The Ultimate Marketing Checklist for Opening Your First Salon
If you’re just starting out on your journey to open a beauty business, you know one thing for sure: you have a lot on your plate to make it happen.
Finding a location, getting permits, filing paperwork, setting up business accounts, and taking out loans...you’re dealing with a ton of stuff. Not to mention all of the storefront aspects, like stocking your back bar, selecting retail products and suppliers, and maybe even getting help from an assistant - girl, you are BUSY!
So today, I want to help make your journey easier by giving you a walkthrough - a cheat sheet, if you will - of the most important steps you’ll need to take in your marketing efforts before you open your doors.
Whether you’re a commissioned stylist, a booth renter, or a sole proprietor embarking on your very first time as a suite renter or studio owner, these crucial marketing steps will get you up and moving in the direction of a thriving salon. And please...DO THEM ALL! Each of these steps compounds on the other, so don’t skip one, thinking it won’t be important. All you’ll be doing is short-changing your future success.
Plus, read on to find out if you’re making a common mistake in your marketing efforts! (Most beauty businesses aren’t doing this and are missing out on huge profits...are you?)
If you already have a salon open and serving clients, run through this list and make sure you’ve done all of these!
Hairstylists, estheticians, nail artists, eyelash and brow artists, spray tan experts - this is for you!
Let’s get it!
Step #1: Determine your salon’s visual identity and brand
This includes your logo, brand fonts, brand colors, brand values and ethics, and your “brand voice”, or the way you come across in your ads, on your website, in your blogs and social posts, etc.
It is important to do this step first. Everything else will be easier to plan after you’ve established your brand identity - designing your salon, writing up your ads, and making important decisions about who you hire, how you manage your team, etc.
The easier way to start planning your brand is by using a branding board. This is a place where you save all your design ideas. Pinterest is perfect for this! Search ‘branding board’ or ‘pink and white brand’ or ‘beachy vibe brand’...whatever you’re thinking in terms of aesthetics, and you’ll get some good results to get your inspiration flowing.
Get inspired with branding board templates for your beauty business
Once you’ve got a good idea of colors and vibes, use Canva to choose a font that you like for your social media posts, emails, website copy, etc.
Even if your business name is something simple like your first name + your beauty niche (ie. Hair by Ashley), design a basic logo in Canva that you can add to everything you put out to your audience. Having a logo solidifies your brand and makes you instantly recognizable on the internet and in real life.
Step #2: Make sure your salon decor reflects your brand choices
This part is fun - who doesn’t love to decorate a bit, right?
Your salon decor should reflect your brand colors and vibe, but you don’t have to go over the top with it if your budget is small. A few pendant lights, a couple of lush plants, or one or two abstract paintings featuring your brand colors can do the trick. You can paint color-blocks on your neutral walls in your brand colors, or change out old boring door handles for gold ones if that’s your aesthetic. Simple, easy touches like this can make all the difference!
Whatever you do to reinforce your brand in your salon is worth the cost. Clients care what your salon looks like, and if they love it, they’ll take pictures to share on social media, spread the word to friends, and be much more likely to book again. Plus, you can take photos of your beautiful salon space and put them on your website to entice visitors to book an appointment!
Keep reading: How to make your salon decor “Instagram-worthy” on a budget
Keeping reading: 5 unique decor styles for your small salon or spa
This brings me to my next point...
Step #3: Get professional branding photos done of you and your salon/space
This is one of the best things you can do for your brand and your reputation as a professional beauty business owner. It shows you’re a professional who takes pride in your public image.
Keep reading: Check out my blog post here for all the details about booking a branding shoot for yourself.
These photos are sooooo handy and can be used for all sorts of marketing purposes. This is another one of those investments that is worth the price tag.
Step #4: Create a simple website that has a booking app
You need a website and an online booking platform. This is literally non-negotiable if you plan to be successful.
It’s so much simpler than you’d think! Most website hosts have built-in templates that are literally drag-and-drop. Add splashes of your brand colors, your logo, pictures of you and your salon space, and tons of your personality.
Without a website, it’s gonna be real hard for people to find your salon online...and even harder for them to book with you!
When it comes to adding an online booking platform to your website, here are the darlings of online booking in the beauty business space (and they’re all super-intuitive and easy to use, too):
Fresha
Square
Vagaro
Gloss Genius
Gen Book
Check them out, use the one that feels easiest to navigate, and start watching those online bookings fly in!
You can also open up an online retail shop on your website, selling gift cards or retail products to visitors.
Keep reading: Download The No-Sweat Beauty Biz Website Starter Guide
Step #5: Create a Google My Business page for your salon
Imagine if you had hundreds of people finding your salon every month just by searching for things like, “best balayage in Toronto” or “best facials near me”...for free?
Dream no more. Setting up a Google My Business account is easy and free - here’s a blog post I wrote to take you through the steps.
Follow the steps, fill out the fields, add pictures of your business, wait a bit while your account is verified, and viola! Your salon will start showing up in searches, and you’ll be driving business to your location.
The most effective part of a Google My Business account for any business is the Reviews section. So let’s get those reviews rolling in, shall we? Here are some ideas for gaining some 5-star reviews:
Set up monthly incentive contests for clients who leave reviews
Set up auto-responders to send out requests for reviews after client appointments
Make a point of asking at the end of each appointment if clients can leave feedback on your Google page
Don’t sleep on getting those reviews!
Keep reading: Learn the easy steps to creating and optimizing your salon’s Google My Business page
Step #6: Launch your Instagram and Facebook pages
Ok, real talk - Facebook has pulled back as a place for businesses to promote themselves in the past few years. Engagement is low, it’s hard to reach a large audience organically, and a lot of your posts just don’t get seen. However, you still need a Facebook business page, because you’d better believe that people will be looking for it (plus, if you want to set up Facebook and Instagram ads for your salon, you’ll need both!)
Instagram, on the other hand, has become the real MVP for promoting beauty businesses in a lot of ways.
To grab as much social media attention as possible, it’s a good idea to set up both.
Both your FB and IG profile should have a photo of you and your salon and your contact information. As well, be sure to include a link to your website and booking platform.
Once these accounts are set up, it’s time to generate content for your audience!
There are obviously a ton of different types of content you can share to promote your business, but for the sake of brevity, here’s the deal: Instagram Reels and Facebook Stories are the best way to quickly share information and promote. They get great engagement and help you build brand awareness for your salon.
Keep reading: Check out this blog post for some Reel inspiration!
Step #7: Set up a way to collect email addresses and create an email strategy
Email is waaaaaay slept on by beauty businesses, but you’re not gonna make that mistake - right?
Most of your audience will miss most of your posts on your socials. But if you’re in their inbox every day, they’re all caught up and excited for your latest sales and news. Nurture that close connection you feel with clients when they’re in your chair by showing up for them through email!
Most of the booking apps I mentioned earlier there have an email platform built in - but my personal favorite platform is MailChimp!
Make a habit of grabbing the email address of each visitor to your salon, either before or after their appointment.
Here are the three types of emails I recommend you focus on:
Pre- appointment confirmation emails: this will decrease no-shows, cancellations, and allow you to remind clients of any important instructions before their appointment
The follow-up email: the day after their appointment, ask clients about their experience. You can also use this email to request a review on your Google My Business page, as I mentioned earlier.
Newsletter-style emails: Stay top-of-mind by sending out bi-weekly or monthly emails to past clients. Let them know about the latest news, promotions, and sales events - but more than anything else, share VALUE. Education, beauty tips and tricks, and personal stories are all great content for these emails.
Keep reading: The 6 types of emails you need to be sending to your salon clients
Step #8: Map out your customer experience journey
My friend Abby, master hairstylist and owner of AW Academy, has a Service Wheel, which details every aspect of each ‘guest’s experience from introduction to accepting payment and beyond. She has painstakingly mapped out every tiny detail because she wants the experience of each of her guests to be professional, enjoyable, and memorable.
Keep watching: Elevating The Customer Service Experience At Salons - Abby Warther Interview
So from reservation expectations to consultation, to website navigation and the post-booking experience of following up and staying connected, map it all out. Write it all down, and look for opportunities to make it even better. Tiny touches like specialty essential oil scents, dog treats for doggie visitors, or candy bowls can all make for a memorable experience for your clients.
This helps with retention, positive reviews, and word-of-mouth spreading.
And with that...
Congratulations! You’ve completed every item on your first-year, pre-opening marketing checklist!
You will have many, many things to consider and change over the next year - and you will tinker with every item on this checklist a million times as you learn about what works and what doesn’t. But by following this checklist to the letter, you’re on the right track to build your beauty empire, solidify your brand, and create a faithful, adoring clientele that can’t get enough of your services.
Keep making those big moves, darling. Your future self is looking back at you right now and feeling so grateful you did.
Xo,
Stephanie
