your entire community in one move.
If you were considering a mailer campaign for a certain zip code, you might consider grocery store advertising in that area instead. For one, mailer campaigns can mean high printing costs, and you’ll need to send out your flier at least two to three times to ensure your customers grow familiar with your brand.
This is because repetition is the key to effective advertising. Any time a customer forgets seeing your ad, their second impression suddenly becomes their first. That means money wasted on your part and can lead to huge frustrations for small businesses on a tight budget.
With many people visiting the grocery store several times a week and spending about 47 minutes in the store every time they visit, customers are guaranteed to see your ad multiple times. This makes in-store supermarket advertising such a great solution and a valuable option for any local advertisers.
Receipt Coupons
The best grocery store advertising program for salons is Register Tapes Unlimited. Our clients can print their coupons on the back of grocery store register tape so thousands of people can see your ad every day.
As customers look over their purchases, they’ll see your supermarket advertisement over and over and grow familiar with your brand. Soon, when they drive by your salon, they’ll think of your supermarket advertisement and plan to redeem your coupon. Plus, they’re likely to hold onto the coupon much longer than they would a normal flier, making grocery store advertising a safe bet for you and your team.
The best part of register tape advertising is that printing on the store’s receipt tape means lower print costs for you. Where mailer or even local poster campaigns can mean high ink and paper costs, you can save tremendously because the grocery store is already paying for these materials.
This is extremely important for a small business, and with the high visibility of your campaign, you can count on a great ROI. Your ROI is your Return on Investment and shows how effectively you spent your advertising dollars.
If you find a great plan like receipt coupons in grocery store advertising, it’s going to be hard to say no because it could mean a life-changing boost in profits for Salons like yours.
By Talitha Turkin