With many businesses and consumers relying on digital technology, having a well-oiled website is a necessity. But the cost of maintaining a website can be too much for some, not to mention navigating the waters of marketing a salon business online can be very intimidating especially for DIYers.

At Simply Organic Beauty, we strive to help our clients grow their business, so we’re letting you in on our trade secrets! Below are the top 5 money-making strategies you can use to bring in more clients to your salon with minimal marketing effort and expenses.

Newsletter Opt-In

Some people cringe at the thought of creating an email newsletter for their business, but the truth is, it remains as one of the most cost-effective and powerful profit-making machines. In fact, in a 2017 study by B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends, email marketing is still the most successful marketing strategy ahead of social media.¹

And it doesn’t come as a surprise. Newsletters help you grow your client list at a fraction of a cost and time. Clients and prospective clients sign up for this service voluntarily. This means they are truly interested in what your salon has to offer, helping you to easily identify who your target clients are and update them on sales and events in a single swoop.

PRO TIP: Our favorite email marketing services for your salon website are MailChimp and Constant Contact. They’re free to start and simple to use. They also offer nice templates if you’re worried about designing your own.

Online Booking

Gone are the days when clients have to personally visit and wait for businesses to open before they can book an appointment. Now clients can do that from the comfort of their own home at any time. By having an Online Booking system in place, you can receive reservations 24/7.

User-friendly Online Booking apps like Vagaro, Square, and Schedulicity allow you to embed their widget on your salon website so clients can view your calendar and book an appointment without having to go to another website. They’re convenient, take the workload off your shoulders, and make for great customer service.

Unlike phone and in-person reservations, Online Booking systems also allow clients to check out what other customers have to say about your salon’s services and products. Which brings us to our next money-making feature.

Testimonials

Here’s a fact: 92% percent of consumers read online reviews and 84% of this number trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

Yankelovich, a market research firm, found that 75% of people have negative perceptions about advertising², meaning they are savvy enough to know when a brand is being dishonest. Hence, they turn to online testimonials to validate claims.

By adding a Testimonials page to your salon website, you are “humanizing” your business and providing prospective customers a glimpse into your salon, which helps convince them to book your services. You can either activate Testimonials on your website or embed reviews from sites like Yelp, Google+, and even Facebook. This way, you get to keep clients on your site and increase your conversions.

Portfolio

Portfolios aren’t just for writers, photographers, and graphic artists anymore. In the age of social media, you’re more likely to encounter a potential client asking about a hair color they saw online. Take advantage of this by including a gallery of your work on your website.

There are hundreds of website plug-ins that allow you to embed pictures (even your Instagram page) on your website. This way you can show your skills and increase your online visibility at the same time.

Gift Cards

Gift Cards are powerful sales and relationship-building strategy every business should adopt. Unlike discount coupons, pre-paid gift cards have greater perceived value. They provide instant revenue and motivate clients to purchase your products and services immediately. In fact, 2 out of 3 consumers tend to spend more than 40% of the card’s value, and would almost always do repeat business.

Electronic Gift Card tools like Giftly and Yiftee allow your clients to buy gift cards through your site and send it to people they love. It’s one the most underestimated salon website design features!

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Sources

¹ Content Marketing Institutes. 2017. B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends. Available: http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/2017_B2B_Research_FINAL.pdf

² Elliott, S. THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; A survey of consumer attitudes reveals the depth of the challenge that the agencies face. Availanle: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/14/business/media-business-advertising-survey-consumer-attitudes-reveals-depth-challenge.html