Keeping Up With the Kar…Competition!
As for any business, it is always crucial to have customers in mind when developing a marketing strategy. What differs in a salon, however, is that customers expect you to constantly know what trends are happening. For the most part, customers of salons are reading fashion magazines, clicking on different beauty blogs, and hearing from their friends what celebrity is sporting what current fad. They expect to walk into a salon, tell the nail technician about a new manicure they saw, and walk out with their nails looking like a replica of Cameron Diaz’s from last week’s issue of InStyle.
Sounds a little demanding, right? Maybe. But in a world where there is a salon virtually around every corner, and trends are requiring more creativity than ever, keeping up with what’s ‘in’ is just one requirement of running a successful salon. Do your research. Read magazines. Practice, practice, practice! Once you’re in-the-know of what trends to expect customers to want, you can market your creativity in a way that many salons don’t bother with.
Now that you’ve mastered that reverse-French manicure, (amongst other trends,) you can begin putting it out there. Having a social media presence on Facebook and Twitter not only makes it easier for customers to find you and explore your talents via pictures, videos, statuses, and fellow customer comments, but it gives you search engine optimization (SEO) when consumers are trying to find you in a search engine. The difference in utilizing social media between successful businesses and not-so-successful businesses is that successful businesses give their brand a personality, much like they would a personal page. They post updates on specials and promotions, relevant news articles, pictures or videos on ventures the business has conquered, etc. Use social media in a way that makes customers look forward to seeing what has been going on in your business.
Just as having a social media presence is an imperative aspect of running a business these days, having a good website is equally important. Your website should show off your distinctive competency, whatever that may be.
By Peter DeSantis the Marketing Director at DeEnterprises Inc., a Chemical Manufacturer of Manicure and Pedicure Products. You can find Peter on Google+ and Twitter.