As March comes to a close, so starts one of the busiest times of the year for salons: Prom Season. But this season doesn’t affect everyone just yet, and if not then why?! If your salon is looking for a way to
bring in new clients without sacrificing the integrity of your salon look no further than your current clients! What do we mean? Keep on reading to learn more...
CGS: What It Means For Your Business
One of the most underrated client targets is young teenage girls, also known today as Generation Z. Many salons don’t realize the
buying power this young generation of possible clients have and what it takes to reach them. Often times if your salon has a large percentage
mothers in your clientele, this is an opportunity to start something called “Cross-Generational Selling”. CGS, for short, is the sales move that many companies use to gain new customers and clients through the children, family, and relatives of their current clients. It’s a genius sales move that increases cash flow into your business with almost no additional work.
April and May are the biggest months of the year for teenage girls, and boys, due to Prom and Graduation season. This is an opportune time for your business to run promotions on updos, start conversations with your clients on what their children are thinking of doing for Prom preparation and secure those appointments before anyone else! By meeting with your stylists early and even getting a schedule of when Prom is for the high schools and private schools in your area, you can secure additional revenue when your current clients aren’t coming in as often! Below we offer some additional tips on securing prom and graduation hair appointments in advance.
Instant Booking for The Phone Obsessed
Right around the middle to end of March, start meeting with your stylists to see where you have potential to target younger customers, who has clients with kids in high school? Keep a tally and work with your stylists to mention promotions on appointments for prom and graduation hair and makeup during their client’s next appointment. By having your own
custom app for your business, remind your clients they can book whenever they want, simply by downloading your app from their phone’s preferred app store. Got a busy kid? Tell them their kids can download the app and book whenever they want, this is crucial for teenage girls looking to book their appointments for the day of!
Leveraging Local Partnerships
You scratch my back, I scratch yours, isn’t that how the saying goes? And local businesses are no exception. Take a day to research the special occasion dress stores in your area and another to come up with a special and print coupons. Set up a time to talk to that store owner about working together during prom season. Maybe you recommend this dress shop for when your clients mention they are stressed about helping their daughters look for a dress, or the shop’s customers get a special discount for visiting your salon during prom season, the possibilities are endless! If your town or city has a community for small business owners available, leverage those partnerships as much as you can. By making your business more visible by being exactly where they would be shopping anyway, you bridge the gap on the services they will need during this hectic time and come out looking like a savior for being at the right place at the right time! In
Envision Cloud you can pull reports that track how many coupons were redeemed at any period of time. Partner with a local shop and have a specific coupon code for those customers to see which partnership is bringing you the most money! This helps you find out if your efforts are being wasted or not in real, concrete ways.
Targeting Them Where They Hang Out Most: Social Media
After you set up your stylists for success with their clients and you start showing up in prime prom shops, it’s time to close that visibility circle with some digital marketing. Specifically, we’re talking about Social Media Marketing, now if you haven’t done Instagram ads, Facebook ads, or even Snapchat ads, now is the time to start! You can set filters on a number of demographics to help your ad be seen by the right people and help you perform better.
Begin by setting up your
Facebook Ads Manager account, this is the only way to run Instagram ads as well as Facebook ads. After setting your ad objective, you can target your audience by age (let’s start small with 16-19) and location (the city and state your salon is located in), as well as interests (pro tip: influencers are huge with this generation, find local ones in your area and target their fans!). Determine a budget and length of time your ad will run (we always recommend starting small and depending on the results, going up from there) then hit “Publish” and watch your ad grow your presence online!
Watch Your Appointments Fill
Now that you’re visible from all points of view to your potential customers, it’s time to watch those appointments roll in! Make sure to create a special experience for your new customers coming in, even if their services are on promotion or discount, the younger a customer starts with your business the better chance you have to groom them into a quality recurring client! Create a hashtag for your salon that they can share on social media whenever they get a service done or have your stylists photograph the work and offer to send them the photos! This way your stylists have more photos to add to their portfolio and you have high-quality photos of your salon circling the web giving your salon added credibility for new clients. The key to conquering prom and graduation season is starting early and targeting the clients you already have through the tips above and reminding clients of referral bonuses! Their kids and relatives count as referrals so they can benefit from these appointments as well. Take a deep breath and go conquer this prom season! Tag us in your success stories on social media and any additional questions you may have about selling during this season or any at all.
#EnvisionThePossibilities
