The best salon marketing tips can help you grow your salon business. With the right marketing strategies for salons, you can attract more new clients and grow your customer base.

Delivering excellent service is only half the battle. Potential customers need to know your salon exists before they can experience your exceptional services.

Our tips, advertising and promotional ideas for marketing a salon will help you get your business in front of potential clients.

Marketing Strategies for Hair Salons

The following marketing strategies for hair salons should be the bedrock of the marketing plan for your salon. You can build your strategy from these salon marketing tips to help grow your business.

1. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Search Engine Optimisation helps increase your visibility on Google Search. When people search for a salon in the area, you want your business to show up in the results. Otherwise, your salon business simply doesn’t exist for that person.

Therefore, you can lose out on clients if SEO isn’t part of your salon marketing strategy. You need to get SEO in order and take advantage of Google Search.

Potential customers searching for a salon on Google are ready to use a service. These people can find your business organically and are much easier to convert into customers. But they won’t use your services if they can’t find you.

Creating a Google Business Profile is the first step towards SEO. It allows you to enter your business information, opening hours, and reviews.

Screenshot of Stikky Google Business Profile

A Google Business Profile makes it easy for people to contact your business. Also, it helps potential customers in your local area find your salon. Make sure all of your business information is accurate and complete in the profile because that makes it easier for Google to match your business with the right searches.

2. Optimise Your Salon Website

Your salon website needs to be up-to-date and professional. It’ll be the first impression many people get of your business, so it should be aesthetically appealing. But looks aren’t everything.

Your salon website should be optimised for mobile. Most people use their phones to search these days, so you don’t want to miss out on potential clients because your website isn’t mobile-friendly.

Your website also needs content optimised for SEO. That includes building up your website – Google loves big websites. Also, you must build pages that target specific keywords and locations. For instance, you might have a page titled ‘Hair Salon Brisbane’ that targets your service for an area.

An optimised website should also make it easy for customers to contact you or book an appointment. You could enable online salon appointment booking.

3. Social Media

Social media is a no-brainer when it comes to marketing strategies for salons. However, you want to be strategic with social media marketing for salons.

It’s easy to post unstrategically and spin your wheels without attracting new clients. That’s a waste of time, often leading to frustration and stopping you from posting.

However, consistency is key to social media marketing for salons. You can’t post sporadically and expect to gain any traction in your marketing efforts. It’s about building trust with your clients and potential customers.

And that brings us to the #1 marketing mistake. It’s never a good idea to try to sell your services to people who don’t know about your business. You haven’t built a relationship with them, so why should they use your services?

Use your social media marketing for salons to connect with your audience. Offer them valuable information about your industry to build a relationship and trust.

When marketing on social media, consider these three things:

• The platform
• Your goals
• The content

4. Email Marketing

Email marketing for hair salons is another excellent way to connect with your customers. You may think email marketing is outdated because of social media, but it’s not the case. Email marketing for hair salons is still a more effective way to build sales and grow your business.

The image below shows the effectiveness of email marketing.

You can build relationships and trust with email marketing for hair salons. Sending an email newsletter is an excellent way to target those interested in your products, services, and industry knowledge.

An effective email marketing strategy for hair salons builds bridges between you and your customers. It’s perfect for keeping customer retention high.

How to Advertise for a Hair Salon

There are various ways how to advertise for a hair salon. However, Facebook and Instagram Ads and Google Ads are two of the most effective strategies.

1. Facebook and Instagram Ads

Facebook and Instagram Ads are one of the fastest and most effective ways to attract new customers and grow your salon business. These ads are different to posting on your Facebook and Instagram pages.

Even if you boost your posts to get more visibility, it’s nowhere near as effective as Facebook and Instagram Ads for salons.

With Facebook and Instagram Ads, you get an enormous reach because so many people use these platforms. Also, you can target your audience and have high control over your campaigns.

Facebook and Instagram Ads also allow you to retarget people who have shown interest in your ads. Maybe you posted an ad with helpful information about the industry. You can then retarget potential customers who interacted with your ad, giving them an offer after you built trust with them.

2. Google Ads

Google Ads offers a faster way to reach the top of Google Search. Your salon business can appear right at the top of Google when you use this method of advertising for a hair salon.

Earlier, we covered SEO and how important it is for your salon business to be visible on Google Search. Whereas SEO takes time to boost your Google rankings, Google Ads fast-track the process. It’s like getting a VIP escort to the front of the queue.

With billions of daily searches on Google, it pays to be at the top of search results. And Google Ads can get you there.

Google Ads also has other benefits:

• Customise campaigns
• Target audiences
• Set goals and measure results
• Manage ad performance

You can also build more trust with potential clients through Google Ads. People put more trust in businesses at the top of Google Search, helping you get more customers and grow your salon business.

Salon Promotional Ideas

Promotions are an excellent way to attract new clients. Moreover, they’re a fantastic way to reward current customers and retain them long-term.

1. Seasonal Events

Seasonal events provide a fantastic opportunity to run promotions in your salon. And combining promotions with seasonal events like Christmas and Father’s Day gives the promotion a more relevant context. For instance, you can promote products and services for men leading up to Father’s Day.

Here are some holidays to can target:

• Christmas – is a good time to promote gift sets or gift cards

• Mother’s Day – promote products to pamper mums

• Father’s Day – promote your services and products for men

• Valentine’s Day – gift sets and cards are good options for that someone special.

You can also run promotions during local events. For instance, a festival in your area could provide a unique opportunity to promote your services.

2. Client Loyalty Programs

It’s critical to retain your current clients if you want to grow your salon business. Gaining new customers is excellent, but it’s not as good if you keep losing your existing ones.

Most of your profit should come from existing, loyal clients. The good news is that it costs less to retain customers than to attract new ones.

That’s where client loyalty programs come in. They reward the customers who stay loyal to your salon business and spend the most money over time.

Loyalty programs can save you time and money in the long run.

3. Recommend-a-Friend Scheme

People trust recommendations from their friends. A new client is more likely to become a loyal customer if their friend recommends your services.

This word-of-mouth marketing is a powerful tool for marketing a hair salon. You can intentionally use this strategy by incentivising current customers to recommend your salon to their friends.

4. Product Samples

Offering customers product samples allows them to try the products for themselves. Your clients are more likely to buy a product if they try it and like it.

Product samples are a great way to connect with your customers as well. It builds trust and shows you have confidence in the range of products you sell.

Marketing for Hairdressers: Bonus Ideas

We’ve covered the main ways of marketing for hairdressers. Now, let’s check out some bonus ideas you can implement in your overall marketing plan for a salon.

1. Get Customer Reviews

Getting customer reviews is the perfect way to build trust with those searching for your services online. Most potential customers read Google reviews before visiting a business, so they’re excellent for your salon marketing strategy.

Also, most people who read reviews trust them as much as personal recommendations. Therefore, customer reviews on Google help build trust between your salon business and potential customers.

Before you start with a client, you can ask them if they’d like to leave an honest review. Alternatively, you can ask loyal customers to leave a review of their experiences with your services over time.

Your website can also show these customer reviews. Potential customers can immediately see what others think of your services.

The image below shows a customer review on the Stikky website.

You can automate reviews to make it easier for the customer. After the appointment, you can send the customer an email or SMS with a link to leave their review.

2. Gift Cards

With gift cards, you can generate additional income and use them for seasonal promotions we covered earlier. Gift cards are also a fantastic way to attract new clients.

There’s a good chance existing customers will buy a gift card for a friend or family member who hasn’t used your services. So, gift cards can also act as personal referrals.

3. Rebook Clients During the Visit

Always rebook your clients during the visit. You can ask them for the best time for their next visit and book the appointment on the spot.

That keeps your customers coming back regularly, which is great for business. Also, they’re less likely to book with someone else if they have an appointment with you.

It’s a simple tactic when marketing for hairdressers. However, you’d be surprised how effective it is for retaining customers.

4. Link Back From Social Media to Your Website

People should find it easy to access your website from your social media profiles. Always link back from social media to your website. It makes social media marketing for salons more effective.

Potential clients must be able to visit your website immediately if they like your social media content. They’ll quickly use interest if finding your site isn’t easy and almost instantaneous.

Ensure all your social media profiles link back to your website. Directing people to a landing page for online appointment bookings is a good idea.

Conclusion

This article gives you strategies and tips on how to market a salon business. Your marketing strategies for hair salons should incorporate SEO, website optimisation, social media marketing, and email marketing. These techniques complement each other and cover your bases in the digital space.

We also covered how to advertise for a hair salon. Facebook and Instagram Ads and Google Ads are two of the most effective ways. They allow you to target your audience and give you exceptional control over your campaigns.

Salon promotions are fantastic for attracting new clients. But you can also use them effectively to keep current customers happy and retain them long-term.

Some bonus salon marketing tips are customer reviews and gift cards. They build trust and promote your salon business. Also, you should rebook your clients during the visit and always link back to your website from social media.

You can use these strategies, tips, and ideas to create a marketing plan for your salon. Implementing them will help you grow your business.