Influencers Vs Celebrity Endorsements: What’s Best for Your Salon, Clinic, or Spa?

In recent years, the dynamics of marketing have changed. In the early 2000’s, celebrity endorsements dominated the scene; Emma Stone for Revlon and Eva Longoria for L’Oreal Paris to name but a few… however, now more than ever, influencers are growing in popularity as the must-have marketing tool in the hair and beauty industry. 

Why? Because in an ever-evolving digital landscape, influencers are more trusted and relatable than traditional celebrities. The result? A cohort of brand representatives that typically drive more meaningful engagement-the most important metric in any online marketing strategy. 

But which option will deliver the most optimal results for your salon, spa, or clinic business?

The Rise of Influencers in the Hair & Beauty Industry

Did you know, that according to the Digital Marketing Institute, Gen Zers generally trust influencers more than celebrities?

Influencers are popular due to their ability to create authentic and relatable content that resonates with their followers. Unlike traditional celebrities, influencers often share more personal content about their real-life experiences, which naturally makes their viewers feel closer to them. They also usually engage directly with their followers, unlike celebrities, who don’t usually run their own social media accounts. This helps influencers build trust, and in turn, a loyal, engaged following. 

By building a brand of authenticity and relatability, influencers are often seen as more approachable and genuine, which makes their recommendations feel more credible. What does that mean for your business?

The Benefits of Working with Influencers 

Working with salon influencers, big or small, in your business’s catchment area, can be a highly effective part of your marketing strategy – particularly in niche markets like hair, beauty, and wellness. 

As well as being a cheaper option than inviting a traditional celebrity to endorse your salon, influencers’ active engagement with their followers; such as replying to comments asking for specific product details or treatment recommendations, can create an avenue for you to reach new potential clients and encourage lapsed clients back in. Influencers’ style of engagement can lead to higher conversion rates because people are more likely to try a service when it’s recommended by someone they trust.

How to Leverage Influencer Marketing in Your Salon

One of the most effective ways of conducting influencer marketing is by inviting them into your salon, spa, or clinic business in return for them sharing their personal experience across their social media platforms. 

As well as creating authentic content about their experience, a good social media personality will also showcase your brand and team’s personality, showing everything their audience needs to know about their visit to your business. All going well, this kind of influencer marketing helps promote your business to a whole new audience pool, keeping your salon, clinic, or spa front of mind for new potential clients who are looking for real recommendations that they can use themselves.

Micro-Influencers vs. Macro-Influencers

When choosing what kind of influencer you collaborate with on a marketing project, understanding the difference between micro-influencers and macro-influencers is vital.  Both types of influencers can offer value to a business, depending on your brand’s goals and the type of customer you want to reach, but in the past 24 months, there has been a growing trend toward working with micro-influencers across all areas of marketing. 

Micro-influencers

These are social media personalities who have a smaller following, typically between 1,000-100,000 followers. Their audiences are often more local than those of macro-influencers, which aligns perfectly with salon owners who want to target specific geographic areas. 

Micro-influencers usually have their own niche style of content and their audiences are highly engaged, making them ideal for authentic and targeted marketing campaigns within their niche. It is also worth noting that they are more accessible and budget-friendly than large influencers or celebrities, offering a great return on investment.

Partner With A Micro-influencer If You Want:

• To attract local/regionalized clients to your business
• You want to attract a highly engaged client base
• You’re targeting a niche market or a specific service
• You want more authentic, personal business endorsements

Macro-influencers

Have larger followings, anything ranging from 100,000 to millions of followers. Partnering with a macro-influencer is the perfect choice if you want to raise brand awareness on a national or global level, as they can provide visibility at scale. However, because their viewership is so much bigger than that of a micro-influencer, they naturally tend to have a more generalized audience with an array of interests, so their engagement rates may be lower than that of a micro-influencers. As well as this, macro-influencers are often more expensive to partner with than micro-influencers due to their reach.

Partner With A Macro-influencer If You Want:

• Increased brand visibility/awareness on a national or global level
• The ability to be seen by a large demographic of people with diverse interests
• Maximum exposure, regardless of audience intent
• To build prestige or an upscaled brand image

Celebrity Endorsements: Are They Worth It?

While influencer marketing is more popular nowadays, don’t rule celebrity endorsements completely out of the picture. If you have the budget available, and a big brand awareness piece you would like to promote, collaborating with a celebrity could be worth it! When a celebrity endorsement is used effectively, it can majorly boost your salon, clinic, or spa’s credibility and generate excitement, buzz, and brand recognition for you. 

However, remember that the cost of securing a celebrity to endorse your business may be prohibitive for smaller salons, and the impact of their content on your business may not always justify the expense.

It is worth keeping in mind that in recent years consumers have become more aware of non-genuine partnerships, and they have become more digital-savvy. Oftentimes, people see content posted by celebrities marked as a ‘#sponsored’ or ‘#ad’ as transactional rather than genuine, which dissuades them completely from trying whatever the celebrity is endorsing. Some consumers see celebrity endorsements as more fickle than seemingly transparent influencer content, so they might not achieve the same outcome. 

Reaching Out to An Influencer vs a Celebrity

So you’ve chosen between an influencer or celebrity for your next partnership. What next?

When working with any collaborator, it’s important to make a good first impression. One of the best ways to achieve this is by reaching out in a way that works. This will involve some research on your part- it’s important to know how the influencer/celebrity likes to manage collaborations before you reach out. 

Connecting with Influencers

To reach out to an influencer, the first step is to check their social media bio or website for their aforementioned preferred contact method. Often, influencers will list an email address that connects you with their management team or agency, especially for larger accounts. Email is generally the most professional route—it’s trackable and keeps all communication organized.

For micro-influencers, who may manage their own collaborations, it’s possible that they may not have dedicated email. In this case, a polite direct message (DM) works well. Start by expressing your interest in working together and ask for the best way to proceed with a proposal. This small step shows respect for their preferred communication style and can go a long way in establishing a positive working relationship.

Collaborating with Celebrities

With celebrities, it’s a different approach altogether. Celebrities always work through agents, meaning it’s crucial to reach out through official channels. A celebrity’s website or social media bio should list a contact method for their management team. 

However, it’s important to be cautious when seeking celebrity contacts online; sites that list celebrity representatives can sometimes be unreliable, so double-checking any information you find with official sources is crucial.

Sample Outreach Template for Influencer & Celebrity Partnerships

Here’s a template to help you get started

Hi [Influencer/Celebrity/Agent Name],

I hope you’re doing well! I’ve been following your work and truly admire your content. I think you’d be an ideal partner to collaborate with our salon, [Your Salon/clinic/spa Name]. 

I’d love to discuss a potential partnership, where we could offer you some of our signature treatments to experience and share with your audience.

If this sounds interesting, I’d be delighted to chat further. Looking forward to hearing from you

[Sign off with name & position]

Finding the Right Fit for Your Brand

Interested in collaboration for your business, but unsure where to start when identifying someone who fits the mold? A great way to identify potential influencers or celebrities is by consulting with your top clients and asking them which personalities they follow and trust. If there’s a name that consistently comes up and aligns with your brand’s values, consider exploring a partnership. Similarly, if an influencer or celebrity fits a niche that your business currently fulfills, or wants to fulfill, exploring a partnership with them can help bring your strategic marketing goals to life in the future.

Remember, Authenticity is Everything!

One of the biggest marketing trends of recent years is the demand for authenticity and value alignment. Consumers want to see real people sharing their own real experiences, and getting real results. By keeping this authenticity front and center, you can convert influencers’ followers into your clients.

When choosing who you would like to be aligned with your business, whether that be a celebrity or an influencer, it is important that they align closely with your salon’s image and your brand values. Remember, if the endorsement feels disconnected from your brand’s core values or the local community, people will notice this. When this happens, the campaign is less likely to give you the ROI you are hoping for.

Ready to Begin Investing in Some High-Quality Collaborations? 

Research is vital before proceeding with any kind of collaboration- whether influencer or celebrity.  Start by looking at your marketing strategy and goals and carefully consider your options, figuring out whether collaborative marketing fits into your goals and, if it does, what that should look like. You must consider your target market, budget, and the message that you want to communicate before deciding which influencer/celebrity collaboration approach will work best for your business. 

For most salons, focusing on salon influencer partnerships that align with your brand’s values and target audience is likely to deliver the best return on your investment. However, if a celebrity endorsement aligns with your brand values and will offer a substantial ROI, it may be worth considering this instead. Every business is different. 

To create marketing campaigns that resonate with your audience and drive lasting success for your salon, spa, or clinic, you need to understand the needs of your ideal audience and tap into what motivates them to engage with your brand, book appointments, and become loyal clients.