5 Ways Salon Owners Can Avoid the Summertime Slump
October 18, 2022
Ah, summer—long days, warm temps and weekend getaways. It may seem like you just finished up the last few marketing tasks on your spring cleaning checklist, but our favorite season of the year is right around the corner. While your clients are hitting the beach and soaking up the sun, you may be stuck inside, scrambling to fill a wide-open appointment book at your salon. If you’re not based in a beach town, it can be a challenge to come up with salon marketing ideas that reach your clients when they’re away on vacation or to convince them to pass up time outdoors or with their family.
Here are five marketing ideas you can implement now to ensure that you get the most out of summer:
1. Promote your specials early
The end of spring is an excellent time to start marketing your summertime specials. Busy salons can lose out on sales because so many clients wait until the last minute to get that perfect beach-blonde look or their palm tree manicure for summer vacation and family gatherings. A great way to coax clients into your salon is by sending a summer-themed email campaign that notifies your clients of any specials you’re running during the season, and encourage them to book early so they don’t miss out.
Ready to take your email marketing strategy to the next level? Check out our guide.
2. Sell those gift cards
Your salon can earn a nice chunk of its annual revenue from gift card sales during any time of year. With gift card spending hitting a record of $160 billion last year, pushing gift cards during the slow summer months is a great way to have a quick win when it comes to your bottom line. With those kind of numbers, your salon cannot afford to miss out on this kind of opportunity. Don’t forget to wrap gift cards nicely and promote them in email, on your social media pages, on your website, and in your salon.
Are you ready to be a pro at selling gift cards? Check out our guide.
3. Rescue lost customers
For the clients that visited once and never came back again you can send targeted promotions to entice them to book again at your salon. Odds are, these clients have a fun vacation or family reunion coming up that they want to look the best for—or maybe they may need a fresh summer cut to combat the heat. Make sure your salon is their go-to destination with special promotions directed to them.
4. Fill slow days
Even though we look forward to this season from a personal standpoint, from a professional perspective summer can be a scary couple of months for salon owners. By using smart marketing tools, you can predict which days will be the slowest for your salon and you can create campaigns to be automatically emailed to clients to promote that day. By setting up specials to run that are only valid at less busy times, you can proactively book clients who would have otherwise booked a primetime slot on the weekends. This also helps you make room for any new clients or those who can only make it during your busy times and may otherwise have to seek out another salon to fill their needs because they didn’t plan ahead.
