Delivering great content to buyers and engaging buyers is the new marketing. Every piece of literature with your name on it is an advert for your salon. Your sales literature is your sales-rep-on-paper. Make it persuasive enough to sell on the spot. An advertisement arrives uninvited and unexpected. It doesn’t need to be pretty or brag about your health and beauty services. Well maybe, but the most important part of your sales literature is the ability to convince someone who you have never met or has never heard of you. Printed advertising material is expensive, so make every word count. Keep it factual, clear and succinct. Give them facts that prove your service and products are superior to your competitors.

If you charge premium prices for your beauty treatments people may be hesitant at first to try your service. Baby step them into doing business with you. Offer free consultations and useful information so that people can understand the procedure and envision the results they can expect. Invest plenty thought, time and planning in your promotional material. Make them beautiful and appealing to enhance your sales. Use powerful words, phrases and images to increase your sales persuasion. Remind your clients of your benefits. Emphasise the many ways a person’s skin improves after just one “_____” treatment.

Infomation Marketing Strategy

Doctors, dentist, chiropractor, salespeople, psychologists, supermarkets, cosmetics and skin care companies etc all offer an array of information in the form of pamphlets, booklets, brochures and articles. Use this marketing strategy in your spa. Information-based material is effective to indirectly promote your techniques, products and services. The information is displayed within the spa or distributed within your local area, or to clients and prospective clients. This information is unlike a brochure, which states features and price. An information piece is more focused at educating and reads more like a press release than an advert or pricelist.

Sales information includes:

Leave-behinds: When you have completed a consultation or presentation with a prospective client, you leave them with a summarised version of the verbal information you have given them. You will supply them with a note, print-out or brochure which gives a description of the treatment or product you discussed and its benefits.

Point-of-Sale: As the name states, point-of-sale information are placed at the point of sale, usually in the reception area at the cash register. The point-of-sale should have a catchy headline and attractive visuals. Acrylic displays or frames can be used to showcase information.

Respond to enquiries: When a prospect calls you regarding a specific advert you placed, or asks a question about one of your treatments or products, they are interested and a red hot prospect. Ask them whether you may mail out information. When they have contacted you and you have sent them information and followed up, they are more likely to do business with you than a prospect who has not been contacted.

Postcards: Wouldn’t it be nice to get a pretty postcard from a salon you visited a few days ago. How often does that happen? It is a great outreach tool to say thank-you or to remind a client of her next appointment. Personalised Postcards are memorable and inexpensive. Impress your clients with your extra effort of a handwritten note.

Appointment reminders: A postal reminder results in an increase of appointments that are kept or cancelled in advance. A postal reminder and phone call is recommended for day spa’s where clients can have an appointment of several hours.  For a beauty salon a courtesy reminder call is adequate. If a client does not turn up for an appointment, it means your staff are sitting idle and you are losing money. Make it salon practice to always make appointment reminder calls the day before.

Email Marketing/Newsletter: When people share their email address with you they expect to receive something valuable. Boring and repetitive emails will lead to low open rates.

Your aim is to keep content relevant and valuable. You will need to keep your readers attention while you make an effort to influence new and repeat business.

Compelling, Informative & Useful

Content just as with regular printed marketing material; needs to grab attention and be relevant. Use catchy words that are personalized and hint to the content of your email. Your email subject line should be compelling and prompt the reader to open your email. For example if the email is about a new skin care treatment, your header may read: “New skin care treatment improves your skin immediately”

Emails containing valuable information based on your skin care knowledge and experience are generally more effective over time than email that constantly make offers and features your salon, treatments and products. Think of your content as an informative newsletter, rather than a sales letter.

Email Marketing Ideas

*You could write a product review. By giving a detailed review of a product or technique, you position yourself as the expert. Remember always to write from the client’s point of view. What’s in it for them. Offer Beauty Tips and advice. Mention products or services at the end of an article which relates to the article.

*Discount vouchers are a great way to measure the success of your newsletter. If you are not getting vouchers back, your offer is not working. Place a few ads in your newsletter. Your newsletter is like your own newspaper.

*Include pictures in your newsletter to increase the readership. You can use photographs of people using your service. Once your newsletter has been sent out, expect calls.

*Be prepared for questions. Have your staff prepared and ready. When the phone rings, have your phone scripts ready so that your enquiries can be converted to appointments and sales.

© Belinda Meyer publishes information for the Salon and Spa industry. She offers helpful information relating to health, beauty therapy, spa treatments, skin care, hair and more. Want to know more? Visit http://www.salonprofit.net