Good street visibility and word-of-mouth marketing have served salons well for many years.
But in 2024, salon owners can no longer ignore the importance of being visible online.
Your clients’ attention continues to move to their smartphones. If you want to be the salon they choose, I encourage you to pay attention to what I’m about to share with you today.
I’m going to walk you through 7 salon marketing strategies that you can implement this week to boost your visibility online.
These are some marketing strategies and tips we teach and help salon owners implement here at The Salon Business. Strategies that have proven themselves over and over again.
Delivering the best salon services is not enough.
If people looking for the services your salon provides cannot find you, what difference does it make?
Not only is it important that people find you, but they also need to understand that what you provide isn’t a commodity but a service worth paying extra for.
So, your online presence needs to communicate how you are different, make you easy to find, and offer a smooth process for people to book you.
But you will not be able to do it without the right technology. The platform I recommend to business owners who wants to improve their presence online is Mangomint.
It’s one of the most modern and well-designed salon software systems on the market today. And it can play an important part in building your presence online.
But let’s dive into salon marketing strategy #1.
1) Get Your Salon Registered With Google
What do people in your area see when they type “salon near me” on Google?
This is one of the most essential questions you can ask yourself.
If you don’t show up for potential new clients when people search for your type of salon in your region, you’re placing unnecessary limits on your business.
Before you attempt any other salon marketing, make sure you have the foundations in place so that when people search for you, they can find you.
Setting up a Google Business Profile is free, and you can register here.
Google also allows you to integrate with your appointment platform so people can book you without leaving the search results page.
Getting set up doesn’t take long. But as soon as you’ve done it, new people will keep finding and booking with you.
For more details on ranking higher in the search results, you can read my guide on SEO for salons.
2) Use Smart Salon Software for Online Booking
Did you know that over 35% of consumers prefer to book their treatments online? If you ask people under 35, 25% say they exclusively use the internet to schedule appointments.
On the other hand, many salons devote significant time every week to manually scheduling appointments.
You need a good salon software package that can handle your online bookings and simplify your business’s operations.
The use of online booking is one of the most critical factors in accelerating the growth of your business.
Your salon software should play a central role in your business. And online scheduling must be integrated into all the places where you are visible online.
3) Optimize Your Salon Website
Your salon’s website is typically your first impression with potential customers. And, as a beauty business owner, I’m sure you understand how crucial a first impression is.
You want people to feel confident that you can take care of them, and having an up-to-date and modern website will help you achieve this.
However, a well-designed website is more than simply a first impression. It’s a tool for finding new clients, managing appointments, upselling services, and growing your business.
You can find a web designer to help you create your website or build it yourself using one of the many website builders available today for people without a technical background.
Make sure your appointment scheduling tool can also integrate with your website.
4) Integrate with Apple Maps
Apple Maps is also a popular app for finding a salon or service business in their area. Google (which we covered earlier) is #1, but Apple Maps would be the next place to ensure you are visible.
Of course, it would be great if people who found your salon on Apple Maps could easily find a button to schedule an appointment with you quickly.
5) Get Your Salon Setup for Success on Social Media
I’m sure you’re not surprised to see social media among the salon marketing tactics on this list.
However, building a strong presence on social media requires significant work.
This is why I prefer to see social media more as a “branding” platform than a place where you reach new clients. Clients will most likely hear about your business elsewhere and then go to your Instagram or Facebook to learn more about your work.
So don’t be too hard on yourself here. Unless you love posting on social media, post what feels right and aligns with your brand. Knowing that it’s more a showcase of your work than trying to outbeat an algorithm packed with hair and beauty content you are competing with.
What is important, though, is that when people find you on social media, they have a simple process for booking you.
Here is an additional tip from My, owner of Peach Stockholm, on what she is doing to get seen online by more potential new clients.
I think one thing that we do is that we create a lot of content. All of my stylists create content with “before and after pictures” or short videos. I involve all of my staff because I have 13 or 14 people creating content instead of just me. I also use the content both on Instagram and on my webpage. So I get the most out of it.
Below is the rest of the interview from the video: How to Get Found Online by Potential Salon Clients.
6) Use Facebook Ads to Get New Clients
Do you have a Facebook page or Instagram account for your salon?
Then, you’ve most likely experimented with some form of Facebook advertising. Many salon owners, for example, boost their Facebook postings to get more exposure. However, this is not the same as using the Facebook Ads Manager to run your ads.
It allows you to create more targeted and powerful campaigns (see my Facebook Ads guide for details).
But when you run an ad on Facebook, you must remember that you are interrupting a person who (most likely) is on Facebook for another reason other than booking a salon.
This is why you’ll need to offer something that will entice people to drop what they’re doing and book you.
A smart way to do this is to set up a special offer package to which you link people directly. This gives them a strong reason to care about you, act, and book now.
7) Make Your Salon Team the Best Promotors of Your Salon
Your staff should be your most effective salespeople.
And I’m referring to their behavior inside the salon and online. Salons that stand out online involve their team in content creation and communication online.
So, be it Instagram or a blog on your website, get your team involved in the content creation. As your team’s presence grows, you must ensure you have information about who they are on your website and make it easy for people to book the person they feel connected with.
Conclusion
Online salon marketing can feel overwhelming at first. But a business can’t ignore it and still grow in 2024.
I hope that the salon marketing strategies listed here have clarified this topic and provided you with tips and ideas to help you move forward. For even more salon marketing tips, see our Marketing 100 video series.
Next, I recommend you watch my video attracting clients online:
