The importance of reviews and testimonials for the salon and beauty industry…

In today’s blog, we’re going to take a look at salon reviews and testimonials. Did you know that the hair and beauty sector is the area which has “grown the most significantly in the last 3 years” with regards to the amount of customers actively searching for reviews of a particular hair or beauty salon. “In 2012, this figure was 9% compared to a huge increase in 2014 of 31%.” (Bright Local, 2014) Currently there are no statistics from Bright Local with 2015’s figures however with a very apparent and rapid year-on-year increase we are (approximately) looking at just under 50%. That’s a whopping half of your entire market judging you on your business and talents before they even reach your front door. Nearing to 2016, this figure is very likely to keep on increasing which means salon reviews and testimonials are increasingly more important than ever. 

Facebook tends to be the most popular social channel in the hair, beauty and tanning industry, so the majority of this blog focuses on Facebook reviews. However we will note other methods to help grow your business and all of these skills are completely transferrable so please keep reading!

Facebook is a heavily saturated market with salon owners for multiple reasons. First of all, it is a social network, allowing the ability to connect and engage with your niche market. Secondly, Facebook is aesthetic. Not only do you have the ability to post pictures, videos and infographics, it is friendly and easy to use from the inside working out making it a great place to really establish a brand online with the additional support of customer reviews. 

How reviews can help you and how to get more of them!

• The great thing about having a reviews section on your Facebook or Website is that clients can access this at their convenience. It is also coming from a non-biased party which means the ‘reviewer’ has no loyalty to your salon which installs more trust with the potential buyer. 

• Speaking of loyalty, online reviews are not only great in acquiring a new customer but a great area for you to establish some loyalty with your current clients. The best way to win reviews is going out of your way to ensure a happy customer. This means being completely personable with all clients and ensuring an enthusiastic approach with all of your clients. 

• Rewarding reviewers is important. It doesn’t have to be 50% but a small gesture which shows your appreciation for their time and custom. 

• Don’t ask anyone and everyone to review you. Salon Tracker Software’s review service is great because you can send this to the (loyal) individuals you choose. You simply need to right click once you have confirmed an appointment and you can fire this off with a set delayed time. It’s important to be selective with reviewers because a true reflection is a client who is loyal to your services.

• Google + is a gold mine! Probably the greatest review you can receive since it helps to optimise your search engine ranking. The only downfall is you need a Gmail account so customers can shy away from this somewhat. However, if they have an account, see if they would be willing to review with a simple step by step guide send out. 

• If a client is particularly grateful or enjoys a service, they tend to email. Simply ask if they would mind transferring this to Facebook or Google and make sure you add a link on how to! 

• Respond to bad reviews as positively as you can with a professional manner and apology for their services. May be even offer to welcome them back for a chance to rectify. If they are serious complaints with ill manners then they should be reported immediately.

SMS Marketing for salons tips!

Ok, so we know we’ve done a few SMS marketing blogs, but what we haven’t done is a blog on how to reinvent your salons SMS marketing.The reason why we have chosen now to discuss this topic is because it's absolutely imperative to have a business plan for the winter months over Christmas and New Year. For the salon industry, we tend to have a spike over the celebratory period and then a huge drop into the New Year. Your marketing plan should ensure you are prepared for the quiet spell but also encourage a more stable and positive movement into January.

Even though we do offer a competitive rate in comparison to most salon software providers, we can be in agreement that if SMS marketing has no real aim then it can be extremely expensive and slightly annoying from a customer’s point of view. So below we have listed some ways of how SMS marketing can help you and instances it should be used in. We hope you enjoy the read.

Filtering is the most important part of your marketing campaign. The reason for this is because you can measure your spend much more effectively, which is essentially what you need to calculate your return on investment (ROI). Sending texts of offers out to bulk clients is an absolute no-no and is in most cases, a waste of money. You need to ensure your customer has expressed interest first of all and secondly, deserves the discount you are offering.

Another valid point to make is that you are invading your customers space by marketing to their device. Text marketing is not used by everyone which means you need to make it personal, compelling, relevant and to the point or unfortunately, your number will most likely be blocked.

Reminder SMS- Reminding your customer that they have an appointment is a great way to reduce no shows. You can use the usual time of 48 hours in advance but sometimes it’s best to offer a few more days’ notice.

Birthday Offers- Who doesn’t want to look glam for their birthday?  Sending birthday offers for the birth month of your client is a great way to personalise your service to the client as an individual. It makes them feel special and shows your salon is up to date with their information, making them more inclined to visit you.

Salon Events or Offers- Have a big offer you would like to market to special individuals?  Use your filter system to filter out any responsive clients who you think really deserve the offer and you’re on to a winner. The key with this is to ensure texts are kept as to the point as possible but still professional and also, timing. Offers should be sent with the appearance of limited availability.

Fill last minute cancelled slots with a text message. Even if you have to discount the treatment by 50% you are making more than you would have done by accepting defeat on the cancelled appointment.

It’s a great way to ensure some personality to your brand. You can communicate with your customers and show them what you can offer them that their competitors can’t. Baring this in mind, you need to be sure that you are putting across the right brand impression.

What’s great about Salon Tracker’s marketing suite is that all of your pre designed campaigns are all personalised with your salon details, so, name, details of the offer and a call to action (usually the salon number or online booking link). It seems like such a simple thing but you need to include brand awareness on your text.

London Fashion Week SS16 hair pick-ups!

You may have seen our post on the beauty spies at London Fashion Week, so we thought we’d do another little review for all the hairstylists out there, looking at the best hair picks from the catwalks!

Similarly to the make-up, there were a range of different hair designs, some wacky & wonderful, where others were simpler in style.

The models’ hairstyles differed from designer to designer, with some opting for up-do’s, some a crisp straightened look, whereas others went for a really effortless, wavy style.

Simple ponytails were a classic hit for many, where it seems that the minimalism trend from the 90’s of the ‘low ponytail’ is making a comeback! The designers adopting these trends were Rochas and Anthony Vaccarello.  Christopher Kane also went for a loose pony, however had relaxed strands to shape the faces of the models and added thin hairbands to create a statement.

Prada also went for the ponytail, but as ever, their look was far from ‘simple’, something that Prada do the opposite of!  Uneven fringes were apparent on the models, reminiscent of strands of baby hair, all of irregular lengths! 

For designers such as Marc-Jacobs, he opted for a ‘worn’ look for his clients, where hair looked a little wild, with styles being both of up-do’s and long untamed curls.  Natural locks were absorbed by designers such as Versace and Emilio Pucci, with long beach waves and tousled twists.  Equally Burberry adopted a really heritage look of long relaxed curly hair, with models mostly being auburn or brunette in hair colour.

Other brands included a hint of past eras, where 80’s inspired waves were adopted by Roberto Cavalli and Diane Von Furstenberg.  Designers such as Mary Katrantzou however looked at contemporary hairstyles, using twisted plaits and braids, creating excellent styles for SS16 that are perfectly ‘beach-ready’.  Equally, the models for Marni rocked clean, twisted pigtails that were intricately matching and hair had a blunt cut on the ends.

Etro opted for an effortless look but this was slightly different to the ponytail, with these consisting of pinned up-do’s and straightforward top knots, with loose tresses shaping the faces of the models.  Dries Van Noten took on a completely different path and went for the historic 40’s style rolls that quiffed at the forehead of the models.

The quirkiest style has to be from Thakoon.  Hair looked damp and very set to the models heads…a similar look to hair post rain or a shower! There were also different designs emerging for Altuzarra, with the modern half-up, half-down trend being the key style on the catwalk. Whilst DKNY opted for a much exaggerated, far over side parting and sleek hair, with Jonathan Saunders also going for that severe, clean ironed-straight look.

Jil Sander was the queen of accessories, where big hats were the statement. Very summery in design and giving a holiday feel, something that will be fantastic for SS16!  Speaking of accessories, Dolce & Gabbana and Jason Wu both introduced a range of bandanas and also ballerina style top knots, standing them out from the crowds!

So which styles do you think you’ll be going for? Check out the images we’ve pulled together below for some hair inspo' for next spring/summer!

Salon Tracker x

Will your salon support breast cancer awareness day?

If you didn’t already know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. ‘Every year nearly 55,000 people are diagnosed with Breast Cancer in the UK’ alone which is the ‘equivalent of one person every 10 minutes’ (Breast Cancer Care, 2015). Although we cannot bring back our loved ones, the survival rate is improving year on year with the likes of Cancer Research. Your generous monetary, material or timely donations help towards the development of research centres, analysis of cancerous cells, funding clinical trials and helping to find a cure of breast cancer. 

A hard hitting fact is that ‘1 in 8 women in the UK will develop breast cancer in their lifetime’ and ‘being a woman is the biggest risk factor’ for developing breast cancer. So, as women, it’s important to stand together and make a difference if we can…

October the 16th marks ‘The Big Pink Day’ of October Awareness month. We are urging all of our salon owners to get involved with the event by offering special promotions, raffles, donations all coupled with a tickled pink theme to really set the scene. The aim of this event is to create awareness and encourage all clients to donate and support to their best ability all in the name of breast cancer.

Together we have combined some fantastic ideas for you to run in your salon to make the most of Think Pink October! If you’re up for the challenge then keep reading!

• First of all make sure you sign up for a Big Pink Starter Kit with lots of goodies to help you host your breast cancer awareness day.

• With Great British Bake Off taking over everyone’s televisions on a Wednesday eve, almost everyone is up for the task of channeling their inner baker! Think pink cupcakes, tasty cakes and buns. Charge for every bun and all proceeds go to charity.

• Ensure you have a charity collection box for ad hoc donations to the charity. 

• Offer a menu of pink treatments for the week to ensure you are really pushing the awareness in the salon. Try donating 20% of any pink treatment from your pink menu if this is financially affordable.

• Ask staff or customers to donate any old belongings they might not want any more and hold a minute charity sale for old bags, scarves and jewelry. Sell this on for as much as possible reminding customers that ALL proceeds go to breast cancer care. 

• Raffle tickets are a great way of acquiring a pound here and there. Spend £200 on prizes and make it an aim to cover your costs back for this. From here onward, every other raffle ticket can be a profit to give to the charity. 

• Bidding wars! Have a bidding war for certain treatments and all proceeds can go to charity. This could be for a makeover or haircut and style or even a massage. 

• Can you financial afford to offer 20% off ALL DAY to drive awareness and footfall?

• Marketing is an absolute necessity. You must ensure customers are aware of the event in the lead up.  You could even run the Big Pink Day on the Saturday 17th to drive more footfall.

Beauty Trend Spies at LFW SS16

And it’s been and gone again… London Fashion week, where as usual the celebs and the fashion forward arrived in Soho in their forces to attend the catwalks for SS16.  But what should women in the beauty world take this time from the designers and muas?

There were some great beauty styles, with looks of all tangents, ranging from subtle neutral tones to striking, loud appearances.  

Also, we’ve had contouring, we've had strobing, but LFW16 saw the introduction of ‘tan-touring’.  Tan-touring is apparently the speedier, efficient equivalent of contouring, without the concealers.  Believe it or not, it actually uses just a simple moisturiser and a hint of fake tan!  A very popular topic at the event, where it seems everyone can get the Kim K bone structure at a more affordable price (and in quick time)!  Celebrity tanning expert, James Read, will be introducing the first ‘tan touring’ kit.  However the routine in the meantime would be to just apply a quality fake tan (something like St Tropez facial Luxe) overnight, to let the solution set on the skin. Then add a touch of moisturiser the next morning and off you go with your glowing, fresh from sleep, 4D face.  A real; ‘I woke up like this’!

Seriously exaggerated, elongated eyelashes were a big hit on the catwalks for Marni, Francesco Scognamiglio and Mary Katrantzou, with Katrantzou actually using deep blue Mascara’s on her models to shake things up a bit.

Other trends were the overstated loud eyes, popular with Marc Jacobs, Missoni and Diane Von Furstenberg.  They each adopted a different tone however, with Furstenberg showcasing intricately neat eyes with a glittery effect, whilst Marc Jacobs opted for the opposing ‘I stayed out all night’ look, using a dark, smokey-eyed palette. Similarly Missoni went for a messy ‘painted’ look, where the models eyes quite literally looked like an artist had streaked a paintbrush over their eyelids...an acquired taste indeed!

The statement lip was again a big hit this year, with Burberry adopting the classic, very British cherry red lip.  Whilst Prada, renowned for their individuality, really turned it up a notch with a metallic gold glittery lip, giving off a sci-fi, futurism effect!

On the whole other side of the spectrum, there were some really neutral, fresh faced looks on the catwalks, from designers such as D & G, Gucci and Jil Sander.  Whilst Michael Kors, House of Holland and Roberto Cavalli created a holiday scene, with bronze tones and golden shades, for those who want that 'straight off the beach' effect. A perfect look for anybody who prefers a minimalistic style.

The big brow and a sharp contour were the main makeup features of the D&G and Christopher Kane catwalks, with the brows surprisingly contrasting from the usual slick styles that were adopted by most other designers.  D&G and Kane went for bushy, un-kept brows as a statement, unique look on their models.

Graphic swoop eyeliner was the biggest craze by Fendi, where it seems that the liner outlined the eyebrows rather than the eyes!  Whilst designers such as Hugo Boss went for a coloured eyeliner to define the eyes of their models, ranging from baby blue to burnt orange.

We've gathered a together a few pics here of the looks to see what you think! Which do you think you'll be rocking next Spring?  Check them out below...

              

      

Salon Tracker x

September Marketing…its Freshers’ week!

It’s that time of the year again where young adults are flying the nest to start their next chapters at University.  For all of you salons that are based in busy University catchment areas, be sure to use the buzzing student environment to your advantage!

Nearly all students will receive their first loan installment throughout September, and for those first time go-ers’, they get a little bit spend-happy. After all, for the majority they have been let loose with the largest sum of money that they have ever been accustomed to and so as a result they all get a little bit frivolous with the spends!  (Great for local businesses, even if it’s not so great for their bank accounts!)

And remember, students are finding their bearings around this time, with moving to a new city and all. So anything you can do to make your salon stand out and seem the most appealing, the better it is for you in gaining those students as clients for the foreseeable duration of their courses!

Your marketing doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg either.  Students are on a budget, and therefore that means you can be too.  They’re not interested in flashy marketing and social media adverts, as after all, most of these students may never have heard of your salon and so won’t be a follower of your social networking platforms at this moment.  To attract this particular market, a simple, good-sized appealing banner in your salon window, decals up and around the University and even leaflet flyer-ing at Freshers’ fair would be ample!

At the time of Freshers’, most local businesses, whether it be retail, food, bars or beauty, all tend to offer a type of discount.  Shopping centres have one off ‘lock-ins’ for students and market this around Universities and student halls to gain as much custom as they can. If you haven’t participated in anything such as this before then maybe as a salon this is something that you can think about?

I’m guessing that if you are based in a student environment you already offer a small, perhaps 10% discount to students with a valid photo card.  Therefore expand on this and maybe organise a student event, where new Freshers’ can come and sign up to the salon and get a free skin consultation?  Or a hair trim on the house?  Alternatively, you could just increase the normal discount to say ‘20%’, as some other retailers and salons do for a selected period of time; as the difference between 10% and 20% is surprisingly attractive to clients.

Freshers’ weeks are just a great time period to capitalise on, as at the end of the day, the thousands of new students that arrive are potential new customers for you! Another possible idea, if you do have a bit more of a budget, would be to have a stand at the local University Freshers fair?  Team up with the uni and think outside the box to come up with a really unique stand that will capture those students attention to come and have a chat with your technicians!  Hope this helps!

Salon Tracker x

What you need to know about Salon Tracker before Professional Beauty North!

This September, our salon software company, Salon Tracker, are exhibiting for the first time at Professional Beauty North. Our Marketing Manager, Rachel Scott discusses what salon owners should know about Salon Tracker before the event!

Salon Tracker is a Leeds based Salon Software Company that helps to improve the organisation and management within salons through our easy to use yet feature rich salon system.  Everything from client information and treatment calendars, down to stock management and staff rotas are all stored under one database. You will no longer need your paper client cards, appointment books, or any files of skin test or tanning disclaimers, as all of this will be saved under your database saving you time and ensuring a more efficient salon.

New Features launching at the show…

We are very excited to announce that we will be launching a couple of new features at the exhibition. These include the below;

· Hand point - A systematic payment method that allows payments to be processed via a mobile phone or tablet, improving the efficiency of transactions for salons.

· Secure ID - A range of digital security solutions that will ensure that only the clients themselves can activate and access their own information, disabling anyone else from being able to seize their data to use fraudulently or using other people's tanning minutes.

Prime Features that are already benefiting our clients

· Subscription payments - An affordable pay monthly solution with no upfront fees.

· Digital marketing - Marketing campaigns via SMS and email, all constructed through the Salon Tracker system, keeping it simple & low cost, with rapid effect in reaching clients.

· Stock Management - A colour coded stock management system that notifies salon owners when retail products are low in stock and need re-ordering.  Now available to manage multiple site stock with…

· HQ - Link all salons together managing stock, marketing and staff from one head zone.

What you can expect on the day

Salon Tracker will be hosting their first ever stand at Professional Beauty North, stand B35. There will be members from the sales and support team present to answer all of your questions and give you FREE advice on all of the software packages & features. Live demonstrations will be on-going throughout the day and you will have the chance to purchase anything at the show should you be interested.  Plus there will be exclusive special offers that are not to be missed!

Salon Tracker x