Hello again.
I promised you some practical tips for getting 2013 off to a good start and you can’t get more practical than creating a marketing plan!
I don’t know if you’ll be amazed to discover that the vast majority of salon owners won’t have a plan for their salon marketing in 2013? They’ll just make it up as they go along!
They don’t bother because they either don’t realise that taking the time to sit down and create even a very simple plan can have a massive effect on what a salon can achieve in 2013, or they don’t know how.
This lack of action, for whatever reason is a massive opportunity for you, so in this article, we’re going to be looking at a few simple steps you can follow to create your 2013 salon marketing plan. By the way at the end of the article you’ll find a link to a page where you can download a marketing plan creation form to fill in.
Step 1
Get a piece of paper with squares on it (like graph paper) and create a big rectangular grid with 13 rows down and 15 columns across.
Next: In the box you’ll see in the top left hand corner I want you to write… Month/Plan. Now: In the 12 boxes below Month/Plan write the 12 months of the year, starting from February (If you’re doing this in late December or early January) and finishing with January in the bottom box.
Finally: In the 14 boxes to the right of Month/Plan I want you to write… Reason: Discount: Free: Package: J/V Offer: Special: Newsletter: Social Media: Website: Window: Mail: Flyers: Texts: Phone Apps:
OK you should now have all your boxes filled down the sides with the months of the year and along the top with everything from reason to phone apps. If you have you then well done, you can move on to the next stage, which is…
Step 2
For step 2 I want you to start by going down the months column to the line for February, then in the reason box put Valentine’s Day.
Next go to the line for March and in the reason box put Mothers Day.
You keep doing this for each month, adding a reason for creating an offer until all 12 months are filled in. April could be Easter, May could be Bank Holiday and so on.
Just keep going until you have a reason for making an offer in each box.
If you’re stuck for ideas I find a quick search on Google or a browse through last year’s women’s magazines for the relevant months, often helps.
Step 3
Now go back to February and decide which structure your offer is going to be…
- Are you going to offer a Discount?
- Are you going to do a Free giveaway?
- Are you going to create a Package of several products or services for a special price?
- Are you going to promote another businesses products to your clients?
- Are you going to promote your services to another businesses clients with a J/V offer?
- Are you going to create or buy in something new as a Special event or promotion for your clients?
- When you’ve decided which one, just put a tick in the box for that offer structure on your February line, and then go through the months deciding what you’re going to do for each of them.
When you’ve gone through your year, you’re ready for…
Step 4
So far, by following the steps with this simple form, we have decided: When we are going to run our offers in 2013. Why we are running them. What they are going to be, so all that’s left to do is decide… Where are we going to promote them?
This is where the 8 final columns come in. For each month just tick the appropriate box (or boxes) for each month when you ask yourself…
- Are you going to promote it to your existing clients in your Newsletter?
- Are you going to create interest in it on Facebook, Twitter and any other form of Social Media?
- Are you going to create an article or a special page and feature it on your Website?
- Are you going to create a special display or banner for your salon Window?
- Are you going to send out postcards or letters about it in the Mail?
- Are you going to print and distribute Flyers to get the word out there?
- Are you to create a Text campaign?
- Are you going to send out a message to the mobile phones of everyone who has downloaded your salon Phone App?
You might choose one method, you might choose them all, there is no limit and it pays to put your message out in many different ways… you can decide.
So now you know, if you complete your form, you’ll have the When, Why, What andWhere of your marketing for 2013--you’ll be better prepared than 90% of your competitors!
Step 5
If you want to save time next year, keep a record of how each promotion goes, so when the time comes you can either repeat it or tweak it depending on how pleased you were with the results.
Keep an accurate record, and you’ll find in the second year of your marketing plan, you’ll only be doing half the work, and by year three or four, you needn’t be doing any of it… your staff can be doing it for you because everything is organised and in place!
Conclusion
Here you have some simple steps to creating your own marketing plan. And, as General McArthur said in the Second World War, “An average plan executed with enthusiasm is going to achieve an awful lot more than the perfect plan that never gets put into practice!”
PS: To help you I’ve already produced a marketing plan creation form you can fill in and use. You can get one by clicking on this link.
