4 Ways to Attract Clients to Your Beauty Business

As a beauty business owner, you realize that attracting new customers can be one of your biggest struggles throughout the year. At Mindbody, we know that every interaction is a chance for your business to shine and for people to thrive.  

You know that your current and prospective clients are constantly on the hunt for an exceptional experience when they visit beauty and wellness businesses—but this experience doesn’t necessarily start the second they step foot into your establishment—it actually starts well before that during the searching and booking process.   

At Mindbody, we want to enable you to create thoughtful and powerful wellness experiences for your clients with technology that helps you foster the loyalty you work so hard to achieve.  Being a Mindbody customer ensures your clients and prospects can easily book appointments at your establishment and lets you focus on providing an exceptional experience when they step foot in your business. But with so much competition out there, getting the right kind of new clients to actually visit your business can be quite a challenge. 

Luckily, there are multiple things you can do as a beauty business owner and an arsenal of tools available to you as a Mindbody customer to help take the guesswork out of attracting high-quality clients and growing your customer base. 

Here are some tips:

1. Get listed on the Mindbody app

If you’re a Booker by Mindbody customer, you now have access to the Mindbody app. This is a simple and effective way to get exposure and bookings with millions of clients actively looking for beauty services. By listing your business and services, consumers can discover you within the new beauty and wellness categories on the Mindbody app or Mindbody web experience.

There are over 2.4 million active users searching, booking & buying on the Mindbody app. And these users aren’t just anybody. They’re precisely the type of beauty and wellness lovers your business is working overtime to bring through the door.

On top of that, 82% of these app users have booked beauty/spa appointments in the past six months, with 15% booking 10 or more appointments. Further more, Mindbody data shows that:

• 61% of these app users booked at least three beauty services in the past year*
• 36% of Mindbody app users booked at least three wellness services in the past year*

Not only do these app users value beauty and wellness services, but they also bring in a strong average annual income of $141,000—and they tend to spend more on these services. In 2023, Mindbody app users spent $69 on beauty services each month on average and an additional $53 on wellness compared to the non-app users’ average of $41 on beauty and $31 on wellness.**

2. Make them an offer they can’t refuse 

One of the most effective ways to draw new clients into your beauty business is by creating an attractive, easy-to-implement offer. When implemented properly, an intro offer will bring a fresh set of clients through your salon doors that can—with the right retention plan in place—be converted into regulars.  

You’ll want to offer potential new clients the righ kind of and easy-to-implement offer for your business. Pair this enticing offer with an exceptional experience, and you have an effective way to bring new clients into your salon and retain them.

Here are a couple of intro offer examples for beauty businesses:

• For salons: Get a free deep conditioning treatment with the purchase of any hair service.  
• For spas: Get a free cupping session with the purchase of a 60-minute massage.  

With both of these types of offers, the buyer sees value in getting something for free without you sacrificing making a profit. They also have the opportunity to fall in love with another one of your services they may not have even known you offered—which is a win-win scenario. Read this blog for more tips on how to increasing the ROI of your intro offers.

3. Host an open house at your beauty business 

If you’re really looking to ramp up your beauty business, hosting an open house can be a fun and effective way to get the word out. 

While it may sound like a lot, planning your event to take place over the course of a whole working day will give you the best chances of your ideal customers walking through your door. Using the entire day (6-8 hours), instead of a limited, few hour event will make sure you maximize the potential foot traffic and visibility your business will receive. 

You will also want to consider what incentives you are offering to convince people they should check out your open house. These could include fun activities, raffles for discounted services, drinks, food, a styling education station, entertainment, or goodie bags.

During your event, you should also make sure you collect the email address or other contact information of each of your attendees. Once you have these email addresses, you can now nurture these leads through tailored communications, enticing them to return to your business.

Pro tip: If you do include goodie bags, make sure you include an intro offer within them to make sure your beauty business remains top-of-mind to people when they next consider your services.

4. Create a referral program  

Referral programs play a role in promoting customer loyalty and retention as well as a attract channel for new client acquisitions. Your current clients all have friends and family, and tapping into this network is how you can access an expansive, new pool of additional clients. 

By developing a referral program for your business you can start accessing your clients’ network.

Sources:

*Data reflects monthly average Mindbody app usage from Looker data reporting through January 2022.

**Mindbody. “Mindbody App Consumer Surveu" Wellness Index Survey.” January 2024.