You’ve spent tons of time beautifying your clients, and they show their appreciation with their loyalty. But you’ve still got gaps in your schedule.
Getting more loyal customers who appreciate your services can be difficult. As you know, people are more picky about salons than they are about which outfit they’ll wear on their next night out.
Growing your salon’s clientele can be a challenge. But don’t worry - we’ve got a few strategies that you can follow.
Take Your Website from Average to 10/10
Almost all salons have websites, but most of them are pretty average-looking. Stand out from the crowd by presenting a beautified site design.
Follow these steps to enhance your website’s appearance:
- Pick a unique color combination that matches your salon’s colors. For instance, if your physical brick-and-mortar sign features burnt orange and cream, your site should have these colors, too.
Doing this will keep your brand image consistent, and you’ll appear more professional, which can grab potential clients’ attention.
- Include only high-quality pictures of your services. These photos will mirror your work quality. In potential clients’ minds, the photos they see are equal to the service level they’ll get.
So be very selective when choosing photos - seek a second opinion from your staff members about which ones should be uploaded. It goes without saying, but always get a client’s permission to use their picture. For bonus points, feature a client review under each photo on your site. This will reinforce your salon’s skills.
- Ensure clients know where to find your salon. Include a page with a map showing your salon’s location, and make sure you have your salon’s physical address visible on all pages.
Clients will be able to copy your address and paste it into Google Maps for directions nicely and easily.
- Having your site linked to Google Business is a non-negotiable! If you haven’t done this yet, simply sign into Google (or follow the steps to create a Google account), click on Google Business options, and follow the account-creation instructions.
Once you have a Google Business Profile, confirm with Google via email or over the phone that your business exists. People will then be able to find you with ease and leave reviews.
- Draw a crowd to your site by creating blog and video content. Write articles about the newest trends like nail finishers, hairstyles, and anything that is unique to your salon’s business.
You don’t need to write blogs daily - once a month is doable. The main idea is for you to showcase your business expertise to clients so they’ll choose you for their next salon service. Everyone wants to be beautified by an expert.
While you’ll need to spend a little more time to make your site stand out from the crowd, doing so will be worth it. When your site looks good, clients will be more likely to visit your salon.
*Protip: Don’t have the time to polish your site? Hire a professional website designer to do your work for you. Find a design pro on freelance websites like Upwork and Fiverr, and walk them through the entire site design process so they can create exactly what you want.
You’ll also be able to negotiate rates with the designer you choose. Hiring a freelancer to help with site design makes it super easy.
Build an App for Your Salon
Want to save time booking appointments and leverage features that will attract even more clients to your salon? Build your very own app with Adalo.
Hold up, don’t you need tons of programming, coding, and technical knowledge to build your own app? With Adalo, a no-code app builder, you don’t need any technical knowledge whatsoever.
Using Adalo’s seamless drag-and-drop interface, you’ll have the design freedom to create your very own salon app to your exact ideas without writing any code.
Here are just a few tools you can add to your Adalo-made app:
- A super slick and easy-to-use online booking system. Let your clients choose a time that suits them from a schedule you create. You’ll be able to confirm their reservation with the push of a button. Say goodbye to your physical calendar and spend more time with clients.
- Build a messaging system to communicate with your clients. With your own messaging system, neither you nor your clients will have to sieve through personal messages or WhatsApp threads to connect.
Your own messaging system will make you way more professional than your competition that relies on texting their clients.
- Use Adalo’s push notification feature to run promotional periods a few times each month to spotlight new products or services. This can get current clients into your salon more often.
Get more clients by featuring a referral period where you give clients a discount when they bring a buddy into your salon. Doing this consistently should increase your clientele.
- Adalo comes packed with over 5,500 integrations to popular tools and platforms. For instance, you’ll be able to accept payments with Square, Stripe, and PayPal and transfer this information directly to your QuickBooks account.
You’ll be able to organize your finances more easily and effectively with your own Adalo-made app.
Publish your app to your website, the Apple App Store, or the Google Play Store. Your clients can easily download your app from these platforms, so no one will have any excuses about not knowing where to find your app.
Team Up with Local Small Businesses
Your community is most likely full of businesses that want to increase their clientele just like you. Reaching out to businesses like these and collaborating to serve each other’s clients is a win-win for everyone.
We’ve come up with three collaboration ideas for your salon and other local businesses:
- Boutique clothing stores that cater to niche fashion tastes will pair nicely with your salon. Donning a new outfit to complement their slick hairstyle, manicure, pedicure, or facial can make any client feel fit for the red carpet.
- When people treat themselves and their significant others to a Michelin-star restaurant, they’ll want to look the part. Partner with gourmet restaurants so their clients can come to you for a spruce-up before their epic 12-course dinner.
- Day spas, wellness, and fitness centers have a clientele dedicated to self-care. Many of them might jump at the beautification service you offer after a massage or sauna session.
Approach business owners and propose package deals. For instance, offer a salon service after a day spa treatment. You can even go out of your way and travel to a spa or workout center to serve participating clients on the spot.
Doing this will show your partner businesses that you’re willing to go the extra mile for collaboration. Many business owners will appreciate your diligence and will want to strike up a working relationship. You’ll also get free advertising wherever you go.
While you might not be able to get a discount with every business you approach, strive for in-shop advertising at a minimum. Offer to hang a poster of the business you want to work within your salon in exchange for them doing the same. This will give your salon more exposure around town, which can result in more people visiting your salon.
Conclusion
Increasing your salon’s clientele is a long game. You’ll need to put in work every day to fill up your online scheduler. Always write articles monthly to showcase your expertise, and switch up the pictures of satisfied clients on your site every few months. Keep optimizing your Adalo-made app - there are over 5,500 integrations to explore!
Continue to seek out businesses for collaboration and offer to host special events. Actively building partnerships in the community will not only grow your salon’s clientele but will also build your network and you’ll make some fellow business owner friends in the process.
