Typically, the months of January and February hit hair and beauty salons hard as clients begin to tighten their belts after the frantic festive period and winter party season.

With this in mind, it is important to re-evaluate your business strategy over this crucial two month period to avoid unnecessary salon downtime and loss of profit that makes meeting your overheads more difficult.

Related: Setting and managing targets within your salon business

Here we will show you the best approaches to maintain regular clientele as well as attract new business throughout this widely recognised dry patch within the hair and beauty industry.

Starting your marketing a little ahead of time is optimum…

We recommend starting to advertise your new year promotions as soon as possible to beat local competition on desirable deals, as well as using the opportunity to attract the interest of the clientele that are passing through your salon during the typically busy Christmas period. By getting in early you are showing that your salon is thinking ahead, and demonstrating to your clients that they don’t want to miss out on such good new year deals.

Taking advantage of ‘new year, new you’ behaviour…

Many people use the beginning of the new year to give their minds and bodies a makeover, whether that is joining a gym for fitness and physical health, or perhaps they might want to try out a new haircut or colour.

Market your hair or beauty salon as the place for clients to rejuvenate their image to boost their confidence during the new year. Think about it, your wondrous staff are able to satisfy any image-based new year’s resolutions of their clientele in the space of an appointment slot – so capitalise on it.

When planning and preparing your marketing strategy for January and February, take the angle of ‘new year, new you’ makeovers and fresh starts. Extend your campaigns from your salon window as well as your email and contact database and social media pages. Wherever your audience is, tap into it and make sure you are communicating your new year deals and offers clearly.

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Examples of promotions that you can use could include hair packages such as a free cut and blow with any colour restyle or a free manicure with every pedi. The possibilities are endless and you as a salon owner are able to make an informed decision on the kinds of ‘new year, new you’ promotional packages you’d like to promote based on salon size and retail stock availability.

Make a point of running a January promotion…

Whilst running any new promotions on treatments, be mindful that you can also  boost profits through your retail stock. Find out our tips here. 

Related: How staff can boost retail sales

It is, however, very important to make sure that you can accommodate any reductions and are not just making discounts and running promotions for the sake of it.

To avoid overkill and potentially putting your profits in jeopardy due to over facilitating new year promotions , we recommend offering deals on typically quieter days, perhaps midweek such as Tuesdays and Wednesdays when salons tend to be a little quieter than days with more footfall, such as Saturday and in the evenings when clients have finished work.

In summary…

There are a number of ways to attract clientele in January and if executed well can result in new clientele, upselling to existing clients and attracting positive attention to your salon business.

We also recommend hosting promotional events with mini-treatments, maybe hand massages or nail art? Offer demonstrations and goodie bags sampling miniatures of the products you stock.

However you choose to market your salon post Christmas, ensure that it gives clients a reason to come in and see you. By actioning the above as early as possible, you are taking the right steps towards a profitable January.

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