How to run a wildly successful (in-person!) salon event
It’s been a pretty crazy 2+ years for almost every industry…but in the beauty industry, friends, we’ve had it extra rough! And I know you know this.
Whether you’re a salon owner or booth renter, hairstylist or permanent makeup artist, it’s been a rough go. Constantly changing guidelines and regulations have meant an uphill climb for most beauty professionals when it comes to getting and keeping clients in your chair. But you’ve persisted, and things are finally looking up in a lot of places.
One of the unavoidable consequences of the pandemic is that it’s much harder to get people together for in-person events. But it’s not impossible!
I recently interviewed Adam Chatterley, owner of Beauty Business Secrets. We had a great chat where I learned a ton about how to run a buzzworthy salon event. You can run a killer in-person beauty biz event, and it can be highly profitable for you, too!
But what exactly is a salon event? According to Adam, it’s any in-person gathering with a purpose, a focus, and a theme. It can be anything from a small gathering in your salon to a black-tie charity event!
Today we’re diving into everything to do with salon events. If you’ve been thinking about hosting one as a beauty professional, this blog is for you!
Why beauty business events can work really well for you
Why run events? What do they provide for you? Adam says he’s a huge fan of using tech to promote your business, but there’s no denying that the ‘old school ways’ of promoting still work really, really well…but almost nobody uses them these days.
In-person events are a great way to market your beauty business, build customer loyalty, raise money for charity, or reward your clients for their business.
They work well because of the buzz they create. People need something to get excited about in order to pay attention. When people have a day off and want to get out of the house, they start checking their phones to see what’s going on around them. If you’re running an event at your salon, have laid out some yummy treats, and offer some swag or a free treatment or just a good time, your community will take notice…and your regular clients will definitely take notice!
Events beat out every other form of marketing in this one way: they’re special because they often only happen once. If you miss out, you’ve missed out forever! Who can resist a good “get it before it’s gone”?
The best occasions to host an in-person event for your beauty business
Sometimes you just wanna throw a party for no reason, and that’s okay too! But here are a few really great reasons to host an event at your beauty business:
To get to know your clients better and give back to them: According to Adam, this is a “max revenue technique.” Make ‘em happy, keep ‘em happy, take their money. A loyal client base means you have a lot less reason to need more clients!
Holiday events: Valentine’s Day, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Thanksgiving…any chance to celebrate and bring people together is a great time to host an in-person event for your beauty biz! You can promote special holiday-themed packages you’ve put together (you guys know I’m a HUGE fan of those…check out this blog post for all the sweet deets!)
To promote new retail products or treatments: After a while, your clients might start to assume they know everything about who you are and what you offer…even if they’re wrong! An event can re-educate your clients and get them to appreciate your beauty business in a new way. Adam says that events are better for this (re-education) than every other form of marketing. He offered a real-life example of a wellness retreat center that was known for cleanses, colonic treatments, etc. When the retreat center opened a day spa, Adam suggested they hold a local community welcome party to bring awareness to this new aspect of their business. They invited influential community characters (the parent-teacher association of a local private school, someone from the chamber of commerce, local business association representatives, etc.) The event went really well and drew quite the buzz, and was the perfect way to start off strong for the day spa!
When you’re first opening your salon: A “grand opening” event always gets the interest of the community, because it’s got that novelty factor that people can’t resist. Being the first to try something new is a special bragging right for people! It creates a great first impression for you with your community and if you throw a good party, you get free word-of-mouth marketing too!
For specific clients that you want to thank or get the attention of: These can be your VIP clients, long-term clients, or even clients you haven’t seen in a while! Offer a free treatment or swag bags, and make them feel special. They’ll thank you with loyalty and maybe some of that sweet word-of-mouth marketing.
(*Editor’s note: For more detailed information on specific occasions to hold events, check out timestamp 34:25 for lots of examples from Adam!)
How to host a successful in-person salon event
Adam points out one of the most practical reasons that people who run beauty businesses avoid putting on events:
They’re a ton of work!
But, he says, they’re significantly less work if you partner with another local salon or beauty business to share the load (and the client base!)
When you partner with another business to run an event, you’re reaching double the audience and getting the word out twice as fast.
As far as picking which business to partner with, Adam says that you don’t only have to choose a business that’s similar to yours (ie another salon/hairstylist/beauty influencer), but that you can think outside the box a bit to make the event more exciting for your client base.
What interests do a lot of your clients enjoy outside of beautifying themselves, and what kind of business represents or supports that?
For example, your salon could partner with a local ‘clean-eats’ restaurant that’s popular in your area or a yoga studio that shares a similar target market to your beauty biz.
You could also choose to team up with a local charity you support and love. This provides both you and your clients that attend with that feel-good thrill of partying for a cause. And bonus partner benefit: partnering with a charity can bring extra awareness to your beauty biz, as charities often have quite a reach and audience!
On top of exciting your client base with a tantalizing team-up, you also might benefit from being able to your partner’s space for the event, if you’re a booth renter or serve clients in your home and need a venue.
Your checklist for a buzzworthy in-person salon event
Adam says that who you choose to partner with is ultimately far less important than how creative and buzz-worthy your event ends up being.
In order to run a really great beauty biz event, there are a few elements that you have to include:
Create your agenda for the event: On a big piece of paper, write down everything you want for the event - financial goals, attendance goals, marketing goals. Write down exactly how you want things to take place, such as plans for food, decorations, timelines for the day(s) etc. Adam says that you should expect that things will not go exactly as you planned, so don’t get stressed about it - “that’s just events!”, he remarked. But having a plan beforehand will keep you on track as things take place.
Outline your budget: “Like any event, you’ll have to spend some money to put it on,” says Adam. It’s important to know in advance the upper limit of what you want to spend and stay within your budget. Food, drinks, decorations, paper plates, staff to help you run the event, and marketing costs add up quickly. Adam says that it’s crucial to always keep in mind how much you want to generate from the event, and be sure to keep your event budget below that $ amount. You can ask event partners or your distributors if they have free swag you can give away as perks, to help cut down on costs.
Sell tickets to your event: Adam says that selling tickets is a great way to encourage people to actually show up because they’ve invested in the event ahead of time. You can sell tickets for really cheap, $10 or less, and any amount you sell will obviously help you recoup some of the cost of running the event.
Plan a schedule well in advance and stick to it: As mentioned earlier, lots can go awry on the day of the event and every day leading up to it, so giving yourself plenty of advanced time to prepare for changes while sticking to the schedule you created (as best you can) will ensure things run more smoothly.
Build your support team for your event: There’s lots to do to get a great event running smoothly, so getting as much support as possible will help lighten your load. If you don’t have staff that you can book for the day of the event, see if anyone in your personal circle would be willing to volunteer their time.
Promote your event well in advance: Use your social media accounts, email lists, flyers, etc to get the word out there! Be sure to point out the exclusivity of the event, encourage your community not to miss out, and tell them the perks of showing up! Adam says that a great way to bring awareness to the event (and provide cool content for your following) is to take pictures of you and your team planning the event (“Headed out this morning to audition bands for our Grand Opening event at the salon!”)
Keeping in mind the ultimate goal of any in-person event - to raise awareness and promote yourself as a beauty professional - it’s smart to use any and every channel available to get the word out, and keep track of which channel works best for future events promotion!
Use in-person events to create clients for life
Adam says that in-person events don’t just have to be to party - you can use the opportunity to teach your community, too. Providing valuable education markets you as the expert in your niche, whether it’s skincare, haircare, nail art, waxing, permanent makeup, or whatever your thing is!
If you’re introducing a new product or service into your salon, you can host a “show and tell” event to show your clients how the product or service works on a live model.
You can also use an in-person event to test out a new class or tutorial you want to start selling, like makeup classes or skincare regiment classes. Give out a bit of free swag at the end of the event, and your clients will be much more interested in your products, services, and classes in the future!
“If you are the expert in your area, people are going to come to you with their problems. That is absolute gold because they know you’ve got the solution [to their problem] - you’re talking about solid clients for life,” says Adam.
Check out Adam’s website Beauty Business Secrets for more.
