How TO Ensure People Know About Your Salon and Your Offers

Owning and operating a hair and beauty salon means wearing many different hats. Obviously, you have to know what you are doing in terms of hair, skin and overall beauty, and need to stay up to date with trends. But then there is the business side of the role. You have to rely on excellent staff, you need to think about the look and appeal of your salon, you need to keep an eye on inventory and products, and you need to consider how to bring in new clients.

At the heart of it all is your customer base. Without clients, your business doesn't exist. That is why you give so much attention to putting together special offers as incentives for existing and would-be clients.

In fact, you may have dedicated a lot of time and effort into building special offers. Yet, all of that thought and effort might be going to waste if no one knows about them.

Can you honestly say that your customers, and those new clients you want to attract, know about your salon's special offers and can easily find out about them?

If you can’t reply with a definite ‘Yes!’ you have some work to do, and the first step is to consider how a salon website will help you spread the word.

BUIlding Good Offers

Before looking at how to ensure as wide an audience as possible can learn about your special offers, let's just be sure you are clear on the kinds of things you should be offering. Why would that matter? If you are not sure about your audience and its needs, it could be a big part of the problem. To create something of value, including special offers, means you know your target client, and where to find them. Knowing just where they ‘hang out’ online, and what they are looking for, is a perfect way to get your business messages to them.

As the experts at Entrepreneur Magazine say: ‘The greater clarity you have with regard to your ideal customer, the more focused and effective your marketing efforts will be… clearly identify the very best customers for your product or service, and then focus all marketing, advertising and sales efforts on this particular type of customer.’

If you have yet to define your ideal customer (age, financial status, location, what they want and need, where they are, etc.) this is the moment to do so. Then, you have the details you need to design special offers they will act on, and also understand where they are most likely to see such offers.

The fact of the matter is that a limited number of people will see your special offers on a sign in your salon window, whereas an unlimited number can see them if they are posted to your salon website. That website, therefore, is like having the world’s biggest salon sign that can be seen from anywhere.

Getting Your Special Offers Out There

The most important place to have the details of your special offers is on your salon website, because online is where most people look for, and find the information they need.

Unfortunately, unlike Kevin Costner's character in Field of Dreams, building it (your website) is no guarantee that they will come. You need to make sure your website is eye-catching and informative, giving people all the details they need to make the decision that your salon is the one they should go to.

A website doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg, especially when you can hire a specialist salon website design team to design and maintain your site for you. A strong online presence has become a must-have for any salon business hoping to attract new clients, both locally and as one-time customers, such as with wedding parties.

That online presence should include a section specifically for special offers, so the online user (and that is almost everybody these days) can find exactly what they want, with ease. If they have to scour your site for what they want, chances are they will go elsewhere.

That online presence through a strong business website will serve as a great platform for other tactics that will get the message of your great salon special offers out there, and these include:

• Building social media followings - Whether that is a Facebook business page, a lively Twitter feed, or a Pinterest page, one way to attract attention is through one of the most active areas of the web. While a Facebook page has its limitations, and can’t compare to a proper website, it does have some uses. You can ask current clients to Like or Follow, Retweet and share, and you can begin to advance your messages. You can even use social media to offer special deals, though it is better to use this platform to direct potential clients to your website, where the real business can be carried out.
• Email and text marketing - If you don't have email addresses and text contacts for clients, you are limiting your ability to alert everyone to special offers. However, a good website will enable you to gather this information and send out messages highlighting your special offers to those you know will be interested, based on their previous visits to your website.
• Word of mouth – The old school way of spreading the word of your business by handing out business cards has been updated. With a good website, you can do the same thing online, using referral codes to incentivise people to come to you.

The important thing to remember is that you don't have to overextend yourself to alert clients and potential clients to your special offers. Having an effective website can do most of the work for you, and hiring a specialist salon website builder means all you have to do to announce and promote your special offers is to get in touch with them with the details, and they will do the rest.

Almost instantly, your special offers will be displayed proudly and prominently on your website, so everybody online can know about them.

Talk to us about how we can build and maintain your website, and post regularly updated information for you, so you can focus on the business at hand.