How is your salon competing this Valentine's Day?

Finally! January has crawled by and here we are at the lover-ly month of February! Valentine’s Day is always a great excuse for salons to go all out because it’s half celebrating the return of business after January being a quiet month for most. 2015 and the big day falls on Saturday meaning everything has to be bigger, better and more competitive to get those bookings in advance. 3 weeks to go so here are some of our ideas to pull out the stops this year <3…

· Appeal to men and women. Valentine’s is a great excuse for a double pamper day with your S/O but if your salon cannot cater for that then at least aim for both sexes when marketing. Some men can get stuck with gift ideas for their partners. Even though they might enter a salon sometimes the environment, treatments and smell can all become a bit too much resulting in a panic gift. Why not make it easy for them this Valentine’s Day and offer a gift card as the perfect treat to pamper their loved one. Sell it as the ideal, perhaps wrapped in a box with surrounding goodies to entice and close the customer there and then.

· Promote express makeover, waxing or mani/pedi treatments to make your client’s look and feel their best. If you have some package ideas why not name them something Valentine’s related. Try theming your treatments with love heart sweets! ‘New love’ or ‘be mine’ could be express visual treatments such as a makeover and manicure, whereas ‘I love you’ could be a complete pamper package inclusive of a relaxation massage and premium treatments.

· If you can cater for couple’s services then definitely do and offer at a special rate! Try getting really creative with your tempting treatment list. Think about relationships levels such as dating, relationships and marriage. New partners might prefer something a bit more subtle so join with your local florist and provide "flowers and a facial" (MUST PURCHASE IN ADVANCE) for newer couples. Other ideas might include couples massages, for a great excuse to relax and enjoy a romantic day together. It might even help with tapping into the male market too if that's something you don't yet offer.

·  Make sure you are adding a little touch of sparkle on to every treatment. Maybe get some lovey dovey cupcakes and champagne on the day for clients whilst they are enjoying their treatments. Maybe even retail some different products to what you usually would, such as romantic massage oils. This can be a great way to prompt customers to add on to their purchase and treat partners to a luxury pamper for the evening after their day at the salon.

· Anti-valentine’s day services! Don’t exclude the singles market. Entice groups of female friends to still celebrate the day with special pamper packages.