6 Areas to Focus on Growing Your Beauty Business
In the competitive world of beauty and aesthetics, the path to success for your salon business should be continuously evolving. You might be asking yourself “what can I do to grow my beauty business?” Fortunately, there is a lot that you can do! You don’t need an investor to grow your salon business. You simply need some dedication, planning, and strategy.
From transforming your salon’s look and presentation to harnessing the power of social media, there are many strategies that can breathe new life into your salon business. In this guide, we’ve broken down 24 tips across six areas of focus. By embracing these strategies and through some hard work, your beauty business will grow and stand out in a competitive market.
Refresh Your Salon’s Look
- Clean and organize your salon for a refreshed look and feel. Increase storage options with salon carts and trolleys to help reduce clutter and maintain an organized space.
- Invest in new salon equipment and furnishings - shop premium styling chairs, shampoo systems, styling stations, lighting and more with Minerva Beauty—we also offer flexible financing options for salon equipment.
- Liven up your space with salon plants. Not only are plants a great way to add some aesthetic value to your salon, but they also purify the air by getting rid of harmful toxins - leaving your space instantly refreshed!
- Rethink and rearrange your salon floor plan with a focus on function, flow, and placement. Utilize Minerva’s free 2D Design Tool to create a perfect salon layout that maximizes your space.
Social Media Strategies for Salon Growth
- Post consistently on Instagram, Facebook, and other social networks, at least 3–5 times per week to help grow your brand, increase followers, and get more engagement.
- Create an insta-worthy area of your salon where guests and staff can take and share photos. Some ideas include creating a statement wall and using a social media friendly ring light.
- Promote the work of your hairstylists and nail techs with before and after photos to drive new bookings. Doing so will help generate demand for your services while promoting the amazing work of your stylists!
- Engage with your clients and local community. Follow relevant hashtags and interact with users through your business and personal accounts to create more visibility for your salon. There are a number of websites and apps that you can use to discover trending hashtags and make sure you are participating in the hot topics at any given time.
Personalize & Automate Email Marketing
- Personalize your email campaigns to help increase open rates and generate more engagement with your content. Segmented audience lists are great ways to get started. For example, you could segment your audiences by gender, services used on last visit, or visit frequency to reach the most loyal customers.
- Automate campaigns to save time and reach guests and potential clients at the perfect time. Some examples include overdue clients, birthdays, and retail item reminders. Many email service providers allow you to set up drip campaigns where you have automated emails sent over a series of weeks or months. These can be very effective and run on their own in the background!
- Try testing different subject lines and photos to increase open and engagement rates. This will help optimize your emails and result in improved email performance over time. Additionally, through repeated A/B testing you’ll quickly learn what works well and what doesn’t. Your campaigns will be constantly improving as a result.
- Keep track of your email marketing metrics to understand performance and set goals. If you notice engagement numbers slipping, you can alter your templates or try new sending times to boost your campaigns. Unsubscribe rates are also a great indicator of what email campaigns you may want to avoid in the future.
Pay Attention to Your Salon’s Online Presence
- Check the information that is displayed on your online business listings to ensure accuracy. Your business name, address, and phone number should be consistent anywhere your business is listed.
- Actively monitor and respond to customer reviews on sites like Google, Facebook, and Yelp. Potential clients value this information when looking for a new salon, and good reviews can help you grow your clientele and revenue. Although a negative review is frustrating, respond to it in a polite way and offer to help the customer through a phone call or email.
- Update your Google Business profile (formerly Google My Business) page routinely to promote your business and improve local search engine optimization (SEO). Refer to Google’s best practices and make sure your profile is taking advantage of all of the available information fields: business name, business category, description, opening date, phone number, website, business hours, accessibility information, amenities. Also include interior and exterior photos, a logo, and some happy customers showing off their new hair cut or color. Google Business has a Profile Strength indicator. You should aim for the green status, labeled “Looks good!”
- Add Google Analytics to your website and understand how web visitors find and engage with your site. This data can help inform which pages to update to help drive additional bookings. Google Analytics is free to use and simple to install. Some important reports that could help your salon include traffic acquisition reports to understand what channels are bringing in users and landing page reports to know where users are starting their sessions on your website.
Use KPIs & Reporting to Drive Business Decisions
- Monitor employee performance against goals to make informed decisions and uncover areas for improvement.
- Refer to reports from your POS software to make decisions about pricing, staffing schedules, time needed for services, and other measurable information. Square POS for Salons is a great premium POS software option to consider.
- Measure Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as Frequency of Visit (FOV), Average Ticket, New and Repeat Client Retention, and more.
- Revisit your salon service pricing model to make sure your prices are competitive and align with the perception you are trying to achieve for your salon. It might seem counterintuitive but you may find that raising salon prices increases customer volume because it sets you apart from competitors. As a result, your salon could gain the reputation of being more luxurious or the perception that your services are worth the higher price point.
Keep Up with Client Expectations
- Enable text confirmations and reminders for easy communication with clients. Also explore adding a text marketing strategy to help improve customer engagement.
- Offer digital waivers and forms clients can fill out on their own devices in-store or online before their visit.
- Create a contactless experience at your salon through solutions like text message arrival notifications, prepay options, and mobile payment solutions.
- Use your salon software and email marketing tools to personalize communications based on favorite services or retail products to deliver messages tailored to each client.
A salon’s growth is a testament to hard work, dedication to your craft, and a willingness to innovate as the market evolves. By blending a refreshed look for your salon with a stellar social media presence, an effective email marketing campaign, and managing the appearance and performance of your brand online, you’ll pave the path to growing your business. Put these tips into action, elevate your salon business, and leave a lasting impression on your clients and your community.
If you want even more insights on how to help your business thrive, check out these 9 creative salon marketing ideas!