by Greg Milner | Aug 19, 2013 | Email marketing, Featured, Newsletter marketing, Website Marketing
‘Everybody’ is rushing headlong into social media, Facebooking and Instagramming themselves into a lather of red-faced emotional excitement. It’s the bright shiny object, and the ‘experts’ are shouting at whomever will listen, “don’t bother with anything else, Facebook etc is where you need to be.”
Well, let’s get a little perspective here. Sometimes, you need to take a deep breath and look at things with a little of what I call ‘accurate thinking.’
Let’s take a quick look at what kinds of media are available for salon & spa owners to use in their marketing. I’ll lump Facebook, Google, email, Twitter, mobile phones and anything else you use a screen to look at as ‘Online’. (And I’ll include in that the ‘daily deals’, which are marketed exclusively online.)
Then there’s everything else. All that old-fashioned, dreary, clunky, ‘expensive’ stuff that suddenly is so Nineties, so last season; direct mail, print advertising, TV and radio, outdoor advertising – I’ll lump all that together and call it ‘Offline’.
Get hundreds of done-for-you salon marketing & advertising templates as a Member of Worldwide Salon Marketing here.
It seems pretty clear to me that salon & spa owners are increasingly falling in love with ‘online’, rushing to it like lemmings to the edge of the cliff. And in the mad rush, increasingly ignoring everything else. Email, social media, web marketing are the new Kings, relegating ‘traditional’ media as mere serfs and peasants.
Well, I’m here to tell ya, if that’s how you’re thinkin’, you’re missing opportunity. There IS validity in the argument that says “look around at what everybody else is doing, and do exactly the opposite. The herd, as Warren Buffett is fond of saying, is almost always wrong.
Victoria’s Secret mail 400 million catalogs a year. Hmmm, if online marketing’s so hot, why would they do that?
Here’s why you need to pay attention:
As more and more businesses abandon ‘old-fashioned’ media in favor of the siren call of online, seduced by it’s newness, it’s perceived cheapness, its ‘instant’ results, they’re unwittingly running into quicksand. The law of diminishing returns applies. You can double the power of a car’s engine, but the speed only increases by 30%, not 100%.
The more people rush to online, the more difficult it is to attract attention, to be heard above the ever-growing noise.
And suddenly, back in the ‘offline’ room, you can hear a whisper. Because nobody’s there. And that’s where opportunity lies, my friends.Think about this: your mailbox was once one of the few methods by which advertisers could reach you. Today, almost nobody sends marketing by direct mail any more.
And here’s the secret: those in the ‘almost nobody’ category are reaping the rewards of near-empty mailboxes.
According to the Direct Marketing Association of America, Victoria’s Secret ships more than 400 MILLION catalogs a year in the US alone – that’s 1.33 per person. And merchants across the US are sending a total of over 20 billion catalogs annually, a figure that’s increasing by 5% annually.
They’re doing it because
a) it works. And it’s working better and better, as it competes with fewer and fewer marketing messages directed at the consumer’s physical mailbox. The air in the mailbox is getting clearer and clearer.
b) They’ve figured out that ignoring direct mail would actually reduce the effect of the effort their putting in online.
The really smart businesses are increasing their use of old-fashioned media, not decreasing it. Victoria’s Secret sales generated by a combination of catalog-driving-to-online are increasing 10% annually, compared with only 4% annual increase in the company’s stores.
Is online really the ‘holy grail’? Not according to some of the world’s biggest ‘online’ companies. Google persistently uses hard copy to pitch its ad space. Hmmm. If Google can’t figure out how to market themselves using only online media, how are you doing?
Get hundreds of done-for-you salon marketing & advertising templates as a Member of Worldwide Salon Marketing here.
Price comparison website moneysupermarket.com has just hired a direct marketing company to manage its first hard-copy mail campaign. Huh? Now, hooda thunk it – why would an online company want to use old-fashioned, clunky letters ‘n stamps ‘n envelopes?
And as more and more email becomes pesky, direct mail becomes more welcomed. According to research by Pitney-Bowes (admittedly a direct mail specialist) more than half of people surveyed got annoyed by monthly emails. Only 23% found regular direct mail aggravating.
There are very good reasons we at WSM focus a large amount of time on creating more and more advertising and marketing templates for our member salons in a form designed to be used in good ole hard copy; print ads, posters, letters, mailbox flyers and more. Email and other forms of online marketing might be efficient. But nothing is as effective, as long-lasting as hard copy.
WSM member salons & spas can access literally hundreds of templates for all their advertising needs in the Members Only sealed section website here.
by Greg Milner | Aug 6, 2013 | Blog, Featured
Young beauty therapists are getting a bad rap all over the country for a perceived lack of competence, bad attitude and under-developed social skills.
But is it all their fault? There’s a widespread belief that beauty colleges are taking just about any student with a pulse, rushing them through a short course, and shoving them out the door as fast as they can. In this LIVE online “Q & A”, get YOUR burning questions answered by our Panel of Experts – senior industry stakeholders who all know there’s a problem, and want to find ways to solve it.
Click here to go to the Worldwide Salon Marketing TV page – and POST YOUR QUESTIONS!
by Greg Milner | Jul 16, 2013 | Advertising Tips, Featured, The Smell of Success
A facial with snail slime? It’s generated a fortune in free publicity for one Tokyo salon
I’ve been nagging salons and spas for years; “Find a Niche – or die.” If you continue to try to be all things to all people, you’ll never be anything of much value to anybody. Two examples of exactly that kind of ‘niche thinking’ leaped out at me from my newspaper this morning.
The first, from Japan, where one salon in central Tokyo has generated itself literally millions of dollars worth of publicity worldwide after a UK TV reporter tried out a new facial treatment – snail slime!
[cf]Snails[/cf]
As part of the salon’s “Celebrity Escargot Course” customers will get five minutes of snail therapy, along with massage and other facial treatments. The snails alone cost $106 – no doubt because they’re ‘organic’, surely a word that’s been re-invented as synonym for ‘expensive’.
The second example of clever niche salon marketing is from my own home town. Barber shops have been struggling for years against the rising tide of ‘unisex’ salons, but they’re fighting back – with the old-fashioned cut-throat razor.
As you’ll see from the article below (click to enlarge), these barber shops are – perhaps unwittingly, but fortunately – cashing in on the nostalgia market; a growing hankering for old-fashioned values, old-fashioned smells, ‘old’ technology – almost a revolt against the overwhelming glitz and bling of technology, speed, celebrity obsession and shiny new things.
So why am I telling you this? Hopefully, to get you thinking, planning, scheming, conniving, working to develop, exploit and cash in on your own niche, your own specialist area, your own small but lucrative area of expertise that can’t be found anywhere else, that can’t be commoditized.
One that can’t be compared on price alone with the me-too services offered by a dozen other salons within walking distance of your own.
NOTE: Niche products and niche marketing is the subject of an entire seminar session we’ll be conducting for Worldwide Salon Marketing member salons in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane later this year.
Worldwide Salon Marketing is THE place salon owners come to for expert advice, tools, strategies and done-for-you systems online and offline that make marketing your salon easy.
When you join WSM, you’re becoming a Member of the world’s most exclusive group of entrepreneurial salon & spa owners.
SPECIAL OFFER: Get the world famous Essential Salon Owner’s Marketing Toolkit when you sign up for My Social Salon, the ONLY complete, done-for-you web, mobile and ‘traditional’ marketing system for hair & beauty salons.
Click here to watch the free video.
by Greg Milner | Jul 8, 2013 | Blog, Featured, Latest News, The Smell of Success
The Sales Prevention Department is one of my favourite departments in any business.
All businesses have one, some more finely tuned than others. A stand-out in my neck of the woods is a local premium car dealer. Not once, but twice has this dealer missed out on a lucrative sale because their SPD did such an extraordinary job.
Most recently, Michelle and I decided to trade her Audi TT two-seater roadster for something a little more practical, if not quite so much fun. Her elderly parents have been finding it increasingly difficult to lower themselves into the convertible (and she can only carry one of them at a time) and besides, there’s nowhere for her very hairy dog, except the passenger seat.
So we trundled down to the local Audi dealer the other day to see what was on offer. After the obligatory tour of the showroom’s bright-shiny new models, the sales manager instructed his rookie young salesman to call me during the week and arrange a trade-in valuation on the roadster. He duly wrote down my number and promised to call me on Wednesday.
With thanks to the Audi dealer’s Sales Prevention Department, Michelle ends up with a VW Polo isntead
And then…and then…nothing happened. This did not really surprise me. Three years ago I’d visited this same dealer, ticked a bunch of option boxes on a new Audi Q5 SUV, asked the salesman to add it all up and give me a call, and went home. I never heard from him again. Four days later, I bought a new Range Rover Sport instead.
This time, I waited more than a week. I refused to call him and do his job for him. I’m a stubborn guy, but eventually his disdain for my money wore me down. I gave up waiting, drove down to a neighbouring yard where they sell Audi’s sister cars, VW, and bought a new Polo GTI there and then.
Now, you don’t sell expensive cars. You sell hair & beauty services, of one kind or another. But I bet you have a well-tuned SPD too. Answer the following questions with a Yes or a No.
- When a first-time walk-in or phone caller inquires about an appointment, prices, services or anything else, do you
a) have a process in place to obtain her name and contact details on the spot, in exchange for a small gift voucher to use on her first booking? Or…
b) do you simply let them walk out of your shop with a wave and a smile, never to be seen again?
- Assuming you don’t have a full-time receptionist, and have to let some calls go through to your answering machine, do you
a) Check the answering machine at frequent intervals during the day, and return sales inquiries instantly, or
b) check the machine at the end of the day, and make a mental to note to get back to them tomorrow…or maybe the day after…or next week…?
- When you place an ad, distribute a mailbox flyer, email an offer or post a special promotion on your Facebook page/website, do you
a) divert your salon phone to a mobile to make sure that prospects reading your offer after business hours can actually call and buy your offer right away, or
b) not bother, assuming they’ll leave a message on the answering machine that you or your staff check sometimes…if you/they remember?
If you answered ‘b’ to any of these questions, congratulations – your Sales Prevention Department is in good shape. But it can always be fine-tuned further. For example,
- When a client is at reception paying their bill, do you
a) ask her an open question such as “Now Mary, just looking ahead four weeks, we have a spot available on Tuesday the 14th at 10am or Thursday the 16th at 3pm, which of those two would suit your best?” Or do you
b) Simply ask a lazy “Would you like to re-book?” – to which there is only a yes or no answer, and of course 90% of people will say ‘no, but thanks.’
- You’ve spent hours, days, weeks preparing your special offer, you’ve spent more time and money printing, buying newspaper space, do you
a) spend an equal amount of time training the staff on exactly how to respond to the phone calls generated from the marketing campaign, right down to the exact words to say to upsell to a higher-value package. Or do you
b) run the ad or distribute the flyer, having neglected to actually tell the staff you’re doing it.
Again, if you answered ‘b’ to those as well, your Sales Prevention Department is working a treat. After all, business is so much easier when you don’t have all those pesky customers, nagging you to take their money.
Get the Essential Salon Owner’s Marketing Toolkit – and KILL your Sales Prevention Department! The original and still the best marketing & sales system in the hair & beauty industry, the Toolkit is the foundation of the world’s only complete ONLINE & OFFLINE system designed ONLY for salons & spas.
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by Greg Milner | Jul 5, 2013 | Blog, Featured
Disgruntled customers can trash your reputation online…just as easily, happy ones can make all the difference
The world has changed. Just a few years ago, your clients might tell a handful of people about their experience – good or bad – in your salon. Now, they can tell millions with the click of a mouse, thanks to the proliferation of review sites online.
Review sites have become a major cog in any salon’s marketing systems. Millions of people make their travel decisions based on the reviews they read on Tripadvisor (www.tripadvisor.com). Millions more choose a restaurant based on the reviews on Urban Spoon (www.urbanspoon.com) and others like it. For many small businesses, particularly in the hair & beauty industry, they can be the difference between attracting a new customer, or repelling her.
That reviews have become so important makes sense; studies show that more than 70% of people now make their buying decisions after doing an online search.
Getting a review score like this (for one of our Worldwide Salon Marketing member salons, Lady at Bay in Sydney) can do wonders for your ‘Reputation Management’ online.
The trouble is, many salon owners are often unaware of their online reviews, a situation that’s spawned a brand new industry called ‘Reputation Management’, with some companies paying thousands of dollars a month to consultants just to manage, monitor and enhance what their customers are saying online.
In this interview, listen in as founder of Worth of Mouth Online, Fiona Adler explains why businesses need not fear their reputation will be trashed online…
[cf]Fiona[/cf]
For the full interview, Members can log in to the Worldwide Salon Marketing Members Only ‘sealed section’ website here. ‘
Want help with your online reputation? Call Worldwide Salon Marketing on 08 9443 9327 (North America 250 590 0449, New Zealand 09 476 1592)
by Greg Milner | Jul 1, 2013 | Email marketing, Featured
I get literally hundreds of emails every day. And I don’t mind, because I study a lot of them for clues to getting better response to my own email marketing.
So, if you’re using email to market to your clients, here are a couple of things you need to pay attention to.
Here’s what NOT to do; below is a picture from part of my inbox. Now, in this case I’m using Gmail. As you can see from these two examples, the subject lines (in bold) are dreary enough to deserve instant deletion.
But it gets worse. Right after the subject line, text that screams
“This is a boring, automatically-generated piece of advertising junk, please ignore me!”
Now, the reason this happens is because these businesses are
a) not very clever at this sort of thing, and don’t actually examine their own marketing, and
b) they’re sending email using an html editor, which inserts all sorts of graphics and pictures to make it look pretty.
What they’re too dumb to figure out is that people like to feel they’re being written to personally, not just a number in a mass marketing exercise.
The non-bolded line of the first email above is clearly taken from the first line of the html email below:
Second, there was absolutely zero attempt to mail-merge my name into the subject of the email. These days, there’s no excuse for this.
Third, you wouldn’t email your mother with fancy graphics, headers and pictures, you’d write to her in plain text, with not much more than a ‘love from Mary XXXX’ at the bottom of it. So why would you inhibit your chances of intimacy, of relationship-building with your intended audience, by cluttering it up with obviously-advertising graphics etc?
Back to subject lines – the subject line is simply the HEADLINE for the email. It has one job, and one job only, and that’s to get the damn thing opened and read. Nothing more.
Your email could have vital information in it about the outbreak of World War III, but unless the subject line is compelling, the war’s just going to pass people by.
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