Top Five Ways to Market Your Spa or Salon
By Kathryn M. D’Imperio
In the fast pace of work, school, and having a family, a person’s health and general wellbeing often take a fourth or fifth spot in the line of priorities. What some people may not realize is how improving their health and reducing their stress levels can dramatically enhance so many aspects of life, from available brain power to performance at work, to generally feeling better and being in a happier mood around their families. For these reasons and so many more, it is highly important to encourage people to take time for themselves to relax and unwind.
Spas and salons offer so many ways for women and men alike to take a break from the crazy pace of life, spending a few not-so-selfish moments for themselves. From massages to manicures and pedicures and everything in between, a simple spa appointment once every month or so can really improve someone’s quality of life.
To help others renew their mental, physical, and emotional balance, spas offer so many healing therapies. Here are a few of the top ways to market your spa or salon, to fill open appointments, and to bring in new clientele and keep current customers coming back.
Spa Marketing Tips
Try these tips to improve sales and invite new customers into your wellness establishment.
1. Send out a spa newsletter. Offer beauty tips, healthy recipes, and discounts on your services.
2. Create an e-mail list. Get your returning customers as well as first-timers to subscribe to your mailing list for spontaneous promotions and unadvertised specials. You can even offer your guests a special deal on their birthdays.
3. Offer referral rewards to customers who bring in friends. Turn your best customers into ambassadors for your brand. Offer them referral cards with their name on them, and reward these customers with a free treatment after they send you new business.
4. Take advantage of social media. Your customers will love to know what’s going on at your spa and social media gives you a more personal, trusted approach to your marketing.
5. Market your open appointments online. Using a service that promotes your open appointments for free can be a no-brainer, bringing you new customers and filling up inventory that would otherwise go unused. Offer a nice discount on last-minute appointments at La Nirvana, a specialty site that brings spas and salons new customers at no cost whatsoever to the spa.
Traditional print media and printed marketing collateral may be slowing a bit in some spa marketing campaigns, but these materials can still be useful in getting new customers and repeat visits. Spa business cards, brochures with pricing, coupons, and holiday greeting cards can all contributed to improved sales and busier scheduling. More modern spa marketing techniques include a strong focus on virtual promotion, including Websites, social media, and participating in special spa deals online.
Most people looking to book a spa appointment are going straight to Google rather than looking up spa listings in the yellow pages. Flash sites like Groupon offer spas a fast and effective way to fill up unsold spa appointments. These sites typically offer a deal of the day or deal of the week, which often means the spa marketing benefits are short-lived. With a somewhat different business model, La Nirvana offers discounts on spa treatments in Boston on an ongoing basis to promote both new and repeat visitors for the spas. This can be valuable in extending the reach of the spa marketing campaign without an expiration date.
The key to success is filling open appointments and getting your customers to keep coming back. Happy customers means more repeat visits and more friends finding out about your services through these content customers. If you promote your spa effectively, you should find that your open appointments are fewer and farther between, making your scheduling book a lot fuller!
Tags: beauty writing
