With more and more people going online and turning to search engines for help finding the salon services they need, digital marketing for salons has never been more important.
Every salon depends on leads to survive—no matter where your business is located or how long you’ve been serving your community. Without a dependable way to generate salon leads and clients, your business won’t survive for long.
However, if you implement a digital marketing strategy that attracts new clients and regularly generates salon leads for you, that’s a good way to:
- Get more high-paying salon jobs
- Increase revenue for you and your staff
- Grow your salon business
We know why lead generation for salons is important, but how can you do it affordably and without taking up too much of your time? The answer is digital marketing for salons. If you’ve ever wondered how to get more salon clients, keep reading for our top salon promotion ideas and salon marketing ideas.
Top 5 Tools for Digital Marketing for Salons
- Get More Salon Leads Through Your Website
- Use Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) to Generate Salon Leads
- Always Use Local SEO for Salon Lead Generation
- Try Ad Retargeting to Get More Salon Leads
- Sign Up With Townsquare Interactive to Maximize Your Salon Marketing Budget
Want to see how we can help you with digital marketing for salons? Fill out the form below to start your free quote today!
1. Get More Clients With a Hair Salon Website
If you haven’t invested in a hair salon website, yet, one of the best things you can do for your business is to create one. A website acts as your salon’s online storefront—it’s an essential part of a strong online presence and gives your potential salon clients a place to:
- Learn more about your salon
- Read about the salon services you provide
- See where you’re located
- Get in touch with you about making an appointment
Without a hair salon website, how are your ideal clients going to find your business on Google? How will they know where to contact you? They won’t, and they’ll likely use one of your competitors, instead.
Without a professional hair salon website, your business might as well not exist at all. The solution? Digital marketing for salons. Hair salon website design makes up the foundation of most salon marketing and salon advertising strategies, so don’t let your competitors get out ahead of you. Invest in hair salon website design and start generating more salon leads and clients. Townsquare Interactive can help!
Click the button below and fill out the form to start your free hair salon website quote!
2. A Powerful Salon Promotion Idea: Send Direct Mailers
Here’s another salon advertising and salon promotion idea that’s stood the test of time: direct mailers. Compared to most email inboxes, old-school mailboxes are seeing a lot less action, which means your letter or postcard with your salon advertising is much more likely to be seen and read by your target clients.
According to the Direct Marketing Association, direct mail has an average cost per lead of $51.40 for a general mailing list and $54.10 for postcards. Compare that to what you’re paying on average for salon marketing and salon advertising from other sources to determine if this is a viable solution for you.
3. Salon Advertising 101: Canvass an Area for Clients
Canvassing an area to find clients might seem like an old-school salon marketing tactic, but consumers are more likely to schedule an appointment with you when they can put a face to the name. If you want to give canvassing a shot, follow these four simple tips for the best results:
- Always be polite and courteous, even if you don’t get a positive reaction.
- Set a goal for each interaction: set an appointment or get their contact information.
- Have a script ready, so you’re better prepared.
- Follow up with potential clients after getting their info.
Also, make sure you have plenty of business cards to hand out! Even better if they’re fridge magnets—they’re much less likely to get thrown out.
4. Use Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) for Salon Marketing and Salon Advertising
A good PPC and SEM campaign is one salon promotion idea that’s been proven time and again to generate quality salon leads.
While Google is the most popular search engine for these types of campaigns, thanks to its widespread popularity, don’t sleep on Bing. PPC and SEM are great ways to bring in salon leads.
Still on the fence about PPC and SEM? Check out these stats:
- For every $1 spent in Google Ads to post your salon advertising, you could make an average of $2.
- About 41% of clicks on a search results page go to one of the top 3 paid salon ads.
- More than 85% of people use the internet to find local salons.
- Visitors who come to your hair salon website via PPC or SEM are 50% more likely to convert into clients.
Sounds good, right? And with PPC, you only pay for the clicks your salon ads get, making it a great option for salon advertising and digital marketing for salons.
5. Another Salon Marketing Idea: Use Facebook + Instagram Advertising
Still wondering how to get more salon clients for your business? Salon advertising on Facebook and Instagram can be a cost-effective method, provided you put the right salon marketing and salon advertising strategy in place and know how to navigate the ad builders on these platforms. Social media marketing is often included in digital marketing for salons.
You can target your ideal salon clients by their location and other pages they’ve liked—including your competitors’ pages.
Displaying salon ads to this audience has the added benefit of creating and boosting awareness of your business. If people see your logo and your salon advertising all over the place, they’re more likely to remember you when they need salon services in the future.
6. Use Local SEO Services as Digital Marketing for Salons
Search engine optimization (salon SEO) is still king in the digital marketing space. It’s what will move your salon to the top of page 1 on Google and keep it there. If your campaign is robust enough, salon SEO alone can generate the majority of your salon leads (but we still recommend reading the rest of these salon promotion ideas and salon marketing ideas)!
A good first step is setting up your Google My Business account. From there, you can advance to backlinking and content marketing. If you’re worried about doing it correctly, it’s always a good idea to let an expert in salon SEO get you up and running.
Click the button below and fill out the form to learn more about salon SEO.
7. How to Get Salon Leads Through Strategic Alliances
Another smart technique for generating salon leads is to partner up with the suppliers in your area. That could be Ulta, Sally’s Beauty Supply, or a mom-and-pop shop down the street. Creating a partnership means they’ll recommend you to their customers and provide a steady stream of salon clients. It also means you’ll recommend your advertising partner to ensure the alliance is mutually beneficial. Overall, this is a salon marketing idea worth trying.
8. Content Marketing = Great Digital Marketing for Salons
Creating content for your ideal salon clients is a great way to get more salon leads. Consider writing blog posts and articles that you can post on your hair salon website, and make it easy for your audience to share that content on their social media.
Here are some topic ideas:
- Before-and-After Photos of Great Haircuts
- These Hair Trends Are Hot This Season
- What Not to Do Before Your Salon Appointment
Have another content idea? Write it down and turn it into an article to boost your salon advertising efforts, then post it on your hair salon website!
9. How to Generate Salon Leads at Trade Shows
Attending trade shows should be high on your list of salon promotion ideas and salon marketing ideas. They not only provide plenty of solutions for lead generation for salons, but also let you observe your competition, create new business partnerships, find inspiration for new salon advertising and boost brand awareness among potential clients.
To make the most of your trade show experience, make sure your booth provides something valuable to your audience, such as a freebie or another incentive, like coupons, giveaways, contests or something else.
Finally, make sure you’re collecting information from visitors and following up to make the sale. Don’t forget to pass out business cards!
10. Use Emails in Your Digital Marketing for Salons
Email marketing is one of the oldest forms of digital marketing for salons, and there’s a reason it’s stuck around for so long: it works. For every dollar you spend on email marketing, you’ll make (on average) a $40 return on your investment.
Because most salons overlook the benefits of email marketing, it’s a great salon marketing idea for your business. For instance, businesses that stay in touch with their ideal clients via email, regularly sending them salon advertising, generate 50% more sales-ready salon leads and spend 33% less money on making those sales. Not bad!
11. Get Salon Marketing Ideas From Your Chamber of Commerce
If you haven’t already joined your local chamber of commerce, attend their next meeting and start networking with other local business owners. In particular, try to connect with boutiques and beauty store owners—they’re likely to send more salon leads your way and might even need your services themselves!
12. Digital Marketing for Salons Includes Reputation Monitoring
Did you know 85% of people search online to find local salons? Those same people are also researching your reputation—what are your past clients saying about the quality of your work? Were your prices fair? Were you friendly and polite?
Offline, you can use word-of-mouth to your advantage. Ask your satisfied clients if they can think of any neighbors, friends, family, or acquaintances who might need salon services. Give them plenty of business cards to pass around, and make sure it includes the name of your hair salon website.
Online, list your salon business on review websites and ask your happy clients to leave a review on Google. Doing so makes it more likely that you’ll bring in salon leads—and it’s a great way to boost your salon SEO.
13. A Novel Salon Promotion Idea: Telemarketing
Though telemarketing was once a good channel for lead generation for salons, many people now block unwanted calls. However, there are still companies out there that will telemarket for you and set up appointments with potential clients. While this is a viable salon advertising and salon marketing idea, weigh the cost and benefits before committing. You might come to the conclusion that it’s more beneficial to invest in a hair salon website or salon SEO.
14. Use Ad Retargeting for Salon Advertising
Have you ever searched for a product online and then noticed ads for it following you around the internet? That’s retargeting, and you can do it for your business, too.
When a potential client visits your hair salon website and leaves without taking an action (like filling out a form or calling you), retargeting gives you another chance to convert them into a paying client. They’ll see your salon advertising as they browse the web and be reminded of your business and the services you provide. If they click the salon ad, they’ll be brought back to your hair salon website, where they have a second chance to turn into a client. It helps if you’ve invested in professional hair salon website design and salon SEO, too!
Retargeting is a great way to keep your salon business in front of potential clients who have already shown interest by visiting your hair salon website design.
15. A Unique Selling Point Can Help You Get Salon Leads
If you want to stand out from your competitors, your salon needs a unique selling point (or USP). That could be your level of service, your experience in the salon industry, your competitive prices, your reputation, your stellar employees, your product guarantees—anything that sets you apart. Once you’ve figured out your USP, use that selling point in your salon marketing materials!
If you’re not sure where to start, take a look at how your competitors are generating salon leads. What’s their USP, and how can you beat it? What would matter more to your clients and the community you serve. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Eco-friendliness
- Specialized services
- Guarantees
- Level of service
Does something else set you apart from your competitors? Use it in your salon ads!
16. Add Google’s Local Service Ads to Your Digital Marketing for Salons
Google’s Local Services ads are a type of pay-per-lead ad, and they appear at the top of the search results page. They’re different from salon SEO services, though salon SEO can move you near the top of page one of Google, too!
These salon ads get about 13.8% of clicks—that means if 50 people in your area search for salon services, at least 7 of them will click one of those salon ads and turn into a salon lead. How much more money would you make per month with 7 more salon appointments?
17. Make Helpful YouTube Videos About Salon Services
YouTube is a popular platform, so why not use it to your advantage? Make an account (it’s free!) and start posting helpful salon videos. The videos can document your day-to-day activities, follow an appointment from start to finish, or illustrate the different facets of hair care that potential clients might not think about. These videos will build your credibility as a hair expert and make it easier for viewers to see that you know what you’re doing and build trust.
In the video description, include your contact information and a link to your hair salon website so they can learn more and contact you!
18. Co-Market With a Relevant Business
Co-marketing means you’re teaming up with another small business to share lead generation opportunities. For example, you might want to partner up with a clothing boutique and offer a discount to clients who use both of your services. In the end, this kind of combined marketing can lead to many more opportunities for lead generation for salons.
19. Increase Referrals to Get More Salon Leads
Referrals are a great way to capitalize on word-of-mouth salon advertising. Offer your existing clients an incentive to refer their friends, families and neighbors to your salon, and give them a discount in return. Since people are far more likely to use a business that a friend recommends to them, this is one salon marketing idea you shouldn’t pass up.
20. Create a Salon Facebook Group
Having a dedicated Facebook business page for your salon is a must, but creating a group page for your business is a good idea, too. Post helpful content (maybe something you wrote for content marketing!) and interact with group members to start building trust and brand awareness in your audience.
21. Take Pictures of Completed Styles and Appointments
A picture can say a thousand words, so make sure you’re taking before-and-after photos at every appointment. It’s a great way to show the quality of your work, and it gives you great content to post on your hair salon website and social media. It’s basically free salon advertising.
22. Send Out Press Releases About Your Salon
Press releases are a great way to share new and exciting developments about your salon. Are you offering a new service? Did you hire a new stylist? Are you offering discounts to loyal customers? Write a press release that outlines these new items and send it off to your mailing list to start generating salon leads.
Sign Up With Townsquare Interactive to Maximize Your Salon Marketing Budget
Hair salon website design isn’t the only element of an effective salon marketing strategy, but it is the most important. One of the best things you can do for your business is to make sure your hair salon website has everything it needs to continuously generate salon leads using the steps above.
Adding other elements to your marketing campaign, such as search engine optimization (salon SEO) and reputation monitoring, can strengthen your salon marketing strategy and help to bring in even more salon leads.
The team at Townsquare Interactive specializes in creating salon marketing campaigns that generate leads for salons across the country. All of our hair salon website designs feature the elements mentioned above, and our dedicated marketing specialists and teams of experts can provide personalized suggestions for how to take your salon marketing strategy to the next level.
Click the button below and fill out the form to learn more about our salon marketing packages and jumpstart your hair salon website and salon SEO.