The run up to Christmas is an incredibly busy time for salons. Everyone’s keen to be looking their best at Christmas, and the festive period makes for some great relaxation time at the salon, meaning that salons can end up working very long hours in the month of December. However this is often followed by a slump in January, people may be trying to save some money after spending a lot in the previous few weeks. Below, we explore how you can ready yourself for the new year, and try to get ahead of the game.
Marketing Campaigns
One of the first steps is to make sure customers are well aware of what your salon will be up to in January. You can capture attention by running a “new year, new you” marketing campaign, to make the most of resolutions. Plus, you can share your own resolutions on social media to engage with potential customers. This will encourage people to engage with your organisation and therefore you will be on their minds when they’re looking to having something done.
Spread The Holiday Cheer
Another way to capture attention is by spreading festive cheer over Christmas. You can do this by sending out e-cards or physical cards complete with a special offer. This could be a code entitling the recipient to money off their visit if they book before the 31st of January, this will encourage them to get their appointments booked in.
Plan Your Strategy Early
Plan well in advance. Once you have your marketing ideas set up, you’ll need to initiate them way before January to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Getting the words out to your clients ahead of time is also vital to it’s success, people cannot get things booked in with you if they don’t know what’s going on.
Your campaigns, promotions and stock all need to work in tandem to help your salon thrive in the new year. It isn’t very professional to have lots of promotions going and not have the staff or the stock to keep up with the demand, this will lead to your clients losing faith in you and not coming back. It can also mean people don’t recommend you, and in the beauty industry word of mouth means a lot.
Open House
An open house can be an effective way of getting customers through the door. Invite clients to an open day in January where they can get mini-treatments and take a look around to see if they’d like to book in anything more extensive. Having a giveaway or putting out some sample products also means that clients can research the sort of products you use, this will encourage them to come back later.
Sales
Sales can be a useful way of attracting business at this time of year. You could offer free consultations or bring down prices for that first week of January to encourage clients to visit. Making people feel like they’ve had a bargain can be a bit selling point.
Stock
Once you have everything set for January, you just need to ensure you have the stock ordered in to match the demand! Ideally, you’ll have acrylic nail kits and other essentials ready for clients. The key is to order early – preferably back in December – to make sure that everything is set for a January push.
It can be difficult getting your salon ready for the new year. But by planning ahead, carrying out marketing campaigns and ordering stock early, you should be well prepared to carry the Christmas momentum into January.