Internet Marketing for Salons – Nails Magazine

Article – Nails Magazine July 2011 – click either image to enlarge

Marketing on the Internet – for Hair & Beauty Salons

For many salon owners, their only attempt at Internet Marketing will have been a website produced at some considerable cost by a team of clever techies a few years ago. But the Internet is developing at a break-neck speed, and everyone salon should have an understanding of the opportunities it offers their business, and the simple tools that are now available.

To help salon owners assess their both their understanding and use of the worldwide web, this is the Salon Guru Internet Marketing Checklist. Starting with your first cautious steps onto the web, it follows a chronological sequence of using new tools and grasping new opportunities as you grow in confidence and knowledge.

Internet marketing is no longer a quick battle to get a salon website “live”, it is a long campaign with daily skirmishes. However, the rewards are higher salon turn-over, more loyal clients and cost-effective marketing spend.

Use the checklist to see how far you have travelled towards an exceptional online marketing strategy for your salon, and follow the steps to take your business to the next level.

Trainee salons – will have dipped their toe into water with a website that is now some years old and seldom has new content. They may be unaware of their visitor numbers and are unsure of their search engine ranking for keywords.

Install Google Analytics or a similar measurement tool. – It will let you measure traffic to you website but also where they came from, what pages they visit and what brought them to you website.

Start a Facebook Page for your salon. Facebook has revolutionised the way people talk, and your salon needs to be part of their daily conversation.

Analyse your search rankings using analytics and improve your website pages to gain higher positions. Better ranks=more traffic.

Graduate Salons – will have both a website and Facebook page with regular new content and engaging messages to sell your services and promote your salon.

Capture client email addresses using forms on your website or Facebook page, and plan email marketing campaigns.

Create a Calendar of messages that you can use on Facebook and in emails to promote events like Mothers Day and Christmas or your seasonal offers.

Use the new Facebook Tabs as a powerful tool to attract new clients – using newsletters, sign-up forms, voucher downloads & image galleries.

Professional Salons – will be updating their website and Facebook almost daily, sending email campaigns and improving their search rankings constantly

Offer down-loadable vouchers and guides – these are great tools to entice new clients and can be embedded in your website or Facebook Tabs.

Use Google advertising to target keywords that are high value salon services and force your way to the number 1 spot on Google.

Use Facebook adverts as engines to drive traffic to your Fan page or your website, They are local, targeted and very cost-effective.

Expert Salons – will have a busy and engaging website and Facebook page with lots of new content and great marketing campaigns,

Changeable adverts on your website allow you to add very timely promotions like Valentine’s Day.

Develop blog stories that are interesting and engaging – and bring them into your website and Facebook page.

Using Facebook Tabs you run viral campaigns where friends tell friends, and the “reach” of your messages grows exponentially.

I have condensed a 3 year campaign to create the perfect online marketing plan for your salon into just a few key steps. The process is more involved and there are many other issues to consider.

But, the first task is to identify where you are on this road-map, and do you have the drive to take the next step?

Phil Evans runs the Salon Guru web-site that encourages salon-owners to grasp the nettle/opportunity of Internet Marketing for Hair & Beauty Salons.