Autumn Marketing Tips for your Salon

 

As today marks the first day of October, it is now officially autumn! Autumn is one of those seasons that you either love or hate.

Autumn lovers will be wrapping up in their warm fleece-lined coat to go for a walk in the park, watching the golden leaves fall from the trees with a hot chocolate in their hand.

Autumn haters will be sat inside longing to go back in time to relive their best Summer moments.

Whether you are an autumn lover or hater, this blog will give you some tips on how to get your salon ready for the cosy season!

 

Tip 1 – Decorate your Salon

Get your customers to be on your vibe by decorating your salon with autumn decorations.

This could be some artificial leaf garlands, artificial pumpkins, fairy lights or anything that gives you that autumn aesthetic!

If you offer complimentary drinks to your customers, try purchasing pumpkin spice, ginger or chai powders/syrups, for them to spice up their usual coffee or hot chocolate and to get in the autumnal spirit.

Tip 2 – Autumn Offers

Autumn may mean feeling blue for some, so what better way to cheer up your customers than having an autumn offer!

This could be a discount on sunbed courses or extra free minutes when purchasing a course if you are a tanning salon, for customers to prolong that summer tan so they can still get their vitamin D, which is a mood boosting vitamin.

This could be a discount on beauty services or a free product when booking a beauty service if you are a beauty salon, to give your customers that confidence and serotonin boost.

 

Tip 3 – Getting Prepared!

As calm as the autumn season may be, there is also a hectic season just around the corner from this, Christmas.

Christmas in the salon industry is one of the busiest periods, as everyone is wanting to book appointments to look their best for the most wonderful time of the year.

Now that summer is over, this is the perfect time to start taking bookings for the Christmas period.

Posting on your social media accounts encouraging your customers to get their Christmas appointments booked in is a great way to remind them to book in advance to guarantee them a slot at their desired date and time.

If you still have some Christmas openings nearer the time and you want to get them filled in, try posting your available slots on your social media.

This will allow for more potential customers to easily access your availability and choose a time that suits them.

 

All of the tips above will guarantee to get your customers into the autumn spirit!

 

Salon Tracker x

What Makes us so Good at Tanning?

Here at Salon Tracker, we have been providing salon management software for tanning salons since 2008 under the original name of ‘Studio Tracker.’

We were originally exclusively for tanning salons, however over the years we have branched out into other types of salons in the beauty industry, leading to us rebranding as Salon Tracker.

Here are some key features of Salon Tracker that make us your number one choice for tanning salons:

T-Max and Sigma Integration

We offer T-Max and Sigma integration on our Professional and Enterprise packages.

This means that once ‘confirm’ is clicked on Salon Tracker, the minutes are automatically sent to the specific sunbed rather than the use of tokens or manually putting minutes on each sunbed.

Free Support

We offer FREE support, Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm.

This means that if you have any queries about our software, our team is only a phone call away!

If support is needed outside of these hours, we have an array of help videos that range from 30 seconds to 3 minutes long that cover every kind of FAQ.

They can be accessed via the ‘Help’ section of Salon Tracker or in the ‘Help’ tab on our website.

Minute Tracking

When customers purchase sunbed courses, Salon Tracker automatically keeps count of how many minutes customers have left on their courses. 

This is a useful feature as it is more convenient for staff and leaves no room for human error.

Stock Management

On our Professional and Enterprise packages, we offer the ‘Stock Management’ feature.

This feature is useful for tanning salons that sell retail products such as sunbed creams, eye protection, beverages etc.

This allows the amount of each retail product in stock to be accounted for, and there is also the feature of adding a specific warning level when the amount of a certain product is low.

This is an efficient method of stock management as the amount left of each product can be easily accessed in the ‘Products’ tab on the right-hand side.

Salons will also be notified when their products reach the warning level, prompting them to re-stock these products before stock runs out.  

Waiting List

On the timer view of our software, there is a ‘waiting list’ under each sunbed.

This allows customers waiting for a specific bed during busy periods to add customers onto the ‘waiting list’ in order for them to be automatically added to the bed when it becomes free.

Booking Rules

We offer a ‘Booking Rules’ section, meaning that salons can be run within their preferred guidelines.

There are multiple types of rules in this section that can be altered to suit each salon’s preferences.

For example, salons can limit customers’ usage of their sunbeds such as every 24 hours or even add a limit on how many bookings they’re allowed a year.

 

All of these features combined are evidence of our outstanding track record as a tanning salon software.

Want to see for yourself? Sign up for a free demonstration and a 2-week free trial today on our website www.salontracker.co.uk or give us a call on 0113 350 8230.

 

Salon Tracker x

How Social Media can Benefit your Salon

In today’s digital age, having a strong social media presence is essential for any business, including beauty and tanning salons. Social media offers an unparalleled opportunity to connect with your clients, showcase your services, and build a loyal community. Whether you’re new to social media or looking to enhance your current strategy, here’s a guide on how to use social media to benefit your salon.

Showcase Your Work with High-Quality Visuals

Salons thrive on visual appeal, making platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok ideal for showcasing your work. Post high-quality photos and videos of your services—whether it's a stunning before-and-after tan, a flawless manicure, or a trendy haircut. Use professional lighting and consider investing in a good camera to ensure your images are sharp and vibrant. Regularly updating your feed with fresh content keeps your audience engaged and showcases the range of services you offer.

Engage with Your Audience

Social media is not just about posting content; it's about building relationships. Engage with your audience by responding to comments, answering questions, and thanking clients for their positive feedback. You can also use polls, Q&A sessions, and live videos to interact with your followers in real-time. By being responsive and interactive, you show that your salon values its customers, which can lead to increased loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals.

Promote Special Offers and Discounts

Social media is a powerful tool for promoting special offers, discounts, and seasonal deals. Create eye-catching posts or stories that highlight your promotions, and encourage your followers to share them with their networks. You can also run exclusive social media contests or giveaways to attract new clients. For example, offer a free service to a randomly selected follower who shares your post or tags a friend. This not only boosts engagement but also increases your salon’s visibility.

Leverage User-Generated Content

Encourage your satisfied clients to share their experiences on social media and tag your salon. User-generated content (UGC) is a powerful form of social proof that can help attract new clients. Repost these photos or testimonials on your own social media pages to showcase real-life examples of your work. UGC not only builds trust but also creates a sense of community around your brand.

Educate and Inspire with Content

Beyond showcasing your services, use social media to educate and inspire your audience. Share beauty tips, skincare routines, and tanning advice that can add value to your followers' lives. You can also post behind-the-scenes content to give a glimpse into your salon’s daily operations, or highlight the expertise of your staff. Educational content positions your salon as an authority in the industry and builds trust with potential clients.

Use Hashtags Strategically

Hashtags are essential for increasing the discoverability of your posts on platforms like Instagram and Twitter. Use a mix of popular and niche hashtags related to beauty, tanning, and your local area to reach a broader audience. For example, #BeautySalon, #Tanning, and #YourCityName can help your posts appear in relevant searches. Creating a unique hashtag for your salon can also encourage clients to tag their photos, further boosting your brand’s visibility.

Track Your Performance and Adjust Your Strategy

Social media platforms offer built-in analytics tools that allow you to track the performance of your posts. Pay attention to metrics such as engagement rates, reach, and follower growth to understand what content resonates most with your audience. Use this data to refine your strategy, posting more of what works and adjusting what doesn’t. Regularly reviewing your social media performance ensures that your efforts are driving real results for your salon.

Run Paid Social Media Campaigns

While organic reach is important, investing in paid social media campaigns can give your salon an extra boost. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer targeted advertising options that allow you to reach specific demographics based on location, interests, and behaviors. A well-crafted ad campaign can attract new clients, promote upcoming events, or increase bookings for specific services. Start with a small budget, and experiment with different ad formats to see what works best for your salon.

Build a Community

Ultimately, the goal of your social media presence should be to build a community around your brand. Encourage your clients to follow your pages, interact with your posts, and share their experiences. Host virtual events, like live beauty tutorials or Q&A sessions, to foster a sense of connection. By creating a community, you turn one-time visitors into loyal clients who will keep coming back to your salon.

Social media is a powerful tool that can significantly benefit your beauty or tanning salon. By showcasing your work, engaging with your audience, and leveraging the right strategies, you can increase your salon's visibility, attract new clients, and build a loyal customer base. Whether you're promoting special offers, collaborating with influencers, or educating your followers, social media offers endless opportunities to grow your salon business. Start implementing these tips today to see how social media can transform your salon’s success.

Salon Tracker x

Health and Safety within your Salon

Health and Safety guidelines for salons can seem complex at first glance as there is a lot you must consider as the owner of the salon, to maintain a safe working environment. It is essential that staff and customers are safe from harm within the salon. If the standards are not met to prevent them from harm, the repercussions can be astronomical. Completing continuous risk assessments and establishing a salon health and safety policy will ensure that your staff members are able to carry out their jobs without risk to themselves and clients.

Age Limitations

Under The Sunbeds Regulations Act 2010 it is an illegal offense for people under the age of 18 to use sunbeds in any facility, meaning that if the client appears to be under the age of 21 or 25, they will be asked to verify that they are 18 or over by showing valid proof of age. The regulations also state that the prescribed health information is provided on an A4 and A3 piece of paper so that clients are reminded each time they enter the salon, this is the only information that should be displayed. Information such as health effects of sunbeds will not be displayed.

Keeping your Salon and Staff Members Safe

As a salon owner you have a duty of care to your employees and clients this means that you must consider things such as: personal protective equipment, the correct facilities and equipment for staff to be able to carry out services safely and controlling substances that can be classed as hazardous to health regulations. In order to maintain high standards of care within the work environment it is important to appoint a first aider. They will also be in charge of the first aid arrangements within the salon. The welfare of the employees and clients is a high priority within the salon, this means that you must be able to provide them with facilities and other measures to ensure the individuals wellbeing needs are met. The need for insurance within a salon environment is essential as it plays a vital part in protecting you when it comes to legal claims and financial losses that the salon may face.

Health and Safety Policy

If your salon has five or more employees then it is necessary that your salon has a health and safety policy in place. However, it is good practice for your salon to have a policy in place with less than five employees. The law states that you must provide training for staff members so that they are able to enforce health and safety legislations as well as the policy you created for your salon.

Using Salon Tracker to Stay Within Health and Safety Guidelines

How can Salon Tracker assist you with maintaining the health and safety standards within your salon? Within the system you are able to store information such as client allergies on their client card. You can add this information in as an alert, therefore it will appear in a red box when the client’s card is opened, the allergy information can be gathered through consultations and skin tests. Salon Tracker also provides hardware that is able to assist you with health and safety. For example, the signature pad allows you to store the customers signature on your agreement within their client card along with a date and time of when it was signed. 

Another example of how Salon Trackers hardware is able to aid you in staying within the guidelines is through the fingerprint reader in which you are able to identify which client is in the salon through their unique finger print. This eliminates the risk of underage individuals using other clients' names to access the services in the salon, which they are not legally permitted to have.

There are tanning regulations implemented into the system so that you are able to prevent clients from returning to the salon more than once a day. You can also prevent underage clients from using the sunbeds. The system also connects with Sigma and T-Max which means that the beds can be controlled from Salon Tracker, within this you are also able to control the dress down and cool down periods for the beds which can help to prevent the beds from overheating in your busier time periods.

If you wish to book in for your free demonstration and two-week trial don't hesitate to contact us on 0113 350 8230 or alternatively email us at info@salontracker.co.uk.

Salon Tracker x

Dojo Integration

Sick of having to type every individual payment into your card reader?

Fed up of wasting your time and hassle on this, especially in busy periods?

Here at Salon Tracker, we integrate with Dojo card readers!

Why Dojo?

Dojo card readers leave room for virtually no error.

They have built-in 4G, meaning that even if you lose Wi-Fi connection, you can still make payments, providing you have mobile signal.

They have a 10-hour battery life, meaning there is no need to worry about leaving them on charge throughout the day.

They have superfast transaction speeds, reducing yours and your customers’ waiting time, which is extremely useful in busy periods.

They offer customer support 7 days a week with remote assistance from a UK-based team.

Why should I get a Dojo card reader if I have Salon Tracker?

At Salon Tracker, we strongly recommend investing in a Dojo card reader.

This is because we directly integrate with Dojo card readers, meaning that when a customer requests to pay on card, this will automatically appear on the Dojo card reader.

Simply press the 'Buy' button in Salon Tracker and then press 'Credit Card' or 'Debit Card' and the amount will automatically appear on the Dojo card reader.

This is an extremely useful feature of the Dojo card reader as it saves the hassle of having to type in every individual card payment into your card reader.

It also leaves no room for human errors, such as typing in the wrong amount into the card reader. This means that your Salon Tracker reports will be more accurate than ever.

It also reduces customer waiting times with their superfast transaction speeds and automatic integration with Salon Tracker, which is especially useful in busy periods.

Does it matter which Salon Tracker package I am on?

Good news! Don’t worry about which Salon Tracker package your salon is on, Dojo is able to integrate on every package meaning there is no worry about the cost or the hassle of upgrading with us.

How do I purchase a Dojo card reader?

To purchase a Dojo card reader, give us a call on 0113 350 8230 and we will sort this with Dojo for you.

Once the card reader arrives you can give us another call and we will get this set up and linked to your Salon Tracker.

We are available to call Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.

If you have any questions on the Dojo card reader then give us a call, or if you have any questions outside our office hours, the Dojo website has an FAQ section at the bottom of the homepage. Dojo for Business | Card payment solutions for UK businesses

So why not enquire today?

Salon Tracker x

 

Feature of the Month: Marketing

This blog will run through the marketing feature on Salon Tracker and how to use it.

Did you know you can also use Salon Tracker to notify your customers of any offers or campaigns? The ‘Marketing’ section on the Salon Tracker software allows you to send out marketing emails and SMS text messages to your customers to make them aware of any offers or discounts you may have running.

Why is Marketing beneficial to your salon?

Marketing is one of the key strategies to increase customer loyalty. Using these features that we provide in the Salon Tracker software will allow you to increase the chances of having returning customers, as if they are informed about upcoming offers or discounts they are more likely to purchase them.

The drop down button on the ‘Filter’ section in the ‘Marketing’ section gives you premade marketing templates of SMS text messages for you to send to customers. There are sections that you can personalise to the customers’ names and tailor to your specific offer.

Pressing the ‘Send Email’ button in the ‘Marketing’ section allows you to export your customers to your Mailchimp account, or the CSV button. This allows you to create marketing emails in Mailchimp and to send it to the relevant customers when created.

Pressing the ‘Send SMS’ button in the ‘Marketing’ section allows you to send a customised SMS text message to your customers. You can select the template at the top of the marketing page before you press ‘Send SMS’ in order to get the most relevant template for the offer you are introducing. You can also send yourself a preview before sending it out to customers.

 

When signing up for our free trial, you will receive 50 free SMS credits! So why not begin a free trial today?

 Call us on 0113 350 8230 or drop us an email at info@salontracker.co.uk

Salon Tracker x

Hardware

Running a successful salon requires more than just great service—it's about creating an efficient, seamless experience for both your staff and customers. Investing in the right hardware from Salon Tracker can transform your salon operations, making them more streamlined and secure. Here’s a rundown of how different pieces of hardware can elevate your salon management:

Fingerprint Reader

With our fingerprint reader, customer's minutes are protected with their unique fingerprint, meaning that no one else can use their minutes. The fingerprint reader also makes it faster than ever to book a customer in, with just the tap of a finger. It can also be used for staff logins; this biometric method ensures that only authorised personnel access sensitive information, reduces time fraud, and speeds up the clock-in process. Plus, it eliminates the need to remember passwords, what more could you want out of one device.

Signature Pad

Going digital doesn't mean losing the personal touch in your salon. An electronic signature pad allows your clients to sign your agreement digitally, making interactions smoother and faster. This not only reduces paper usage—contributing to an eco-friendlier salon—but also stores records securely in your system, making retrieval easy.

QR Scanner

For use with our Enterprise package, the QR scanner allows customers to simply scan the QR code from their online login to bring up their account on Salon Tracker, allowing seamless transactions and a contactless experience.

Barcode Scanner

Managing inventory and tracking products is essential in any salon, especially if you offer retail products to your clients. A barcode scanner helps you maintain accurate inventory records by simplifying the process of selling products. Instead of manually searching for a product, your staff can scan barcodes to instantly add the product to the transaction. This reduces human error, saves time, and ensures your stock records are always up-to-date.

Receipt Printer

Even in the digital age, physical receipts are still an important part of customer service for many clients. A receipt printer provides fast, reliable, and professional receipts with your business name on after every transaction. Whether it's for services or products purchased, a printed receipt is a tangible confirmation of the transaction, which many customers appreciate.

Cash Drawer

Though the world is becoming more contactless, cash is still a widely used payment method. A cash drawer is a crucial component of your point of sale (POS) system, it ensures that cash is handled securely and efficiently. The drawer opens only when authorized by the system, reducing the risk of theft or mishandling. It also provides a tidy, organized space for managing notes and coins, speeding up the payment process for both your staff and customers.

All-in-One PC

The all-in-one PC is the command center of your salon. With its sleek, space-saving design, this device integrates the power of a full computer, meeting our recommended specifications, into a compact monitor with a wireless mouse and keyboard, reducing clutter at your front desk. It handles everything you would need, with the ability to run not just Salon Tracker, but any other applications or browsers that you may want to use.. The all-in-one PC allows you to run multiple tasks simultaneously without lag, meaning that you can play your music using the PC and a music streaming app alongside Salon Tracker and much more!