Q+A TIME! “Does my salon need a website?”

Hi there everyone! Today I wanted to use our blog post to conquer a question that we are asked pretty much every single working week by current clients or potential clients…“Does my salon really need a website?”

Salon Tracker is in the salon technology biz so of course we are pro a salon website! With all of the social media platforms available nowadays, it can seem a very long and costly process to set up a salon website especially when you have the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Here we wanted to state why a salon website is optimum as well as social media platforms so you really find success online. Here goes!

• Nowadays, everyone is addicted to Google. We have a cold, we want the best remedy, who do we ask? Google. We want to know the best nearby restaurant…who knows it all? You guessed it, Google. It’s the first place customers turn to when they want information on a business, which means if you aren’t there, you’re missing out on potential customers and these customers will instead stumble across your competitors. No thank you!

• Having a website offers the potential to sell treatments and retail products online through online booking and ecommerce. Salon Tracker actually can install an online booking widget on your site for customers to book online which means your calendar will be open to bookings 24/7! Online sales allow you to work outside of your typical day to day calendar which means opportunity to make more money is everywhere.

• By having an online website with some good backlinks and SEO, you can generate new customers and leads through having a website especially by offering data capture forms. Offering an educational blog with the ability to sign up is a great way to engage with potential clients before they use your services which creates an aura of professionality and trust before they become a customer. You can do this through texting or email automation- both proven to be successful!

• Having a website allows you to get media coverage if you hold an event that your local media would be interested in. Salons currently miss out on this market quite a lot if they do not have a website which is unfortunate because there is so much media opportunity for them.

• When you do create a website, you just need to ensure it is mobile optimised so your audience has a fantastic experience of your website and will definitely return. Nowadays, most people use their mobiles to access information online so if you aren’t mobile optimised you will miss the boat.

• Let’s be honest, we all love Facebook but the search just isn’t as great as Google. With Google we can access everything we need about that “term” which means it allows for more meaningful traffic.

• Even if you are the busiest of salons, you need a website to network to new people who might move into your area or to generation beneath. 

So you know you want a website, but what to put on it?

• Basic contact details and information
• Stylist/ therapist profiles and their experience and speciality
• Photos of treatments/ styles you have carried out
• Treatment list with all of the prices
• Products and brands you stock or use
• All the contact details we could wish for including a map and opening hours!

3 weeks until Professional Beauty London…why attending a trade show is useful and what you can expect from Salon Tracker Software

After our debut was so successful at the Professional Beauty North show last year, we have decided that we want to do it all again and go one step bigger with their show in the capital city! Salon Tracker will be exhibiting at Pro Beauty London on 28th/29th February 2016 and we just wanted you guys to be the first to know that we will be there with exclusive offers that are sure not to be missed.

For those of you that visited our stand at the Manchester show, we introduced a few new features and were in the process of developing a mobile web app. We are pleased to announce that the app is completed and ready for launch at the show this Feb, along with another brand new software release, that is built to be great for you guys who are the owners of multiple sites!

So, why should you visit a trade show?

Even if you’re a start-up salon and you haven’t figured everything out yet, trade shows are a great place to network with other businesses, have a look at new products and attend seminars to get good ideas for business growth.

With just 3 weeks until the show, there is still time to get your tickets. If you have already signed up, are you all prepped for the event? And have you arranged your time to ensure that you get the most out of your visit?

One thing we will say is, be sure to do your research before you attend! Professional Beauty London is held at one of the largest venues and is by far the biggest of all their events each year. Therefore downloading a map is probably one of your best ports of call before you actually attend the show, these can be obtained free from the Professional Beauty Website.

By deciding where you are going to head, you can then determine the stands that you want to visit and potentially make appointments with some of those companies. As you’ll find that even though the event is spread over 2 days, the hours fly and before you know it, you may have missed your chance of being the recipient of special discounts with exclusive brands and also, stands are busy with traffic so book where necessary to avoid queues!

Plan yourself in a few well-deserved breaks! Energy levels flag at trade shows, as everybody is constantly on the move, its go, go, go, and seating areas are limited. Make sure you have information of your surroundings so that if you do want to get away from the hustle and bustle for an hour, you have knowledge of nearby venues that you could stop off at and evaluate your day so far.

What can you expect from us on the day?

The event itself is open from 10am-6pm on Sunday and 10am-5pm on the Monday. Our team will be on stand throughout the whole of the 2 days, so any questions that you may have you can speak to one of our specialists and they will be able to give you a remote assisted demonstration of our salon software and arrange you an appointment for your free no obligation 2 week trial.

If you’re new to us, you will be able to take away free leaflets and brochures from the event. Something to give you a little bit of time to think over the prices and packages that we offer and discuss your software options with perhaps business partners or fellow technicians before you decide to purchase a package.

If you are already a current customer, why not drop by our stand and have a look at our new and upcoming releases? You are still entitled to register for a FREE ticket and therefore should take this opportunity to come down to the event and have a look what Salon Tracker has to offer.

We will be exhibiting at stand J1, and if you haven’t registered for your free ticket yet just click the link below to receive yours;

https://registration.n200.com/survey/0njm506qcs1za?actioncode=NTWO000194OBY

Keep posted over the coming couple of weeks as we will be releasing our offers over on our news page!

We look forward to seeing you there and helping you to improve your salon business!

Salon Tracker x

The lowdown on social media platforms for 2016!

Digital marketing and social in particular is now without a doubt one of the strongest contenders to grow a business successfully.  Though with being in such a digitally minded society with “72% of all internet users now active on social media” (Jeff Bullas, 2014) and so many readily available channels, it can be extremely overwhelming to know what platforms you should or could be using to grow your business successfully.

So we decided a brief social media guide is totally in order! We will briefly highlight the pros and cons of the channels we use, what platforms we recommend for your salon to consider and why! Just to state, this blog is for February 2016 so who’s to say things won’t change 6 months later. Get on the boat now because there is one thing we know to be definite about social, it is ever changing! 

Facebook 

First up! Facey B! We are going to start with Facebook and it’s PRO’S because it is, without a doubt, an absolute gold mine! It’s the dominating social media market and so it holds huge potential in terms of what it has to offer and more importantly, who it has to offer. Facebook holds the opportunity to really make your page its own and not just by changing the cover and profile picture. For Salon Tracker, we introduce the Facebook Booking Widget through Salon Tracker, with the ability to book online which holds huge potential for salons and their customers. Facebook also offers the opportunity to initiate some fantastic marketing through its paid advertising features, audience targeting and remarketing which makes them a leader in terms of audience segmentation. You really can stretch a small budget quite far whether it be to sponsor posts or to increase page likes. Just make sure you measure EVERYTHING and have reason to sponsor. 

The NEG’S- In the last couple of years, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stand apart from competitors as a Facebook user and as an advertiser. There is undeniably a pay-to-play culture which means for those with little to no budget, it’s increasingly harder to beat your competitors. However, this doesn’t mean it’s impossible to find success. 

The Verdict: In 2016, Facebook will continue to grow and as Dan Noyes (Zephoria 2015) states, with “over 1.55 billion monthly active Facebook users, statistically, Facebook is too big to ignore.”

Twitter

PRO’S- What’s great about Twitter is you can really do some advanced searching and actually seek out every client who is looking for a business like yours! It’s also a great tool to network with people through favouriting, commenting and sharing. For businesses, Twitter requires someone to monitor it all the time. If you can facilitate this, you can potentially find great success. Images and hashtags do very well on Twitter, which is great for the salon industry. It really allows you to stretch your information onto other people’s networks, and quite easily. A tip with Twitter is to keep up to date with what’s actually trending- a great way to boost engagement and followers!

NEG’S- Twitter has had its fair bit of backlash in 2015. It had been on the rise for a few years and then suddenly plateaued, which leads to question where your clients disappeared to? There are only so many characters you can ‘tweet’ within when using Twitter- which can be a nightmare. 

The Verdict: Twitter is a great network, if it’s understood! We recommend it more for individuals, but businesses can make it work- you just have to have your brand personality and voice nailed! If you have this then with some persistence you will find success!

Instagram

Insta is Facebook’s little sister… so let’s start with the PRO’s. Instagram is on the up, up, up! It’s one platform that has huge potential and will inevitably continue to grow, especially with the Facebook strategy as its example leader. Instagram is such a smooth platform and of course very visual, which keeps its users enticed. As long as Instagram continues to grow the ability to network, then it will continue to see success. Instagram is great if you engage a lot with clients, so we’re talking client pictures, testimonials, quotes of the day… if you can use all of the above then you are likely to find someone who wants to listen to your noise!

NEG’S- Instagram have very strict guidelines in terms of copyright when reposting other people’s content.  Another “issue” is that Instagram is a perfect world with perfect expectations. Your clients want to see the absolute bees knees, the best filters, the best designs! Which means, you are expected to offer high quality content as a minimum expectation. If you aren’t up to the challenge of how much time you will spend on Instagram, then this might not be the platform for you!

The Verdict: Instagram is a must for salons... there's no doubt about it! It's the best engaging platform there is because its all about the likes to grow!

Pinterest

Pinterest is an interesting one so let’s start with the PRO’S! Pinterest is female dominated which means hair, beauty, tanning, spa pins are second to none.  Another great thing about Pinterest is that your followers will see your pins without you needing to pay to play and without them needing to follow you directly. Pinterest has some great inspiration from salon décor to salon marketing inspiration so even if you do not nail the market, you may find success on there by accessing all of the little treasures it has.

THE NEG’S- Pinterest can be a bit of a “wish list” platform as opposed to a direct buy, which is the kind of atmosphere it creates. 

The Verdict: Pinterest is great for inspiration which we stand by. Whether you find success or not is another story but what you will get is more creative ideas which will helpfully grow your business in the best ways possible.

LinkedIn

Last but not least- LinkedIn! Let’s start with the PRO’S! This platform was definitely built for networking, which is what we love. The opportunities you have to to connect with companies and people is uncapped. If you have a personal profile and are looking to build your business by accessing suppliers and new industries- it’s fantastic! There is nothing to stop you creating a company page to showcase your salon.

The NEG’S- We’re yet to be convinced of an SMALL salon’s need to use LinkedIn but being optimistic, the opportunities can always be created!

The Verdict: We're on the fence with the advertising opportunities HOWEVER, successful networking is one of the most important skills you will learn as an entrepreneur and where better to meet your peers and salon suppliers? They are all here!

And that’s it! We hope you got loads out of this blog for now but like we said remember social is ever changing! If you have liked what you read then why not come visit us at Professional Beauty London, where Salon Tracker will be exhibiting our Salon Management Software! It’s at the Excel Arena on February 28/29 2016. This event is set to have all of the biggest names in the trade making an impact on business through new sales and seminars. Think of your business beyond the day to day and act now! Get your FREE ticket to PBL right HERE!

Sources:
http://www.jeffbullas.com/2014/01/17/20-social-media-facts-and-statistics-you-should-know-in-2014/
https://zephoria.com/top-15-valuable-facebook-statistics/ 

Calling all Multi-Site Salons: Does your business need Salon Software?

“The old adage is that systems run businesses, and people run systems. You must have systems in place to be able to standardize the quality of your communications, products and results," says Bert Martinez. (Inc., 2012)

We believe that the above quote says it all, and that’s why here at Salon Tracker, we have made some advances to our software to help salon owners to maximise their multi-site businesses to their full potential.

If you are the owner of a salon that is situated in multiple locations, then you have probably found that communications and brand representation can become one of the biggest hindrances within your business. You want to ensure that everything is constantly running cohesively and that the rules at each individual location are simultaneous across the board.

One of the main focuses however is your staff management. When you own multiple locations, it is very hard to stretch your time across every single salon and of course, ensure that the management of those is up to scratch.

This is where Salon Tracker software comes in, as we have made some improvements to our system coming in to 2016, endeavouring to help to improve the organisations and day to day business activity and to solve those reservations that salon owners are currently facing. Our system will allow you to oversee duplicate salon locations, improving the supervision of those and allowing salon owners extra time to fulfil other areas of the business.

Our company conducted some research last year in to the main problems that we see surrounding multi-site salons, in which this then gave us the fundamental factors to base our software developments around.

An issue that seems to have occurred within many businesses is the tracking of staff shift times, which has spurred our technical team to introduce ways in which our software can help to minimise this. We believe that salon owners should always be able to be in control of their businesses, even when absent, however we know that this can be extremely difficult in some cases especially when you have numerous employees.

And so, as part of our Professional Software package, we have introduced the ‘Staff Rota’ feature. Some of you may be aware that we currently offer fingerprint recognition for clients, by storing their bio-metric data on the Salon Tracker system so that other individuals cannot just access any particular customers’ records. We have basically expanded on this feature and have now introduced a sign in and out process using fingerprint recognition for employees. This has been designed so that salon managers know exactly when their employees have started and ended a shift, and also so that other members of staff can’t sign in for their fellow peers, in which when Salon Tracker conducted the research we found that this was happening in several salons’ across the UK.

If you are the owner of a multi-site tanning business, our software again then eliminates the chance of employees being able to use ‘client’ minutes maliciously, therefore ensuring that any ‘miscellaneous’ minutes aren’t appearing on reports.

Speaking of reports, all salon information is tracked accurately and displayed in either digital reports or chart format. This is extremely beneficial for multi-site businesses, as our HQ feature will enable salon owners to view the figures for each separate salon from either a general headquarters, or when on the move via our salon insights feature.

Salon Insights is another feature that Salon Tracker have introduced to enhance the analysis of data, by providing salon owners with the ability to separate business stats dependent on demographics such as climate and geographic location. This being especially beneficial for owners of multi-site businesses, as they can select the area in which they want to view the data for and analyse this dependent on the factors of that particular location, evidently making data comparisons more accurate.

Another benefit of having reports mixed with the staff rota system is that this improves the organisational structure within the workforce. By having a system that measures each employees activity separately, it holds each individual accountable for delivering their own work responsibilities, regardless of which location they are based in. These reports can then be viewed via Salon Tracker’s Site View and Salon Insights features by salon owners whilst they are on the move.

During the next couple of months, we are also expecting to launch a mobile web app, which will be tailored to suit each of our clients’ particular salons. Salon owners will be able to advertise their offers and last minute deals via the application, which applying this to the multi-site sector means extra promotion for all salon locations, as the app will have a feature built in that allows customers to view the correspondence for their chosen site.

So, if anything that we have mentioned above sounds like it would benefit you, why not call up our office to arrange your FREE demo and trial today?

Also, for those of you who don’t know already, we are exhibiting at Professional Beauty London at the Excel on 28th/29th February. Salon Tracker will be situated at stand J1 where we will be demonstrating the above features live and exclusive offers will be applicable to all stand visitors. To register for your free ticket, click the link here…
http://bit.ly/20opO7i

We hope to hear from, or see some of you very soon!

Salon Tracker x

Does my business require a mobile app?

Let’s cut straight to the chase here! Various customers will access your business information through various platforms depending entirely on a number of factors such as preference, ease of use and of course, the GOAL of the app itself.

Would your favourite apps be as fun on a mobile responsive site?

Think about all your favourite and most used apps (Facebook, Instagram, MyFitnessPal, Uber, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Twitter to name a few) and ask yourself if they would be as much fun on a mobile responsive site as opposed to a mobile app? Probably not. Mobile apps are actually designed all around the core activities of engagement. Is your business model designed to offer your customer something to return for? Any business with an aim for high retention and engagement goals, such as the apps listed above, should and do consider a mobile app.

Analytics are key but are not the decision maker

A great way to visualise whether a mobile app is something you should expand towards is to look at your analytics, to see which customer demographics and device/technology leads are using to access your site. For Salon Tracker, we know that our mobile traffic has grown significantly in the last 4 years. In 2012, only 26.74% of people were landing on our page through mobile, whereas in 2015 we had a whopping 61% of clients' access our site through this platform. This means that for our business, mobile optimisation is essential (as it is for most of us as we move further into the 21st century). Do we need a web app? Probably not right now. We do not offer an online shop, booking area, discounts, a forum or gallery- simply because we do not need to do so at this moment in time for our total addressable market. Our aims are not built on engaging with the customers at this stage, it’s about offering them information that they can take away. Instead, we offer squeeze pages. Squeeze pages are our way of getting the potential client’s email, sending them our white papers and product brochures, in order to grow a relationship built on trust and transparency. 

I think my business needs a mobile app- what now?

Mobile apps are great because they offer absolutely everything in one hit. Even if your website is optimised for use on a mobile, apps are undeniably more seamless and, accessible on the go. However, they aren’t easy or cheap to build. A great place to start is this article linked below by Joe Stangarone (MRC-Productivity 2012). Although this article was written now 4 years ago, it gives a great insight into the difference between native apps and mobile web apps, highlighting the pros and cons of offering access to a new platform at a less expensive cost. 

I’d like to just finish by quoting Stangarone (MRC-Productivity 2012) “What will the mobile landscape look like in another 5 years? Maybe a new OS will take over. Maybe iOS and Android will lose popularity. Who knows? The one thing I do know: The web isn’t going anywhere. Mobile web apps offer the only way to protect your company from changes in the mobile landscape.”

Source: (MRC-Productivity 2012)

8 Social Media Predictions for 2016!

Social media is so ever evolving that revamping it now and again is absolutely imperative. As we have shifted into 2016, now is the time for consumers to take into account business predictions of the year, in order to find success on social platforms. Please see our pointers below! 

- A picture speaks a thousand words so it’s no surprise that 2016 is set to see some huge growth for businesses on various platforms including photo based apps such as Instagram and Pinterest. Any business can make themselves visual but you need a plan to find success using these apps. 

- Speaking of Instagram; although Facebook purchased Instagram just under 4 years ago, it is only until 2016 we will see a huge merge in the advertising element of the platforms. Facebook ads are now pushed to coincide with Instagram ads meaning that now strong visual content is imperative for successful lead generation. Instagram now offers the ability to pay for sponsored content but also a “shop now” button meaning the platform is completely taking out the middle man, the search engine. You can even share audio and video footage on most platforms now such as ads, tutorials or web casts. Think about what you can offer to the market to promote brand awareness. 

- Julie Ellis (Social Media Week, 2015) confirms the point above by stating that many users “are skipping the search engine and performing their searches directly on social media”. Obviously search engines are still a popular way to find information but this is a huge point to highlight since many people put their trust into accessing sites where they can see using customers of the chosen brand. Twitter, for example allows an advanced search to see product “problems” which means businesses are more accessible than ever as are reviews. 

- This leads us to the importance of social media reviews. The searches conveyed through social media will be focused on finding product and also reviews on product which means you need to ensure there is a business push on engagement and/or reviews. Even if your business has backlash, you need to learn how to deal with it. Micah Soloman (Forbes 2015) lists the 5 best practices to use when handling with social media complaints or issues which everybody should be taking into account now on verbal based platforms especially such as Twitter and Facebook. 

- According to Statista (2015) there will be an increase by 16.7 million on smartphone users in 2016 is the US compared to 2015 and a further 12.6 million increase into 2017- though this point isn’t only relative for social media. Have you noticed the amount of retail giants that are mobile optimised? It should have hit home before 21st of April 2015 when the Google Algorithm came into play but we cannot stress enough the importance of optimising your phones for your consumers. 2016 is only going to grow with the amount of users accessing sites with their handheld smart devices, which means you need to up your game before you lose the potential customer. 

- Facebook Ads will improve their targeting reach which means you NEED to know your customer. You might think you already do but what are their stereotypical interests, what do they read, buy, watch etc.? How are they accessing your site? This can be sourced through Google Analytics as long as you are using a URL builder to measure every type of marketing activity you partake in. 

- According to Chuck Frey (Content Marketing Institute, 2015) Twitter has “255 million active users” that “send more than 500 million tweets a day” however, it doesn’t make it right for everyone because the stereotype is much younger. So you’ve researched Twitter, tried our Twitter Top Tips guide and set-up and run an account for a year and still just aren’t feeling it…That’s okay. Not every platform was made for your business. Invest your time in areas that you are succeeding. Don’t get us wrong it’s important to have an active profile across the platforms but if you invest your core chosen platform whether this be Facebook or Instagram you really will see growth. 

- Did you know that “49% of people aged over 65+ are active on social media sites”, (PewInternet 2015) with a huge 89% of 18-29 year olds also active. It is therefore by far quickly becoming the fastest and most efficient way in which to reach anybody, whether that be your friends, family, companies or clients of a business.


Thank you for reading, we wish you all the success with your 2016 social content!

Improving Multi-Site Salon Businesses

Happy New Year and a big welcome back from all of us here at Salon Tracker.

So, a fresh New Year...how about some new improvements for the salon! And we’ve made some enhancements to our salon software too.

This month, we’re going to be concentrating on multi-site salons, by providing tips on how owners can improve their business if it is made up of several sites, operating from an overall salon headquarters/head office.

As some of you may know, we are exhibiting at Professional Beauty in February this year and therefore are releasing some new features just in time for the show.

So, what are the main areas that we are focusing on?

There are many hindrances to businesses that are of the multi-site sector. For example, when things get busy at a particular location, it can be hard to give employees based at other locations the time that they deserve. Organisation sometimes goes out of the window and time doesn’t get managed as well as it should.

Presumably, if you are the owner of multiple salons, you will also have a substantially large client database as each separate salon will have its own local clients. Some of these clients may however flit between several of your salons, especially if you have them situated nationwide. Therefore having said this, Salon Tracker hopes to improve the management of those customer details as all notes will be stored across the chain, which means that clients will no longer have to re-register at a salon in a separate location. This includes any skin tests or tanning disclaimers that may have been signed, so for example, if a customer has visited your ‘Birmingham’ salon, the technicians in your ‘Leicester’ salon will be able to see all the details associated with those particular clients.

By linking all of your salon businesses up, any of you who currently have our Enterprise package will be familiar with our Site View feature. In the coming months we are hoping to advance on this feature so that overall salon activity can be seen from a multi-site business headquarters. Hopefully this will be inclusive of end of day sales, KPI tracking and monthly cash flow.

We are currently also in the process of updating our online booking feature, meaning that soon customers will be able to actually register for a salon online. This is a very beneficial feature to any salon owners of a multi-site as once a client has registered with your salon chain, they are evidently a customer of every single one of your sites. This should promote an increase in footfall for those salon businesses and again, efficiency will be improved as online bookings will be fired straight over to the correct salon calendar. Technicians will instantly be able to see these bookings and this way appointments won’t cross over.

So if you feel like any of the above applies to you and you are looking for something to improve the overall management of your business then why not call up for a FREE demo of our software? Our telephone number is 0113 350 8230 and we would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have and discuss the best software options.


Let’s start the New Year off well!


Salon Tracker x