TO STRENGTHENING YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY.

During the months of September and October, you may notice the salon start to slow down a bit. In most cases, it’s just the calm before the storm. But I want to ensure you do not go into panic mode! Go into proactive mode instead! Honestly, when I was a new salon owner, I would go into panic mode when we were slow. It would make me so nervous. But then around year five or six when we would slow down a bit, I would say: “Thank you for giving me a moment to focus on the things I can't focus on when I’m busy.”

Here are four tips to get you through a minor slow down.

1 Reassess and improve your marketing strategy

Analyze your target audience, social media presence, website, and promotions. Maybe you have been wanting to implement a new referral program but haven’t had the time. Referral programs are one of the most cost-effective ways to bring in new clients; ones that actually fit your target client.

It's also said that referrals become more loyal clients as well. Who is better to promote you than a client who already knows, loves, and trusts you? Maybe you have been looking into running ads on Facebook or Instagram. A great area to dive into is your email campaigns. Are you sending out two email campaigns a month? One should be promotion/event based. And one should be education/tutorial based.

3 Engage with your community. Actively engage with your local community to build relationships and increase awareness of your salon. Maybe you start to participate in local events, sponsor charitable causes, or partner with local businesses that share your target market for crosspromotion.

Put yourself out there. Spend time getting to know other business owners and talk about ways in which you can help each other get in front of each other's audience. This is such a powerful yet cost effective way to increase revenue and build relationships.

If you live in an area with a chamber of commerce, start to put your feelers out. Start going to networking events and getting your brand and your face out there. It is a great way to meet other like-minded people and potential clients.

4 Reach out to long lost clients. Sending a ‘We miss you!’ email or text is a great way to reengage with long lost clients. Clients like to wander off at times and in a lot of cases want to come back to see you, but get nervous to reach out. Send a quick note letting them know how much you miss them and how you would love to have them back in your salon or your chair. This opens the door for them to reach out and hopefully schedule an appointment with you.

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Elevate the client experience. Slow periods provide an excellent opportunity to focus on improving the overall client experience in your salon. Maybe you carve out more time to train your team on new techniques or offer additional coaching sessions. This is also a good time to look at your blind spots. What does your retention rate look like? If you are having an issue retaining NEW clients, I suggest looking into these three areas: 1) Quality of work. 2) Price vs. value. 3) Total client experience. What does your shampoo experience look like? Do you follow up with clients within 24-48 hours of their first visit? What does your booking process look like? Is it easy and convenient? 4) Stay in touch with your clients in between services via email campaigns.