Here at Salons Direct, we love bringing you the best ways to help you market your salon towards success. This week, we are looking at how holding a client event in your salon can help boost your business – from keeping customers loyal to getting new faces through the door.
If you are interested in holding a client event in your salon, read on to find out how to do it to reap the most benefits…
What is a Client Event in a Salon?
A salon client event is when you invite a selection of your clients into your salon to enjoy some complementary treatments on a more personal level – plus, make them feel like a valued part of the salon!
Client events can take any shape or size you choose. The key is making sure you target the right clients with the right occasion. It’s also a great marketing opportunity, so there is plenty to gain by getting it right!
Related: Are Salon Loyalty Cards Worth It?
How Can Your Salon Benefit From a Client Event?
While it can seem intimidating for the first time, hosting a client event can really pay off. The main aim you should have in mind is to thank your clients for their loyalty and make sure they enjoy themselves enough to keep coming back.
Other valuable benefits of hosting a client event are:
- New media coverage
- Increased awareness of what your salon offers
- Stronger links with other local businesses or charities
- A boost to retail sales
Ask yourself, what do you most want to get out of your client event? It might not be possible to achieve all of these things at once. Try and focus on the one benefit that is most important to you, and think of how best to achieve it.
Who Should You Invite to Your Salon Event?
Unfortunately, you simply won’t have the time, money or space to invite your entire client base to your event! Instead, you need to find the best way to select a manageable guest list that best suits your needs…
Host a ‘VIP Night’ for your top clients
This is the best way to help further strengthen loyalty from your top spending and long-time clients. Make them know how valued they are by positioning your event as a special ‘thank you’ for their custom.
You could allow them to bring a friend along, too – they are more likely to come and you might get a new client on board! Remember to ask your clients to RSVP so you know roughly how many people to prepare for.
Charge per ticket if you want to guarantee attendance
If the cost is a concern to you, you could go down the route of offering a limited number of tickets, at a price. Make sure you market your event well to maximise ticket sales – online, in your salon and on social media. Inviting people this way also lets you get a clearer idea of how many people will turn up – plus helps cover some of your expenditure.
Team up with another local business to get new clients in
If expanding your reach is a main aim of your client event, you might want to look into partnering up with other local businesses. You could invite a local fashion boutique along, who could offer some products at a special discount. Alternatively, ask a local bakery to provide some treats, so you can both get some promotion.
Related: Attracting New Clients to Your Business
How Should You Market Your Event?
Marketing should be key to your client event!
If you have a VIP guestlist, contact them by email, text, post or in a private message on social media – however you think they prefer you to get in touch. Don’t forget to mention it to them in person, too!
Offer a discount or special gift
One way to encourage attendance is to offer something for free. If your guests turn up, give them a discount voucher for their next appointment or a complementary upsell – a conditioning treatment or massage, for example. You could even give them a free product sample from the treatment you have given them – they might come back and buy it again.
Contact your local press
Let your local newspaper or newsletter know that you are hosting an event! You could even invite beauty or lifestyle reporters along to try and get some more coverage! Try and create some buzz around the event to get maximum interest.
Share the fun on social media!
When the event is done, be sure to share photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. This will make those who attended feel more involved – check with the clients who attended if they are happy for you to share photos of them, first.
Sharing pictures of your event will also make sure everyone sees just how much you value your clients. It might even encourage people to come back more often, if they want to be a part of the next one. Those who didn’t take up their invitation could also be more likely to in the future, if they see what they have missed!
Related: Social Media Marketing for Salons
What Should I Do For My Client Event?
You can use your salon client event to showcase your services, promote new products or celebrate an occasion. Give your clients some pampering and provide tea, coffee, drinks, canapes – or anything else you think will make your event stand out!
Host a birthday party for your salon
Maybe your salon has a special birthday coming up and you want to show off how long you have been around? If you want to make a toast with your clients, remember that there are laws around serving alcohol in your salon. If your clients have to buy a ticket to attend or are making a purchase in any way, you will need the proper licensing.
Find out more about the law on serving alcohol in your salon or barber shop here.
Related: Birthday Marketing Ideas to Woo Your Salon Clients
Tie in with a seasonal occasion
You could also base your event around seasonal occasions such as New Year, Mother’s Day, Halloween or Christmas. Just make sure that whatever you choose is something your clients would be interested in. If you have special packages to promote during this time, offer a taster of them. Then, use your photos and reviews from your attendees to market them to your whole client base online.
Related: How to Attract & Retain Clients Through New Year Well Being Trends
Offer a taster of your services
If you want to boost bookings for a particular service, put on a complementary taster of what you have on offer. This could be a mini-manicure, express facial, a micro massage or even a 10 minute hair or makeup transformation!
What is most important is that your clients feel like they’ve had a good time in your salon. Make sure you talk to each attendee personally and ensure everyone gets a taste of what you have on offer.
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