With Professional Beauty’s recent industry survey telling us 37 per cent of you find attracting new clients your biggest challenge, we sat down with Jennifer Saxon, director of communications for salon business tool Mindbody, to get some tips.
It’s all about online
“One of the best ways to consistently attract new customers is by being online in all the right places,” says Saxon. “Long before a new client steps through your doors, they’re researching your salon online, looking for a glimpse of what they can expect: What are your services? Do you have any deals? What’s the experience going to be like? Is anyone recommending you? Can they book appointments online?”
Saxon says the important thing to remember is that your potential clients aren’t looking at just one site for information. Instead, they’re looking in a variety of places, which means you need to be across a range of platforms to ensure you make a stunning first impression no matter where or how your future clients find you.
Review sites
“For the first time, word of mouth has a tangible and trackable platform, thanks to online review sites,” explains Saxon.“Claim your business page on these sites – you’d be surprised how many salons have listings and don’t even know it! Then, direct your current clients to these pages to spread the word about your salon.”
What you should do:
- Claim your business page: add photos, list your services, include contact info and opening hours, highlight introductory offers
- Review, recruit, repost: review your pages often to monitor feedback, recruit current clients to post with reminders at your reception, repost great reviews to your social sites.
Get social
“Future clients are also checking out your social media sites to see how you interact with your current clients online,” says Saxon.“Be sure to monitor these sites diligently to gain valuable insight into your client experience – and optimise them to share as much information as possible with the potential clients reviewing them.”
On Twitter
- Brand your page with background images of your salon
- Tweet upcoming specials, contests, workshops
- Repost online reviews and thank the posters
- Include #hashtags to facilitate keyword searches
- Use Twitter’s search to find trending topics in your city related to your services
- Repost favourite articles and blogs that have value for your followers
- Post to Twitter and Facebook from a single portal to save time
On Facebook
- Plan ahead and time your posts
- Mix it up: link to articles, take polls, ask questions… Provide something for everyone
- Make it exclusive: run promos and specials just for your Facebook fans
- Post consistently: give people a reason to follow
- Include online booking through your Facebook page so your followers don’t have to leave Facebook to book an appointment with you.
Use your website
“Still your most valuable piece of online real estate, your website should do more than just announce your presence,” explains Saxon. “Maximise its sales potential by including calls to action everywhere.”
Your website should feature:
- Introductory offers
- An online booking system
- Sign up button for your newsletter
- Links to social media sites
- Mobile optimisation: if your clients can’t properly view your site on their phone, they’ll lose patience and look elsewhere
By making sure your salon’s presence on the web is the best it can be, you’re maximising your chances of attracting new customers in the space they’re most likely to be looking at – the internet.
For more information: mindbodyonline.com/