How to Drive Business to Your Salon or Barbershop

Everybody needs haircuts, it’s a fact of life. Some people maintain standing weekly appointments with the same barber for decades; some people only go once every few months; some people do walk-ins whenever fancy strikes. Hair ends up on the shop floor regardless.

In a study completed in May of 2020, there were an estimated 302,410 hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in the United States. That doesn’t mean there were that many salons, of course — most salons employ multiple stylists. Still, that’s a lot of competition. 

In a one-mile radius of any given urban area, there are usually many salons. Even in less-populated areas, there are generally at least a couple of salons that consumers can choose from. That’s a lot of competition. So how do you stand out and ensure people come to your salon?

Easy Salon Marketing Strategy

On the most basic level, to drive business to your salon, you’ll need a multi-pronged marketing approach. Having a nice, big, bright sign outside your shop is almost a given, but it’s necessary. Consider that the first prong in your approach and build from there. You’ll want to have both an online and a physically local marketing presence.

Salons are one of those essential businesses that tend to attract local customers. If you offer specialized services, or your customer service is just that good, you’ll attract customers farther away, but that’s another matter. Here’s our guide to marketing for salons.

1.Grocery Store Advertising

Just like everybody needs haircuts, everybody needs groceries. Designing an advertisement for a grocery store is an excellent way to reach new customers. Using Smartsource Carts, or even better, Cartvertising, you can get your ads in front of grocery store customers the entire time they’re shopping. With the ad situated right in their cart, it’s impossible not to look at it.

What should you put in your supermarket advertisement? Well, what differentiates you from other local salons? What are you best at? Put an image or two of some of your best work. Come up with a special promotion — maybe something like “15% off all trims during August,” something that creates a sense of urgency in people who see the ad. Make them want to cash in on whatever deal you’re promoting.

2.Billboard advertising

Getting a billboard with your business information on it is very exciting. It’s big, it can be flashy, it’s usually highly visible. If you can afford it, go for it. A billboard on a main road is guaranteed to at least increase customer awareness around your business. These can be expensive, though. If you can’t afford it, go with the in-store supermarket advertising instead.

3.Online advertising

At the time of writing, it’s the year 2021. The digital age has been around for some time now, and if you don’t have any online presence, you’re massively hurting your business. 

You absolutely must have a website. If you don’t know how to build one, that’s alright. There are guides for various business types, but the principles are always essentially the same. Put all the information customers need to know about your business on a pretty website, that’s it. There are tools to help you do this.

Besides having a website, if you want customers to find information about your business online, you need to maintain a healthy presence on user-generated content outlets like Yelp. Independent consumer reviews, to be honest, rule customer perception in the modern era. 

If you’re on vacation in a town you’ve never visited before and you don’t know what to eat, what are you going to do? You’ll probably search “best restaurants near me” and scroll through the results, which will likely have user-generated star ratings attached.

You can run ads on Yelp, as well as Facebook or Google. You’ll want to have a social media strategy in place. For a salon, you’ll want to have Facebook and Instagram accounts. If you’re already social media savvy or have someone on staff who is, consider creating a TikTok.

Salon Advertising Summary

Creating your strategy is simple, it’s the execution that’s difficult. You’ll need to take amazing promotional photos. You’ll need to spend time maintaining your online presence. If your grocery ads aren’t working, you’ll need to figure out why and redesign them.

What’s crucial is that you do have a presence in multiple places. The best strategy will be a combination of grocery ads, online ads, and active social media accounts for most people. The key is having your business appear in multiple places. 

Multiple advertising sources create consumer trust, but don’t overthink it! If a customer sees one ad on Yelp, they might not care. If they see that ad, plus an ad in their local grocery store, plus a post from your account on their Instagram explore page, they’ll think: “this place must really be good!”