The Tremendous Power of Social Media…
Our society is changing so rapidly that it’s hard to keep up sometimes. Now, often times it doesn’t necessarily change for the better. I mean how many “Reality TV” shows can our society watch before everybody’s mind turns to mush? I think we’re truly bumping up against the ceiling sometimes.
But, every once and a while, I run into something that is truly amazing when it comes to helping the little guy. And I’m talking about using the power of “social media” to promote your salon.
Social Media refers to a particular type of website that is used on the Internet. You may have heard of things like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and My Space over the past few years and thought “How can this really help me?”. And quite frankly, in a lot of cases, they can’t really help you all that much at all.
But there is another type of “social media” site that is catching on like gangbusters and is extremely powerful for salons. In fact, salons are featured on it and have gotten over 1496 new clients in a single day! No, that is not a misprint.
1496 new pre-paid clients in only a day!
This type of “social media” site can change a salon overnight. The name of the site is called Groupon.com. It is a free membership site that people cansign up for – that features discounted services at businesses. These businesses are both large and small. The business will put together a compelling offer that will entice new clients to them.
Salons, and particularly day spas, are perfect candidates for these types of sites because of a few factors. One, the people who sign up for the offer, pre-pay upfront for the services. Two, you can “upsell” them other types of services when they come in. And three, you will be getting new clients that would have never come to your salon any other way.
I have recently seen a nail salon offer a discounted manicure/pedicure and got 1496 people to sign up. Now, this is not the type of situation that you can give 20% off and 1000 people are going to sign up for it. The discount needs to be greater than 50% off!
But, what do you care if they’re clients that would never have come to you otherwise, you will upsell them other stuff, and a percentage will rebook appointments and will be lifetime clients? Remember my blog post of about a month ago called “Why Some Stylists Can Actually Think Like – Monkeys”. (You can read it again by clicking this link http://www.hairmaxsalonsoftware.com/why-most-stylists-actually-think-like-%e2%80%93-monkeys/)
We are in a new world today. People are looking for “deals” in order to move off the sidelines. You need to realize that we are not in 2007 any longer. Give them a great incentive to try your salon out and reap the long-term benefits.
A few last things. Make sure you keep track of these “groupon” clients in your HairMax salon software because you know that these clients are rabid consumers of discounts. They should be grouped as a class by your salon software because you will want to advertise to them as a group in the future.
There are other sites like Groupon but this one seems to pull in the most clients. Try it out and let me know how you make out.
Best regards, Steve Sampson
HairMax Salon Software is a product designed to be the best investment your salon has ever made. It is not only the easiest and most powerful salon management software on the market. It is from a company dedicated to becoming the ultimate VALUE source to the industry.
A Simple Idea That Will Increase Walk-ins Every Week
I’m sure that you’ve heard the old saying “Real Estate is all about location, location, location”. And even in these trying times of a real estate collapse – the best locations have held up much better than the poor locations. Well, guess what? Most salons are actually paying premiums for salon locations and are not even scratching the surface of the actual benefits!
Let me ask you a question. When you rented your location, did the landlord sell you on the fact that “x” amount of cars passed by your spot every day? Or that “x” amount of people walked by your salon every day? Guess what? You are paying a premium for that location. So, wouldn’t it make sense to maximize the effectiveness of what that location brings?
Ok, that’s kind of an obvious answer. So let me give you a little idea that will definitely bring in more than a few new clients each and every week – that you would never have gotten otherwise. This is a good one because it’s cheap, effective, requires almost no effort to implement and can be done in just a few hours. You know – a busy salon owners dream. Here it is:
Think about all the distractions that a person has going on when they are driving a car (or even walking down the street for that matter). The human brain filters out “familiarity” with such precision that unless a person has a certain “want or desire” on their mind – everything around them just becomes white noise. So, in order to “get noticed”, it stands to reason that you need to stand out.
Well, if your sign is facing the street at a 90-degree angle and looks like all the other signs around you – what do you think the chances are that it’s going to get noticed? I would say pretty slim. But guess what? You are still paying a premium for that location. Does that make any sense? This is the way to maximize that value.
Make up a great sidewalk sign.
A sidewalk sign is a great, low-cost way to increase the amount of walk-ins that your salon gets EVERY WEEK. Think about it, how many times have you been walking down the street or driving by a location and a well crafted sidewalk sign has gotten your attention? I’m sure it’s too many times to count.
But here is a little trick. You need to get one where you can easily change the message every week. And you need to put a compelling headline on the sign to really maximize it’s value. For example: Don’t just put up a sign that says the name of the salon or the services that you offer. Put up a sign that gets their attention.
Maybe you are running a special this week on waxing. Put up a sign that says – New Client Special – 50% off Facial Waxing. Or maybe you are running a special on pedicures or even hair services. The key to making this work is to (1) target first-time clients only and (2) give them a reason to stop and try your salon out.
If you don’t have a sign in front of your business you’re letting hundreds if not thousands of potential client get away every single day. You would be shocked at how many people walk or drive past your business on any given day. You would be even more surprised, however, at how many people would actually stop and come in if they only knew what you had to offer.
There are many “sign” companies in your area that can supply your salon with a great sidewalk sign. How many clients are you letting get away every day? Why not just give them a call today and start the process.
Best regards, Steve Sampson
HairMax Salon Software is a product designed to be the best investment your salon has ever made. It is not only the easiest and most powerful salon management software on the market. It is from a company dedicated to becoming the ultimate VALUE source to the industry.
