Last week, Instagram and Facebook were down (only for a few hours) but it got us thinking, how many businesses ONLY use social media for their digital marketing?
Although social media is absolutely imperative for digital marketing purposes, it is important to remember that:
A) your following is not a client list of information that you own, the platform does and B) only a percentage of your following actually sees your content based on the algorithm. This means that the information that you are trying to get out to your clients isn’t always received. This is one of the reasons we absolutely love the “Deals” feature on our Loyalty App system, it allows your customers to stay up to date on in salon promos even if they aren’t active on social media.
Email marketing may seem like an old school way of communicating with your clients and potential clients, but it is alive and well in 2021 more than ever. Trends show that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, customers EXPECT companies to increase their digital initiatives and presence, and email marketing is the perfect way for salons to connect with their customer base.
Email addresses are worth their weight in gold, and we want to make sure that we give you the tools to start your own email campaign or optimize your existing email game plan!
Newsletters
Newsletters are a great way to keep your clients in the loop for what’s going on in salon and/or online! You can decide how often you want to send these newsletters out to your email list and whether it’s quarterly, bimonthly or monthly, make sure to keep it consistent! Your newsletter could contain everything up and coming in your salon from deals and promos, to stylist promotions and new systems or services. It’s also a great opportunity to do a deep dive into the brands and products you carry as well as the services you offer so your guests can learn way more about it than just on a surface level. People’s attention spans on social media are so incredibly limited so you don’t want to be hitting them with boat loads of information to digest- they’ll scroll on by. When your client opens a newsletter from your salon, they’re anticipating more of a read and eager to learn, so that’s where you can do a detailed breakdown and explanation.
Newsletters are a great first step in your email marketing journey because they are relatively low maintenance and easy to plan for. You’re already creating salon promotions and have product and service knowledge that you’re dying to share- it’s just a matter of planning out when to feature what and wrapping it up in a pretty digital package!
Sales Funnel Marketing Strategy
A sales funnel marketing strategy will definitely take more time and energy to plan and execute, but the entire purpose of it is to eventually sell the consumer something (products or services). Picture the funnel like this:
The very top, wide open part of the funnel is brand awareness. This is when your consumer and potential client finds your company’s page on social media or your website and becomes aware of who you are and what you’re offering. This is where a strong social media plan and website come into play as they are typically the first place potential clients will find you.
A little further down the tunnel, where it gets more narrow, is interest. What you’re putting out on social media and online is creating enough interest in you offer for the consumer to consider purchasing. It is around this time that you want to obtain their email address so that you can provide them with even more information about your salon! A great way to score emails through social media or your website is to have an opt-in “hook” of sorts. These “hooks” are a free digital resource that your ideal client would find helpful and beneficial, enough to trade their email for it in return. Keep on reading, we’ve got a few “hook” ideas for salons and spas a little later on!
Once you have their email address, you can strategically send them emails with information about how to solve a problem and resources, services to help. This part is super important as it’s where you build rapport and trust with your email list. You have to get creative and think about what the consumer WANTS and NEEDS, and the best way to figure this out is to establish pain points. Think about the questions your clients ask you on a daily basis and create a list of topics to go further into in your email campaign. For salons and spas, this is great as you can recommend both services and products to solve the problem you have identified. However you don’t want to seem like you’re selling them something constantly, make sure to concentrate on providing them with valuable information to instil trust.
This is where the funnel becomes narrow towards the bottom as you finally reach a potential purchase. By this point, you should have created a level of trust in your email recipients as you have provided them with priceless information that they’re ready to take the plunge and buy what you’re selling. When you’re making service and/or product recommendations in your email campaign, you want to make sure to make it as easy as possible for the consumer to make the purchase. This means quick access to your online store page and online booking system so they can easily follow through with a product purchase or service booking.
Now we’ve made it to the very bottom of the funnel, but that doesn’t mean you’re finished! Now you’ve made a customer, and it’s just as much work to retain a customer and make them loyal fans of your salon business. Continue to shower them with valuable information that will leave them wanting more, and repurchases will naturally follow.
Sales funnel email marketing is great for all salon businesses, but particularly those with online stores. The reach is further with a sales funnel for online stores as you’re not limited to only those in your area. This marketing strategy definitely takes planning but the impact it makes is huge.
Email Marketing Systems
There are countless different platforms you can use for your email marketing. If you use a POS system like Meevo or Phorest, you may have a built in email marketing system that you can take advantage of. If not, here are a few of our platform recommendations.
MadMimi is the platform that we here at Salon S.O.S use and we are big fans. It is super easy to navigate, create aesthetically pleasing emails, schedule email send outs, and create drip campaigns!
*A drip campaign is a planned, scheduled sequence of emails that is sent out in a strategic timeline after sign up*
Plus, MadMimi’s customer support is out of this world which is important when you’re new to the email marketing game!
MailChimp is another one popular email marketing program to create simple or more elaborate email campaigns. It’s got all of the analytic bells and whistles that you want and need from an email marketing platform so you can review and adjust as needed to have a more successful email campaign. To learn more about MailChimp, click here!
There are countless other email marketing platforms out there to suit every businesses budget and needs. Read up and compare the features of each platform and evaluate if it meets your salons email marketing needs. Here’s a great list of the top email marketing platforms in 2021.
“Hook” ideas
Quizzes
Quizzes are a great way to get people to sign up for your email list and for salon/spas, the opportunities are endless! You could do everything from quizzes to determine the right service or product to just for fun, “buzzfeed-esque” quizzes.
There are tons of apps can use to create your own custom quizzes- Here's a great list of platforms for every salon marketing budget!
Freebies
There are many free download options for your salon to create. Here’s a few ideas for you to brainstorm on.
-Weekly Hair Style Challenge with daily suggestions and video tutorials. This is also a great way to have them interact with you on social by tagging their at home style.
-Product Tutorial Video. You could have the option for them to trade their email in exchange for tutorials on how to use your salons popular products with tips and tricks to get the most out of their purchase. You can also use this in salon with product purchases to add their email to your campaign and help them learn more about their new at home hair care!
-Downloadable “Ultimate Guide To ___”
You could do this on a range of topics like “The Ultimate Guide to maintaining your blonde” or “Your Guide to Healthy Hair” or “The Only Lash Extension After Care Manual You’ll Ever Need” etc. Get creative with it and focus on the pain points we went over earlier- find the problem and then offer the solution.
Make sure your freebies are easy to follow and easy on the eyes. You’re exchanging it for the consumers email, so you want to make sure they aren’t disappointed with the quality of their download. It’s also the first major point of contact and an introduction into the sequence of informative emails, so make sure you make a great first impression and keep them wanting more! We recommend using Canva to create stunning, downloadable freebies.
Tips
Best time to send your emails
Since you’ll be able to schedule your emails to send at any time, you’ll want to choose a time that your email will perform the best. In 2021, emails sent at 8am, 1pm and 5pm during the week seem to perform the best. However you’ll want to identify your ideal clients typical day and send accordingly. The analytics feature on your email marketing platform will help you identify which emails perform the best at which times so you can adjust until you figure out the perfect timing for your audience.
Email Subject Line
It is SUPER important to have a catchy, scroll stopping subject like for your email. It can make the difference in whether your email gets opened at all, so to make sure your email list gets all of the juicy info in the email, spend extra time coming up with a killer subject line.
Spark curiosity using phrases like:
-You don’t want to miss this
-I can’t believe this happened
-5 reasons you NEED ____
Think of emails you receive from businesses, what stops you in your tracks and peaks enough interest to open the email and read? Use this as inspiration to create your own catchy subject lines!
OUR CHALLENGE TO YOU
The time to start email marketing in your salon is NOW people! We challenge you to do your own research on the never ending list of email marketing for your business benefits and then ask yourself what you’re waiting on! We live in a digital world that is constantly evolving, but we can always count on the reliability and consistency of email.
If you don’t currently use email marketing, start small by planning a simple newsletter campaign. We challenge you to shoot for one newsletter per month, and the best way to do this is to lay out your year and come up with topic points for each month, finishing with 12 newsletter guidelines. This way, you have the layout for what each monthly newsletter will consist of, you just have to fill in the blanks! This is also a great way to stay on top of monthly deals and promotions and have a solid, organized game plan for the year. If you find an email marketing platform you like, you can plan and schedule the year in advance to automatically send out every month so you don’t even have to think about it. If you’re not ready for a professional platform, you can also create a gorgeous newsletter using a template on Canva that you can then send to your email database from your business email.
If you already use email marketing for your salon, we challenge you to dig deeper and work to grow your email list using one of our suggestions above. A sales funnel may seem intimidating, but we’ve got a simple formula for you to follow to create a solid sequence.
Welcome Sequence
Start with your “hook”- a freebie download to get new emails for your campaign. This will kick off their email sequence when they receive an email to download their freebie. This is a great opportunity to introduce yourself and your salon company to this potential client as well as to let them know what type of information they will be receiving from you through your email communication. Build excitement and anticipation for the next email coming their way!
Once they’ve received their welcome email, we suggest following this 3x3x3 rule- 3 serving emails, 3 problem solution emails, and 3 promotion emails.
Serving emails are strictly for the purpose of providing the recipient with useful, information gold. These are the emails that will help build trust with your audience as you are not selling them anything, you are just providing them with free, useful information. Some examples of this could be suggestions for best hair care practices, styling tips or concentrating on a specific issue and giving a hot take on the topic.
Problem solution emails are just that- solving a problem that your audience has with products or services you offer. Example: How to repair damaged hair using these products, how to enhance natural curls with these styling products, the best service for low maintenance etc.
Promotion emails are where you’re featuring a specific service or product you sell and explaining why your audience needs it.
By sending emails in this sequence, it feels less pushy and salesy to your campaign audience. When people feel as if they are constantly being sold to, it can turn them off and they may delete your emails without reading or unsubscribe altogether. Provide value, and then ask for business! This formula also makes it easy to create your emails in batches so you can better plan out your campaign in advance.
It doesn’t matter the frequency of your email campaign, it’s more important to focus on consistency. Pick a realistic time frame for your email send outs that works for you and won’t overwhelm or cause you too much stress. You can easily increase the frequency once your list grows and you start to see the return on your investment of time.
We can’t wait to see what you do with salon’s email marketing! Make sure to tag us on social in any of your freebie hooks or newsletter announcements @salon.s.o.s
If you want to check out our own freebie download, click here to score your own 35 Day Social Media Content Calendar!
‘Til next time,
Your Team at Salon S.O.S