MARKETING YOUR SALON, SPA OR CLINIC

Marketing ideas and strategies for salons, spas and clinics in the hair and beauty industry.

A definitive guide to marketing your salon, spa or clinic

Salon, spa and clinic owners wear many hats – and marketing is just one of them! Find out everything you need to know about marketing your hair salon, spa or beauty clinic right here, including tips from industry experts, how-to guides, the latest marketing trends, and fresh promotional ideas for your business.

Tip 1: Know your ideal client

Before you dive into marketing your business, it’s important to be clear about who you’re talking to. Knowing your ideal client will enable you to tailor your marketing messages to them.

“The better you understand your ideal client – their needs, their fears, their biggest pain points – the better you can serve them. If you have a solution for their exact problem, that speaks to them in their language and is at a price point that fits their budget, why would they go anywhere else?” – Rebecca Miller, The ZING Project Salon Business Coach.

Tip 2. Make a plan and stick to it

Failing to plan is planning to fail. To set your business up for success, you’re going to need to create a strategic marketing plan and stick to it. Of course things come up and changes happen, but having a robust marketing plan that outlines your areas of focus for the year will give you a north star to work towards and measure your success against.

Rebecca Miller, Salon Business Coach from The ZING Project, said salon, spa and clinic owners should note down big events that happen throughout the year to prepare.

“We all know the big events that happen every year that we can capitalise on (Mother’s Day, Christmas parties, Spring Racing, etc), so plan for those events well ahead of time to make the lead up less stressful. Once those are locked in, look for other opportunities or create your own!”

Learn how to create a strategic marketing plan.

Tip 4: Choose your channels wisely

While digital marketing is growing in popularity, that doesn’t mean there’s no value in traditional marketing channels, like magazines, word of mouth, events or radio. Think about your target audience and what marketing channels will reach and resonate with them the best.

Stevee Devonda, Iron and Ivy Salon Marketing Manager, said: “The marketing channels you choose for your business will depend on your audience personas, as you’ll need to use the channels you’re more likely to reach them on. At Iron & Ivy, we use Instagram for our younger clientele, Facebook or our older clients, and email marketing for our entire database.”

Read how to choose the best marketing channels for your salon, spa or clinic to find out more.

Tip 5. Keep your branding consistent

Rebecca Miller, Salon Business Coach, The ZING Project, said: “Great brands don’t sell products, they sell a FEELING. Your brand is so much more than a logo or a combination of colours. It’s your position in the marketplace, it’s how you connect and how you communicate. It’s a reflection of your mission, purpose and values. You need to be rock solid on the heart and soul of your brand before anything else.”

Laura Smyth, Salon Coach, Kitomba Trainer and Director of Lush Skin & Body, added: “Branding is extremely important. Make sure you keep all your design work and branding colours consistent. This builds brand awareness, trust, and loyalty with your clients.

“If graphic design is not your forte, work with a graphic designer who can design artwork for your social media and email marketing. It's key to have work that looks and feels professional to potential clients. Also work on your photography skills to take effortlessly beautiful before-and-after photos of your work.”

Tip 5: Offer online booking

Although there is much debate when it comes to online booking systems and whether salons, spas and clinics should take bookings online, the numbers don’t lie according to Frog Coaching Business Coach Laura Kate Shokuhi.

“Online booking systems or links allow clients to book online at their own discretion, at any time of the day or night. Studies have shown that 50% of clientele will only book with a new salon if they have an online booking system, and a whopping 75% of people want online ‘self-service’ options, whether they use them or not.

“61% of clients with access to online booking systems make appointments outside of normal business hours, so as we constantly move forward into more of a tech-forward world, online booking will ensure you keep up with your competition and stay relevant.”

Find out how you can earn $4,000 per month with Kitomba Online Booking.

Tip 6: Stand out on social media

If your clients are using social media, you should be too. In the hair and beauty industry, sharing photos of your work is a natural way to market what you do, and what better way to get your work in front of potential clients than through social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and even Pinterest?

“It’s important to be visible across multiple marketing channels to increase the chances of your content being seen by as many potential clients as possible. The obvious are Facebook and Instagram, on which clients spend most of their day. Posting a mix of beautiful, branded pictures of your services and salon will hook clients while educating them on your services.” – Laura Smyth, Salon Coach, Kitomba Trainer and Director of Lush Skin & Body.

Jump to our section about social media marketing to find out tried and true ways to make your hair or beauty business stand out on social.

Tip 8: Use free marketing tools

There's an abundance of free and low-cost marketing tools you can keep in your arsenal to streamline your marketing efforts, save time, and make your content stand out.

Laura Smyth, Salon Coach and Director of Lush Skin & Body, said: “For small designs, I love working with Canva to create graphics and design work for my social media platforms. Mailchimp for creating beautiful newsletters that are interactive and user-friendly. Panoly for managing and scheduling my Instagram posts, and the Layout Instagram app for my before-and-after photos on social media.”

Tip 9: Track and measure your results

To be able to accurately assess the success of your marketing campaigns and activities, you need to have a way of tracking, measuring and reporting on them. Make sure you plan and set up how to track and measure the success of your marketing activities and campaigns before you start, and use specialised software and tools to automate this process wherever possible.

Stevee Devonda, Iron and Ivy Salon Marketing Manager, encourages salon, spa and clinics to use Google Analytics to measure their marketing efforts.

“I love using Google Analytics for measuring the success of our marketing efforts. It's free to use and install on your website (you may want to ask your developer or website host for help on getting it connected) but it allows you to review all the traffic reaching your website, where they came from and what they’re doing when they get there,” he explained.

Tip 10: Use software to automate your marketing

You can automate your everyday marketing activities by setting up emails and SMS messages to send out automatically to clients that meet certain criteria. Popular automatic marketing messages include setting up appointment reminders, rebooking reminders, lapsed client offers, new client welcomes, referral thank yous, regular marketing campaigns and more.

“Automate your marketing as much as possible by setting up birthday messages, referral programs, or follow-up templates. Not only will this save you time, it will also nurture your client relations whilst delivering a strong return on investment.” – Laura Smyth, Salon Coach and Director of Lush Skin & Body.

Jump to our section about marketing software and automation to find out how you can easily automate and streamline your marketing efforts.

Step 1. Create marketing goals

Your marketing strategy should be created with specific goals in mind. Think about what you want to achieve in your business, and how marketing can help you to get there. Each goal should have clear, measurable results that you can accurately track in order to analyse the success of your marketing efforts.

Step 2. Know your budget

It’s important to understand your numbers and allocate a marketing budget that enables you to invest in growing your business through marketing it effectively. The marketing activities you choose will depend on how much budget you can allocate, so it’s important to have a budget in mind so you can stick to it, while giving you room to experiment and try new things.

When planning your marketing activities for the year, be sure to review your past marketing efforts to understand what has worked well and what hasn’t, so you can better allocate your budget and efforts to get the best results.

Step 3. Choose your marketing channels and activities

Just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of ways to market your salon, spa or clinic, but choosing a handful of marketing channels and activities to focus on instead of trying to do it all will deliver better results.

Step 4. Track and measure your success

Every action has a result, and if it’s worth doing, it’s worth measuring. Therefore, it’s important that you have a plan for tracking the results of your marketing campaigns and activities before you do them, so you can easily track its success and return on investment.

Having this information will help you to make smarter decisions in the future, because you’ll know what works best for your business and what to invest more budget and time into, and what to put aside.

Why should I do email and SMS marketing?

Email marketing is free (other than potential costs for your email marketing tool provider) and enables you to send marketing messages to multiple contacts at once. You can create specific contact lists by segmenting your client base to personalise your marketing emails and improve your results.

SMS text messages cost money to send, but as long as you have the client’s correct contact number SMS marketing has the highest open rate that most other marketing platforms.

When including email and SMS marketing in your plan, think about the different messages you could set up that will delight your clients, like birthdays, holidays, and booking reminders, and choose a software provider that enables you to automate this process, like Kitomba Salon and Spa Software.

Salon Business Specialist Laura Kate Shokuhi (2)

“All your clients on your email list most likely are already big fans, so reaching out the clients that already love you and sharing your latest offers, packages and exclusive deals is a no brainer. 60% of clients enjoy receiving emails from businesses they love. And, if your salon, spa or clinic set has all-in-one business management software like Kitomba, you can start email marketing to your database in a couple of simple steps.”

– Laura Kate Shokuhi, Salon Business Specialist, Frog Coaching

Social media marketing

Organic (unpaid) social media is an excellent way to connect with potential clients, build your reputation and be part of conversations around your industry and brand.

Social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn, and most recently Tiktok are channels that can be used to market your salon, spa or clinic for free. The visual nature of each platform is well suited to the hair and beauty industry, and client referrals and recommendations can be made easily when your clients tag their friends or share your content.

However, social media requires consistent content creation and community management, which means it can be a big time investment. If you want to get the most out of your business social media accounts in as little time as possible, check out our top tips below.

Tip 1. Be consistent

Consistency is the key when it comes to social media, explained Rebecca Miller, Salon Business Coach from The ZING Project.

“Showing up each and every day, especially on your stories, is a great way to build trust with your followers and to position yourself as the expert in your chosen field.

“Remember, the most important thing is how well you can serve your audience. They won’t be judging you if you’re providing REAL value. Share the behind the scenes, get your team involved, and most importantly? Have FUN. Put the social back in your social media!”

Tip 2. Use multiple social media platforms

“Don’t just stick to one platform, share the love,” said Laura Smyth, Salon Coach, Kitomba Trainer and Director of Lush Skin & Body.

“This will broaden your client interaction and leads. Learn as much as you can about how you can make the most out of every platform. It is important to engage, educate, and be consistent with your messaging. Be very careful not to oversell!”

Laura recommends salons, spas and clinics use Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

Tip 3. Plan ahead and use scheduling tools

Create a content calendar and plan your social media content out one month in advance to save time, and use social media scheduling tools if you want to be able to schedule posts in advance, explained Iron and Ivy Salon Marketing Manager Stevee Devonda.

“A great way to save time with your marketing is to use a social media planning app, such as Later or Planoly, where you can upload and schedule a months’ worth of posts in just a few hours.

“Both apps have free and basic plans which offer limited scheduled posts and help with your hashtags and discovery to new clients, allowing you to save a lot of time by spending very little towards your marketing goals.”

Tip 4: Experiment with your content

Salon Business Coach Rebecca Miller said experimenting with different types of content on social media and ensuring it’s easy to consume is key to social success.

“If a 30 second chat on stories is going to get your point across better than a lengthy caption, go with the video. If a carousel post will allow you to make a chunk of information more visually appealing, use that. There are so many different features available on the various platforms, it’s worth spending a bit of time experimenting with the different features to see what works best.”

Social media post ideas

Unsure what to post? Here are 13 ideas for promoting your salon, spa or clinic on social media:

‘Behind the scenes’ videos and photos.
Before and after photos of clients.
Run competitions for a prize.
Share the work of team members.
Showcase new products and services.
‘How to’ guides and videos.
Share on-trend/seasonal styles.
Your business’s events, sponsorships and news.
Special promotions, packages and discounts.
Share insider tips and tricks for your area of expertise.
Share interesting industry-related articles and news.
Ask questions! Encourage people to share their opinions.
Tell your story: about your business, your people and yourself.

Marketing your salon on Facebook

Facebook is a great platform for interacting with your clients and reaching new ones. While it’s used as a marketing tool, it’s actually an online community.

Therefore, rather than thinking of Facebook as a marketing tool, think of it as a platform for sharing your story, engaging with your audience, and growing your online community.

When marketing your salon, spa or clinic on Facebook, consider the kind of content your audience would want to see, and what’s on-brand for your business. Your aim with every post should be to entertain, educate or inspire.

Utilise both Facebook posts and Facebook stories to expand your reach, and check your page insights to see what time of day your followers are online so you can post at times that are likely to reach the most people.

Marketing on Instagram

Instagram is a visual social media platform that allows you to post photos and videos about your business.

Think of Instagram as your extended portfolio – you can post before and after photos, tips and tricks, how-to videos and so much more. It's also where you'll best reach a younger audience.

When using Instagram as a marketing tool for your salon, spa or clinic it’s important to ensure the imagery and videos you post are of high-quality, on-brand and consistent. Also make sure your captions are relevant and provide value for readers.

Tag people or other businesses in your posts where appropriate, share user generated content from your clients (ask permission first), and add hashtags that are relevant and trending to expand your reach.

Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing on Instagram can be an extremely powerful tool. If you have clients that are influencers, form a win-win partnership where they can get a discount on services for posting about their visit to your salon, spa or clinic.

“Instagram influencers are causing a storm in the beauty industry. By inviting an influencer to document their experiences in your salon, you could increase your reach exponentially.” – Laura Smyth, Salon Coach.

Save time posting on Instagram

To save time with your social media marketing, use a social media planning app, such as Later or Planoly, where you can upload and schedule a months’ worth of posts in just a few hours, explained Salon Marketing Manager Stevee Devonda.

Digital advertising for salons, spas and clinics

Paid digital advertising includes paying for ads in Google, Google My Business, Facebook, Instagram, and more.

Google Ads can help you connect with users who are searching for services or products that you offer, such as ‘hair salon near me’, while Facebook and Instagram ads can be used to target people in your region for brand awareness and to acquire new customers with special offers. You can also retarget people that have visited your website with digital advertising to encourage them to book an appointment.

Learning how to use digital paid advertising platforms can take time, and you’ll also need to allocate time to optimise your campaigns to get the best return on investment. The cost involved will depend on your budget, but effective digital advertising campaigns can cost as little as a few dollars a day.

“Facebook targeted ads are the most cost-effective form of digital advertising when used correctly.”

– Laura Smyth, Salon Coach, Kitomba Trainer and Director of Lush Skin & Body

How to get started with digital advertising

To get started with paid digital advertising for your salon, spa or clinic, we recommend taking the following steps:

Choose your goal (e.g., more online bookings, more engagement, etc).
Choose your digital advertising platform/s: Facebook/Instagram, Google, etc.
Write your ad copy and design ad media (images and/or videos).
Set your daily budget ($1.50 - $5 per ad group is fine for beginners).
Create your ads in your chosen platform. Test them.
Track and measure your success (you’ll need Google Analytics to do this – it's free!).
Tweak your digital advertising campaigns as necessary until you get the results you’re looking for.

If you want to run digital advertising campaigns for your salon, spa or clinic but don’t have the time to learn the platforms or look after the campaigns, we recommend hiring an expert to help you.

Optimise your website for search engines

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a process that allows search engines, like Google and Bing, to read your website and know when to show it to a user.

For example, if you provide haircuts in Melbourne, when someone searches for “Haircut Melbourne”, you want your website to be presented in the list of searches the user is shown.

There are some things you can do to your website to make it optimised for search engines like Google, so it can show up for relevant searches for your services and products. Read how to get your website found in Google to find out more.

Salon Coach Laura Smyth said: “Websites and a successful SEO strategy that keeps you strategically placed on Google are important. Don’t forget to include a ‘Google My Business page’. This space is a great way for clients to find out more about your business and to see all your 5-star reviews!”

Word of mouth marketing: reviews, partnerships and referrals

Word of mouth is still one of the best forms of marketing, with 92% of people trusting recommendations from people they know directly to help them make purchasing decisions.

In today’s world, the internet has become the place we go to when we have questions about a particular product or service, and many of us search for online reviews of services and businesses from strangers before we make a decision.

Why? Because online reviews are social proof from real people, and act as digital word-of-mouth recommendations.

Therefore, word of mouth marketing should be an integral part of your marketing plan and can include a referral programme or simply encouraging online reviews.

Referral programmes

Creating a referral programme is the obvious first step to getting more referrals. It opens up the opportunity to ask your clients to refer your business to their network, and puts clear processes in place for your clients and staff to follow.

Offering a reward for referrals will encourage your clients to actively participate. When creating your referral programme make sure it’s easy and simple for clients to understand and participate.

Ensure the referral process is easy to understand.
Make the details easily accessible and concise.
Make it simple for your clients to refer (one or two steps should be the maximum).

Once your referral programme has been created, make sure you promote it to your clients!

Online reviews

Online reviews are incredibly important for salons, spas and clinics. You can encourage clients to leave reviews on your local Google My Business listing, or recommend your business on Facebook and other social media channels, to improve your ‘digital’ word of mouth marketing.

To do this automatically, you can include a Google My Business review link in your follow up text messages or emails to your clients asking them to leave a review. Easy!

Frog Coaching Business Coach Laura Kate Shokuhi said: “Most salons, spas and clinics are listed on Google, however it's important to have client reviews on your Google My Business listing. People trust Google reviews, and good reviews are a valuable tool in generating more business.

Print and radio advertising

While this marketing guide has mostly covered digital marketing, traditional forms of advertising for your business certainly shouldn’t be ignored or forgotten!

Print and radio advertising can achieve excellent results for salons, spas and clinics. You could advertise your business in local newspapers and magazines, or get sponsored articles written about your business. You could even record an ad for your local radio stations to get your brand in the ears of people that live in your region.

Why should salons do print and radio advertising?

Print and radio advertising are great for creating brand awareness for salons, which leads to acquiring new customers over time. These marketing channels won’t require much time to implement, but the associated marketing costs can be very high, so it’s important to make sure you have allocated the necessary marketing budget for it.

It’s also important to note that repetition and consistency is key to making an impact, so one article or ad in a magazine won’t have much of an impact, but consistently advertising for three, six or twelve months will.

What is marketing automation?

Marketing automation is the process of automating your marketing efforts using specialised software. Automated marketing can be set up once and will automatically send marketing messages on prescribed platforms (like email or SMS), when certain parameters are met.

Why is automated marketing useful for salons, spas and clinics?

Automated marketing is incredibly useful for salons, spas and clinics because it enables you to set up automatic marketing campaigns that continue to function without you. Not only can marketing automation save you time, but it can also increase your revenue through automatically being able to confirm appointments, upsell, and market your business.

How to set up automated marketing

To set up automated marketing campaigns for your salon, spa or clinic you’ll need software that enables you to do this.

Kitomba Salon and Spa Software is a complete salon, spa and clinic management system that enables you to take care of the day-to-day running of your business, automate your marketing, and so much more.

To start using automated messages to add value and delight your clients, book a personalised demo and a Kitomba expert will show you what Kitomba Salon and Spa Software can do for you.

For help on how to set up Everyday Marketing in Kitomba for your salon, spa or clinic, check out our support guide.

Free e-book: Automatic marketing guide for salons, spas and clinics

Automatic marketing is a powerful tool for salons, spas and clinics. It can help you engage with your clients, improve your client retention rate, encourage repeat purchases and even attract new clients – ultimately growing your business and increasing revenue on autopilot!

The best part? It’s easy to set up with the right know-how and templates, which are included in this guide.

Learn everything you need to know about automating client messages for your business with our free e-book, which includes ready-to-use email and SMS templates and checklists.

This free guide to automatic marketing includes:

11 automatic marketing ideas proven to get results
Ready-to-use email and SMS templates
Tips for building and managing your contact list
Checklists for sending automated emails and SMS
Instructions on how to track and measure your success

Download your free e-book and start automating your messages today!

MARKETING YOUR SALON, SPA OR CLINIC

A definitive guide to marketing your salon, spa or clinic

This comprehensive guide to marketing for salons, spas and clinics includes:

Marketing tips for salons, spas and clinics

Tip 1: Know your ideal client

Tip 2. Make a plan and stick to it

Tip 3: Set clear goals

Tip 4: Choose your channels wisely

Tip 5. Keep your branding consistent

Tip 5: Offer online booking

Tip 6: Stand out on social media

Tip 8: Use free marketing tools

Tip 9: Track and measure your results

Tip 10: Use software to automate your marketing

Read the latest marketing tips from industry experts

Marketing strategy and planning

Here's how to create a marketing strategy in four simple steps:

Step 1. Create marketing goals

Step 2. Know your budget

Step 3. Choose your marketing channels and activities

Step 4. Track and measure your success

Learn more about marketing strategy and planning

Email and SMS text message marketing

Why should I do email and SMS marketing?

Learn more about email and SMS marketing

Social media marketing

Social media tips for salons, spas and clinics

Tip 1. Be consistent

Tip 2. Use multiple social media platforms

Tip 3. Plan ahead and use scheduling tools

Tip 4: Experiment with your content

Social media post ideas

Read the latest articles about social media marketing

Marketing your salon on Facebook

Learn more about Facebook marketing for salons, spas and clinics

Marketing on Instagram

Influencer marketing

Save time posting on Instagram

Learn more about marketing your business on Instagram

Digital advertising for salons, spas and clinics

How to get started with digital advertising

Learn more about digital advertising

Websites and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

Optimise your website for search engines

Learn more about websites and SEO

Word of mouth marketing: reviews, partnerships and referrals

Referral programmes

Partnerships

Online reviews

Read the latest articles about word of mouth marketing

Print and radio advertising

Why should salons do print and radio advertising?

Marketing automation and software

What is marketing automation?

Why is automated marketing useful for salons, spas and clinics?

Marketing automation ideas

How to set up automated marketing

Learn more about marketing automation and software

Free e-book: Automatic marketing guide for salons, spas and clinics

Events, sponsorships and public relations

Here are a some PR ideas to get your started:

We want your business to become more successful

KITOMBA

SOFTWARE

SUPPORT