Holiday & Seasonal Salon Services: There is a time to promote everything! Timing is very important. You really must begin plan at least 3 to 6 months in advance of each promotion. If you want to sell more gift certificates, then plan to start promoting them at least 6 weeks prior to Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day and the year-end holidays. Makeovers, hair extensions and haircolor are great to promote any time of year, although January, spring and fall are always the best! Hair removal is perfect to promote before and during the warmest seasons each year. If you want to promote 'Prom Service Packages' in the spring with upstyles, manicures, pedicures and makeup applications - you must start to run advertisements and put up your in-salon merchandising materials 4 to 8 weeks prior to the local proms.
Seasonal Salon Retail Product Promotions: Be sure to work with you beautycare manufacturers and distributors to promote bi-monthly, holiday and seasonal retail product offerings. They will often offer special promotionally themed posters, counter cards, merchandising materials, samples and incentive contests that you and your staff should be ready to work with.
Annual & Seasonal Marketing Budgets: Carefully set an annual marketing, advertising and PR 'Budget' for your salon. This should be at least 5 to 8% of your projected total annual service and retail sales volume - for an average marketing program. If you are a new salon or plan to take an aggressive strategy, plan to set aside 8% to 10% or more. In other words, for every $100,000 in total sales you plan to create, set aside at least $5000 to $8000 in your advertising, marketing and PR fund or if you want to be more aggressive, set aside at least $8000 to $10,000 for every $100,000 you plan to attain. You will need to responsibly set challenging, yet realistic goals. .
Seasonal Advertising & Marketing Media Strategies: Set aside this projected advertising budget, so you can creatively 'invest' in building your brand and while promoting each targeted service category through paid magazine, direct mail, email blasts, Inteet and TV advertising. Today, I rally do not recommend Yellow Pages, regular newspaper advertisements, radio or TV unless you are in a small city or already have multiple large volume salon locations. Some of your seasonal marketing campaigns can be promoted with direct mail postcards, regional magazines, telephone calls, email blasts, media relations campaigns or special event marketing.
Contact each of your targeted media resources. Ask them for their annual editorial and promotional calendars, to see how you can integrate your annual plans with theirs. Create a special budget for each bi-monthly and seasonal sales period. You may want to purchase three full color regional magazine advertisements and four direct mail magazine campaigns per year, while cutting back on Yellow Pages and newspaper advertising programs.
Seasonal Media & PR Campaigns: Make sure that you carefully review your local media's annual editorial calendars. Plan to time some of your holiday promotions and seasonal promotions to match what they will feature in the local newspapers and magazines. Plan to create press releases, photographs and cover pitch letters that can inspire the local media to work with you each season, as you promote new haircolor trends, gifts of beauty, new hair removal alteatives, hair extensions or anything you want to promote. Just remember that you must present your seasonal PR campaigns in a non-commercial manner while attempting to educate the local community on salon services and products. You must also do so at least 3 to 4 months in advance, since most major media works that far in advance.
Seasonal Marketing Calendars: Start to again explore your new 'Annual Marketing Calendar' where you can effectively promote what you want to each season, rather than just opening your salon doors for business each day. Since most clients now tend to visit salons every 8 weeks these days, you really only need 6 marketing campaigns per year.
Seasonal Advertising & Marketing Media Strategies: Set aside projected annual advertising budgets of 5% to 8%, to creatively 'invest' in building your salon brand. Be ready to while promote each service category through paid regional magazine, direct mail, email blasts, Inteet and TV advertising. Your seasonal marketing campaigns should be promoted with direct mail postcards, regional magazines, telephone calls, email blasts, media relations campaigns or special event marketing.
Ask your targeted local media resources for their editorial and promotional calendars, to see how you may integrate your annual marketing plans with theirs. Create a special budget for each bi-monthly sales period. Plan to invest in full color regional magazine advertisements, email blasts and direct mail magazine campaigns per year.
Seasonal Media & PR Campaigns: Carefully time your seasonal promotions to match what the media will feature in their local newspapers and magazines. Facilitate press releases with professional photographs and cover pitch letters that will inspire the local media to work with you each season, as you promote new haircolor trends, gifts of beauty, new hair removal alteatives, hair extensions or any service you want to promote. You must present your seasonal PR campaigns in a non-commercial manner while attempting to educate the local community on salon services and products. You must also do so at least 3 months in advance, since the media works that far in advance.
Seasonal Marketing Calendars: Start to again explore your new 'Annual Marketing Calendar' where you can effectively promote what you want to each season, rather than just opening your salon doors for business each day. Since most clients now tend to visit salons every 8 weeks these days, you really only need 6 marketing campaigns per year.
Here are some examples of what to seasonally market on a bi-monthly basis.
Seasonal Marketing Calendars: Explore your ongoing 'Annual Marketing Calendar' to effectively promote what you want to each season. Since most clients now tend to visit salons every 8 weeks these days, you really only need 6 marketing campaigns per year. Here are some examples:
● January / February:
● March / April:
● May / June:
● July / August:
● September / October:
● November / December:
Plan Your Work... & Work Your Plan: You cannot wait for the magical client bus to land at the front door of your salon each day, week and season any more. With a salon on virtually every street coer and in most shopping centers, you must aggressively determine to set yourself ahead of the competition with a comprehensive marketing strategy. Any one single strategic move may not exponentially increase your business, yet at the end of the year - you really will make a big difference by doing each of 1000 things at least 1% to 10% better each year. Be realistic. There's no need to try to do one thing 1000% better. It's time to show your staff and your clients the complete array of your service specialties. Don't just open the door each moing waiting for sales to improve. Create a plan of action and work your plan. To achieve success with record-breaking results, you need to be prepared for the coming year. It's time to make your 'Annual Marketing Resolutions' work!
People Care! Through it all, remember that no one really cares how much you know and how much you advertise or even how much you spend. It is your team's priority to first show people how what you really offer, what you specialize in and how much you sincerely care about them. Start to show your staff teammates and your clients the path to success, by creating an annual marketing strategy, rather than by working one day at a time. You will soon start to ea new respect, credibility, namebrand awareness and success that everyone will enjoy!
Editorial Note: Larry H. Oskin is president of Marketing Solutions, Inc., a full-service marketing, advertising, graphic design and PR agency specializing in the professional beauty industry. Clients include salons, spas, medical spas, associations, distributors and manufacturers from across North America. Headquartered in Fairfax, VA. For more information call 703-359-6000, Email mailto:LOskin@MktgSols.com or visit www.MktgSols.com.
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