Running a salon business is arguably one of the toughest jobs in the world.
You need to be skilled at your craft, have a taste for relevant trends, and manage and grow your business and team simultaneously.
When will you have time to do your salon’s Instagram posts, update your salon’s website, and run the next Facebook ad campaign that’ll bring in new salon clients?
We all know how important it is to market our salons.
But it’s tough to manage and do it well.
And that’s probably why you’ve landed here.
Having an agency manage the marketing for your salon is a smart call.
But you must ensure it’s good and you’re not paying too much for their services.
How do you know if it’s a good agency and what you pay is fair?
I wanted to help you with this today. I wrote this short guide to help you find the best salon marketing agency for your beauty business.
When Should You Hire a Salon Marketing Agency?
How to market a salon business has changed drastically over the last 5 to 10 years.
The Internet has matured, and effective ways to attract new clients and grow your salon business are found online in 90% of cases.
This requires a complete mind shift in how you approach growing your salon business.
At the same time, the way online media is used effectively changes fast. Facebook ads can be the tool that generates the most new clients at the lowest cost in one month. Next month, it may be LinkedIn videos.
It’s fair to say that if you don’t have a big marketing interest, it’ll be difficult to keep up with what you should be doing that will be most effective for your salon. Here’s where a good salon marketing specialist can help.
Good marketing today has become more conversational than just creating an ad and putting it out there. Effective salon marketing relies on regular and personalized e-mail updates, social media posts, and fast responses to customers and all your channels. It will take time, even if you can do much of this yourself.
You could also spend time doing what you excel at, such as leading your salon team or meeting and treating clients.
If you have some budget, you can free up much of your time and capacity by giving the work to a salon marketing agency instead.
After reading this article, I recommend watching this video, which outlines the steps you’ll need to take to work successfully with freelancers and marketing agencies and shows you which branding elements you can create yourself.
What Services Should a Salon Marketing Agency Offer?
Here are the typical services a salon marketing agency offers.
Creation and Management of your Salon Website
Having a good website is critical for any salon’s success. Your website is often the first impression you give potential new clients, so you want it to be good.
You can of course create a salon website yourself (I’m showing you how here) but to save time and get the best quality, it can be a good idea to hire a salon marketing agency to help you.
Search Engine Optimization for Salons
How do people find new salons today?
They Google it.
You must ensure your salon shows up when people search for salons in your area.
There are a few simple tricks you can do yourself to improve how you show up when people are searching for salons in your area. You can learn about it in my article about search engine optimization (SEO) for salons here.
However, SEO is a science of its own, and a good salon marketing agency can offer services to improve your position in the search results.
Social Media Management for Your Salon’s Profiles
Managing your social media can be time-consuming. But it is one of the best ways to make your salon’s name visible, so you must be there.
Many salons manage their social media themselves. If you read my guide on social media for salons & spas here you can do it too.
You can hire an agency to help set up your social media strategy but manage the day-to-day posting yourself. This can save you money while ensuring you get the most out of your work.
Online Advertising for Salons
You’ll need to buy advertising space to build a clientele and strengthen your salon brand. If the salon marketing agency you work with recommends buying print advertising, I’d take that as a warning sign that you’re not working with an up-to-date agency.
Digital advertising is the cheapest and most effective way to reach new (and existing) salon clients today. The most popular advertising programs for salons are Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, and Google Ads.
You can buy online advertising space for your salon yourself. If you’re interested in that, I would start with Facebook & Instagram Ads (which you can learn how to do for your salon in my other article here). As you’ll see when you go through the guide, it is possible to do it yourself, but it requires skills and time. This is also where a good salon marketing agency can help.
Learn more about how to use Google Ads to get more clients by watching my video here:
E-Mail Marketing for Salons
E-mail marketing has been around for a while now, but it’s still the most effective way to keep in touch with existing clients on a regular, automated basis.
In addition, getting potential new clients onto your e-mail list is a good way to build trust and introduce your salon to them so that you can book them with you.
If you have good salon software, it should be able to help you with this. It can send automated emails before and after appointments.
And the good ones can even manage your newsletter for you. Some of them (including Mangomint) even come with built-in support for email marketing.
However, planning good e-mail campaigns and writing e-mails that get opened and that people take action on is quite a skill. Thus, if you can afford it, it makes sense to have a salon marketing agency help you out with this as well.
Branding your Beauty Business
You must maintain a consistent brand look and feel as you grow your salon business and expand your presence to more places (in the salon, on your website, on social media, in print material, etc.).
If your website looks one way and people who walk into your salon have a different experience, you’re diluting your brand’s image.
A salon marketing agency can help you create your brand’s visual profile and voice, but like everything else, you can do this yourself.
If you’re creative, know a bit of Photoshop, and have an eye for design, this can work. But there’s a lot of science behind what makes a strong brand. Branding services that a salon marketing agency can help you with are:
- Salon brand story: Craft a compelling story to why your salon exists (based on your input)
- Visual identity for salon: Define color schemes and fonts that you can use across your different communication points.
- Salon logo & name: If you’re just starting out, you can get help also with these core elements of your new salon brand. If this is where you are you can also read my article with salon name ideas as well as my guide to how you can create your salon logo.
- Salon profile material: When the salon marketing agency creates a visual profile for your salon, they should also deliver some ready-made assets that you can use, such as brochures, salon window banners, website graphics, etc.
To learn more, watch my video series on salon branding here:
How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Marketing Agency for a Salon?
Hiring a salon marketing agency to set up what you need for your salon will cost you $4,500-$20,000, depending on which agency you use and how much help you need. You should also expect a monthly management fee of $1,000-$4,000 to run your website, social media, newsletters, and advertising programs. The more you can do yourself, the more you’ll bring down the cost, but this is to give you an idea of what to expect.
To break it down in more detail, below is an estimated realistic cost for you.
- Salon website: $3’000-$10’000 + hosting and maintenance fees ($150-$1,000/ month)
- Social media management & e-mail marketing: $1000-$3’000 /month
- Salon brand profile setup: $1’500-$8,000
Best Directories for Finding Marketing Agencies
Clutch, a top agency directory, lists over 150,000 firms, with one-third in marketing. Detailed profiles, client reviews, and project examples simplify evaluating an agency’s expertise and track record.
The Google Partner Directory showcases over 24,000 companies with verified expertise in various Google products, such as Google Analytics and AdSense. Businesses seeking agencies with robust Google qualifications can find the perfect match using this directory.
The Meta Agency Directory, previously called the Facebook Agency Directory, lists agencies specializing in Meta’s products, such as Facebook and Instagram. This directory helps businesses find suitable partners for their social media marketing efforts.
The MailChimp Experts Directory is a comprehensive resource featuring 877 verified partners, helping businesses improve their email marketing strategies.
Agency Spotter is a comprehensive resource connecting businesses with marketing agencies through detailed profiles and client reviews.
The Digital Agency Network (DAN) is a comprehensive directory featuring over 3,300 marketing agencies, offering businesses a wide selection of digital marketing services.
BrightLocal’s Agency Directory connects local businesses with trusted nearby marketing agencies across more than 1,000 major US cities.
Additional Resources for Finding Marketing Agencies
LinkedIn is an effective platform to research and identify marketing agencies. Search for agencies, explore their profiles, and assess their expertise and client feedback to make an informed decision.
Salon industry events and conferences provide opportunities to network with marketing agencies and discover their services and expertise.
Asking for recommendations from trusted colleagues, business partners, or industry professionals can lead you to reputable marketing agencies.
Joining business forums and groups can offer marketing agencies valuable insights and advice from experienced professionals and fellow business owners.
