Want a FREE listing for your salon on the world’s most downloaded salon app? Check it out here.
Next time you have a client in your reception area, sitting in your chair or lying on a treatment bed, take a minute or two to check ’em out. Because I can pretty much bet my own mother they’re not browsing your product shelves, or reading your brochures.
Nope. Nine times out of ten, they’ll be staring into their smartphone; texting friends, playing games, checking out their Facebook page, browsing the web…anything but paying attention to you, your business, your products or promotions.
Do you really wonder why it’s become so difficult to get your message through to your customers and prospects?
Times have changed. It wasn’t so long ago that marketing a salon was limited to direct mail, the occasional newspaper ad, word of mouth, and a face-to-face up-sell or re-booking at the reception desk. That was about it. Life was….simpler.
Those media are still hugely effective, much to the chagrin of the ‘gurus’ who long ago predicted the internet spelled the ‘end’ of traditional hard-copy. (Yes, email might be cheap and efficient. But nowhere near as devastatingly effective in generating response and sales as a letter, a stamp and an envelope. Our own WSM member salons attest to that over and over again.)
But the way your prospective customers are searching for hair and beauty services has changed forever. And if your salon isn’t at the top of a Google search, can’t be quickly and easily found and located on a mobile phone, and shared via social media, there is now no question that you are losing business. Lots of it. To your competitors.
You are being left behind. To put your head in the sand, plead ‘technophobia’ and pine for the ‘good old days’ is akin to insisting the earth really is flat.
Think about this for a moment; this week, Apple launched its latest gadget, the iPhone 5. Since 2007, they’ve sold 250 million of these things. Plus 87 million iPads. That’s more than the entire population of the United States. (Compared with Android devices, Apple’s iPhones and iPads account for no less than 91% of all mobile web browsing.)
But for most owners of salons, it’s hard enough to know what needs to be done, let alone actually understanding the technology and getting it done. Which usually means dealing with a dozen different suppliers, web developers, sales people and technology companies. It’s like trying to herd cats. And it’s expensive.
Which is why, long ago, we recognized that somehow, the team at Worldwide Salon Marketing had to find a way that salon owners could get the benefits – more customers, more repeat business, more engagement with their clients – without having to figure it all out for themselves.
With the launch of My Social Salon, it’s finally come together. Website, SEO, social media, mobile apps – in addition to the vast amount of traditional marketing material we’ve supplied since 2004 – all in a single, done-for-you system that completely removes the pain and headache for 90% of salon owners.
Tamara O’Dowd of NRG Hairdressing in Leederville, Western Australia. “Business has grown by 40% in the 4 months since joining WSM and getting the My Social Salon online system…”
Case study: until a few weeks ago, Tamara O’Dowd’s hair salon in inner-suburban Perth was doing okay. But only okay. She had a website, but it was barely on the radar, and certainly couldn’t be easily viewed on a mobile phone. She had a Facebook fan page – any ten year old can set one of those up – but like most business owners, she found it difficult to maintain and engage fans with interesting material, other than daily offers. And she certainly didn’t have an iPhone app she could use to promote special offers to her clients’ phone screens.
Tamara signed up for My Social Salon – and almost overnight, her business grew by 40%.
%CODE1%
Kerri-Ann Ryan, Water Lily Day Spa, Tipperary, Ireland
Around the world, My Social Salon is changing the way salons interact with their clients. It’s not just about having a website that ranks at the top of Google searches. It’s also about having ‘sticky’ social media that engages clients, keeps them close, with status updates that are done for you every day:
“I am absolutely delighted with the daily fan page status updates!!! It has created a much more personal touch to my page which I wasn’t able to create myself. I have gained a few more followers already…” says Kerri Ann Ryan of Water Lily Day Spa in Tipperary, Ireland. (Check out the new VIP club on Kerri Ann’s Facebook fan page here.)
Anita Bell, WSM Member and owner of Platinum Hair in High Wycombe, WA
And a new, free iPhone app that gets clients engaging – and booking services – on the run:
“I am loving the Salon Finder app, we had our first booking from a client while she was in the salon buying a gift voucher for her friend – too easy!”
My Social Salon is now available for salons in North America, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Ireland.
Click here to find out more about My Social Salon.
Or simply call one of our offices here:
Australia: 08 9443 9327 New Zealand: 09 476 1592 USA & Canada: 250 590 0449
