On this episode of The Salon Marketing Q&A, we have a look at some successful day one salon marketing strategies.
The Salon Marketing Q&A:Â Day One Salon Marketing Transcript
So, camera check, lights check, background check. It says we’re live, so let’s do it.
Guys, welcome to the next episode of the Salon Marketing Q & A. My name is Chris Brennan and this is for Salon Software’s new show where every single week, you ask the questions about salon marketing, and we answer them live on Facebook. Now, as I mentioned before, we will be taking this video, and we’ll actually be putting it onto YouTube afterward as well as our Facebook page. So, if you don’t have time to check it all out now, you can check it out at a later date as well, so we’ll definitely have a record of it.
But it’s really fun to do it live because, well, you get one take, and it’s just fun, like you can hit us with some comments, and we’ll see if we can answer them. And if we can’t answer them on the spot, that will be another episode that we’ll dedicate for nother week. So, as usual, I like to kick off these shows with highlighting what we’ve done for you guys this week particularly, and give you a couple of news and updates while we grow our Facebook live audience.
Probably the coolest thing we have for you guys this week is that we’ve just officially launched the Salon Manager Development series by Valerie Delforge. This is going to be a monthly webinar series hosted and curated by Valerie Delforge of Delforge + Co, and it’s specifically designed to help salon managers and salon owners get the very most out of their jobs. It’s incredibly exciting, and what’s new as well is that there are going to be once off exclusive webinars. They’re free to attend, but they’re only one goes, so we won’t be doing them again. We’re lucky to get Valerie as is for the series, so we couldn’t actually get her to do like one topic on a monthly basis.
So we thought it’d be really unique and fun to actually produce a series, so be sure to sign up. I will drop the link in for the very first webinar into the comments box after this. I can’t do it now because, hey, I’m here. But it’s amazing. We’ve been chatting about what the topics going to be, what kind of the content is, so we have the whole plan for you guys, and it’s very exciting, so do make sure that you’re available to attend that free webinar, this free master class, hosted by Valerie del Forge.
Okay, so let’s get into today’s topic. So, we had a question come to us, and this is a really interesting topic, and I don’t feel like we’ve actually covered it enough to be honest. We kind of always focus on people who have set up their business, and they’re doing marketing currently, and we’re here to help. But the question came in and it’s so unique. It’s what would be day one marketing? So, what are the first steps to actually start marketing your salon? So instead of like we’re so advanced that we’re like you have all these channels, you have all these clients, okay, now say this. What are like the first steps to starting out and kicking off your salon marketing plan? I absolutely love this question and I think that there’s actually scope to produce more material based on this question to really help you guys out, especially new and upcoming salons.
So, let’s get started. So, it’s kind of interesting when you start off at like day one, and so you’re sitting down going, “Okay, what’s the first step? Like, what do we do?” Like, I would recommend that if you haven’t opened your salon, start marketing your salon now. Like, start building awareness for you about to open your salon, make your launch day a party. Like make it an event that people want to come in on your opening day. So, don’t just start your marketing once you open the door, start promoting the fact that you will open the door in advance.
Now, if you already are an established salon that just is kind of having difficult time getting clients, there’s no problem at all having a launch anyway. We’re not saying that it’s an opening day for your salon, but you can actually have a launch day anyway. There’s no problem with having them, because at the moment, you’re problem is probably that nobody knows you exist. So, day one marketing kind of feels like you’re just introducing yourself to people, and what’s a great way to do it is to have a deadline. So you can actually say you’re kicking off. You might have been open for year, you might have been open for a few months, but day one marketing, I like to kind of hang it on a deadline. Like, so we’re having a party. If you’re just opening up, it’s an opening day. If you have been open for awhile, have an event.
If you want to know how to run your event, we actually covered that in a previous episode of Facebook Live, and you can find that on YouTube or you can find that in the video section of our Facebook page. And we have a whole episode dedicated to how to run an event. So, I would kind of look at kind of hanging your content and your initial launch on this idea that there’s a date in mind, but that’s just kind of an idea to have on your head so you can kind of kick off the introduction of your salon, your business, to clients.
But let’s get into what else you should do in terms of launching like day one marketing. It’s really important these days to ensure that Google is aware your business exists. This is a really important thing, and sometimes it’s something that salon owners don’t really think of at first. They understandably they’re so focused on getting the building ready, getting the … everything in place, getting the team organized, even if again you’re an established salon. The day-to-day operations can take focus because they’re in your face and they’re ready to go. Some sometimes people actually forget to register their business online, or sometimes people forget that when they’ve taken over a different business and they’ve renamed it, to actually go in and change the name on Google to actually highlight and tell Google like, you know what? This is a new company now, so we need to tell people that. And the reason behind this is that we want people to actually, when they google you or when they google beauty salon, hair salon, your business actually comes up specifically with your address. And that’s where you can house online reputation reviews and things like that.
And how you do this is you actually set up a Google Business listing. So you go onto Google and you can actually list your business. It’s very important. One of the ways they actually do that is once you sign up, they will actually mail you out a physical document that will contain a code in it that you can use online to prove that you actually are in that address. So, they’ll mail it to the address and fill it out and you sign yourself up. So that’d be a really important first step, because that way when people hear about you or if they’re looking for a specific function of what you do, they can find you online on the biggest search engine in the world.
And I know for some people that might feel obvious, but to a lot of people like that’s just a step they never considered, because we’re so used to like Google having all the information that we tend to forget that we have to provide information to them so that they can provide that information to potential clients and customers. So that would be a real day one thing that I would recommend you do is either … First, ensure that you are setup officially and correctly on your Google Business listings, and if you’re not, set it up. If you are but there’s details wrong, have it amended. And you can actually request amendments and things like that, and you can, excuse me, you can upload photos and really make your listing thrive.
We’ve covered a lot about the Google Business listing in our online reputation masterclass and our online reputation ebook. Let me know if you’d like that. We actually have a video version of the online reputation masterclass. If you’d like to check that out and learn way more about like using Google to like create awareness for your brand, let me know and we’ll actually drop that in the comments, and you can check out the video. You can download the ebook and read it, and it’s really good. And also, you’ll actually get help with leveraging the Google search engine to use reviews to actually create awareness for yourself. So, it really works well in that capacity. Well so, make sure that you are listed on Google, your business is listed, you address is there, your phone number is there, all the relevant information that people require in order to find you and to book an appointment with you.
Okay, so I’d say, and no particular order as well, I’d say it’s important as well to get a social media page. Now, you might already have one, but this is day one. So if you’re looking at day one what to do, I would say without a doubt, you need a Facebook page. Not a personal page, I’m looking at you people who still are working off personal pages, you want a business page. So, you can actually convert your personal page into a business page. So if you are currently working off of Facebook and your company’s down as an individual, you should be switching to business. For a variety of different reasons, you can actually use paid, boosted advertisements on there. You can check your analytics, so you can find out what the bEst time is to post and what your audience is engaging with. But also, if Google finds out that you’re a business, they’ll just shut down your page. You’ll actually lose your account. So, it’s in your interest that you actually set up a business page.
We actually wrote an article on exactly how to do that. I might have to share that in the comments as well. So if you are currently a personal page, we’ll show you exactly how you can flip it to a business page. But you’ll definitely want a Facebook page, and this Facebook page is kind of … Well, this is social of your business, it’s how you can like casually communicate with your audience little by little. It’s really important. As the years go by, it’s become just a requirement, you know, in order to survive, in order to kind of keep reminding people that you exist. And you can put out a variety of different content on there. You can check out our blog if you’re looking for specific ideas for what to say on Facebook.
But for day one marketing, I’d say set up your Facebook page, probably set up your Instagram page too. Like, Instagram is growing all the time, and for an image-oriented industry, I think Instagram is fantastic for you guys. Plus, it’s probably one of my favorite platforms because it’s quite simple. It’s quite fun. It’s just image based with a couple of captions, and you can really generate a lot of brand awareness there. So, have some fun with that. Have some fun with Facebook, but it’s important that you get on there. Claim your business on Facebook. Make sure you’re on there, and you can actually start growing your following and trying to drive those fans to become clients. So, that’s a really important one.
Going forward now, this is if you have just opened your salon or if you’re about to … or if you’ve opened up your salon for awhile, but you’re still kind of dragging a bit, if things have plateaued. It’s important, like it’s actually crucial to your business that you collect client information. So, what you want to do is ensure that you have a client’s first name, last name, email, and phone number and any other relevant information you think you need, great, like even addresses and stuff. But primarily, you want that information and strictly because that will actual help in your client retention, which is the lifeblood of your business. Why go out and try to get new people every single time? If somebody came into your business, they’ve shown a keen interest, and you’ve already done the hard work by getting them in. So, the objective is to get them in again. The best way to do that is to collect information on them so you can remind them about the next appointment at a later date or just remind them that you exist, because they want, they need, to come back.
Now, they might forget to come back to you, but they definitely need to go somewhere, and it’s always better to hit them up when they need like to come back in for an appointment. Best thing to do is actually probably book them in right then on the spot, so like when they’re paying, but without a doubt, you want to collect that information, first name, last name, email, and phone number. Make sure you have that. If you’re paper and pen, you’ll have to keep a file of that, but I think that more and more people are finding the relevance of software. Not just because we’re a software company, just because the GDPR regulations are coming in, and they’re really clamping down on information. So, it’s better to actually curate the client details correctly online with a paper trail, a digital paper trail, instead of keeping a book like locked up, and we’ll be talking more about that like in the next few months, because it’s coming next year whether we like it or not.
But we know one thing, we have … In this industry in your occupation, you have to get client details in order to survive, in order to thrive, and the best way to do it is to keep it on software, which is so you’re compliant with the new regulations. But for what we’re talking about in marketing terms, we want to be able to get them back in the door, so the best way to do that is to collect their information so we can address it later with them and remind them to come back in. So that’s so important.
It’s absolutely important to your client retention to your success. You want more people to come in, you want them to come back in again and again, and that is fundamentally how you’re going to grow your business, so make sure this is across the board. Not just with your front house, not just with yourself, but with your team as well. Like, this is objective that we want them to come back in, and that is pretty much the most important thing when you’re thinking about day one marketing. What is your objective? You want to get people in the door, obviously, but you want them to come back again and again.
A couple other ideas then would be, excuse me, to leverage some local businesses as well. So, if again, you’re just starting out as a salon or you feel like you haven’t properly done any marketing at all. You’ve just kind of opened your doors, and you’ve smiled at the street, and you went, “No one knows I exist. Nobody cares that I’m here.” What can you do? One fun proactive offline activity would be to actually leverage local businesses.
So, just go around your area and see if there’s any businesses that you can liaise with, you can work with in tandem. A obvious one would be like a florist. So if there are any florists around, I feel like there’s a connection that you can make with a florist and your business. So maybe you an make a deal with them, like a symbiotic relationship where you an help each other out. But that would really help, especially in terms of events like Valentine’s Day and things like that. So, flat out go in, introduce yourself, say that you’d like to help each other, because you’re not going to compete with each other at all, like you can actually help each other. And then that means that you have people in your area proactively helping spread your word around.
Another business, and it depends really on what you do, but another business you can have. So, if you’re a salon that strictly works with women, then why not talk to a local barber and try to make a deal with them. Like, specifically like if barbers only handle men, you only handle women, perfect, you can really work together well. I always feel like that it’s such an individual thing in this community when you could actually totally work together as long as you’re not competing for you audience. But a lot of times, you’re not competing. It just depends on what you’re actually looking for, what you’re getting out of it. So, it could really help that way. So, leverage your local businesses. And all that means is maybe this week even, just walk around the area, and just see if there’s any businesses that you think you can link up with, and that could be appropriate for you business that you’re not necessarily competing with, but somebody who might share the same audience as you.
And then finally, I kind of highlighted it early, but have a launch party. It doesn’t … If you’ve already been established, go ahead and kick it off again. Just reintroduce yourself, and see if you can get some attention back onto your brand. Introduce yourself. Like, the concept of day one marketing, I suppose, is how can you get your name out there to the right audience? So, it’s really important to figure out the first steps, and hopefully, with these kind of ideas, you’ve got a real good grounding to start with.
So, I think I might just recap there and a … So what we’re talking about is set a deadline on a date and kind of drive people to create awareness for this. Now this could be a launch party, it could be event thing or it could just be like an opening day. So if you’re starting out, have an opening day. If you’ve been around for a little bit, it’s okay to have like an opening day and just rename it, you know, but really what you’re trying to do is put a deadline, a date, something that people can keep in their mind, and they go, “Oh, this is not a big sales thing, it’s more of an introduction thing, so we should just drop by this new place. I hear great things and let’s check it out.” That’d be one idea I’d like you guys to look into.
Another one would be to check out your Google Business listings. If you haven’t set that up, ensure that you have it ready to go, and if you have set it up, just double check that all the information is correct. It’s unbelievable how many people actually have it wrong, and it’s no slight to them, it’s just they didn’t really realize that it was incorrect, that they took over a business or they took over an address, and they just kind of assumed somebody would look after it. But they didn’t, so. It was when we started launching our online reputation feature, we kind of learned a lot about salons in that regard. And we’re like shocked, going, “We should help you guys out.” So, that’s really important.
Setting up your social media pages, absolutely. Definitely Facebook, Instagram is a fantastic one, and it connects to Facebook as well. If you had time, maybe Twitter, and if you had time, Snapchat’s always fun, but I just want to make sure that you don’t get bogged down with setting up too many social media pages and having the stress of attempting to manage all of that while also running your business. So I always feel like it’s good to master one, and maybe two, and once you get those rolling, then you can move onto the next stuff. But, definitely without a doubt, you need to have your Facebook page and Instagram is fantastic. It links together. You can do some boosted posts and some advertisements to raise awareness for your brand. This is like … Facebook has become your marketing engine.
We want you to collect emails, so when you collect emails, you have a reason … You have data on them and a reason to contact them again. This will make your client retention rates thrive. Without their details, you can’t contact them, and just by that fact, you’re retention rates will drop.
And finally, leverage local businesses. So go around your area, see who you can link with, and kick it off and get connected.
Okay guys, I think that’s enough for you guys to start off with for day one marketing. I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you have any questions or any topics that you’d like us to cover on the Salon Marketing Q & A, I’d be delighted to take a look and work on it for you. So let us know in the comments below or you can email us at letsgrow@phorest.com or just hit us up on Facebook or Twitter, @thePhorestWord, or just hit us on Facebook. My name’s Brennan, thank you so much for tuning in, and let’s grow.
