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Gen Z and younger Millennials are often more inclined towards DIY-ing their skincare, make-up, and hair care routines. This is why it can be tough to get them to come to salons.
But while marketing to a younger demographic may be more difficult, it is not impossible. A lot of salons focus primarily on older clients, generally women in their thirties and forties. Hence, teenagers and people in their twenties constitute an untapped market that has immense potential.
Getting younger people to come to your salon gives you an opportunity to gain long-term clients, who may still be using your services twenty years from now. The goal is to get them through the door and convince them that they need you.
The right branding will make your salon attractive to a younger audience. This involves some important strategies that will help you promote your salon services directly to them. Read on to find out what they are.
How To Promote Your Salon
1. Offer Special Deals And Discounts
Young people are often less likely than older people to have disposable income lying around. Many have to work long hours to pay rent and put food on the table. Hence, it’s unlikely that they’ll give your salon a chance unless you make them an offer that they can’t refuse.
This is why discounts are so important, especially for new customers. They grab your audience’s attention and bring them into your doors. For instance, offer new customers 50% off on a hair wash and blow-dry. Set particular timings during which this discount would be available, ideally between 5 pm and 6 pm. This allows young people who get off work and get free from school to avail of your offer in the time they have free.
This is a way to tailor the discount specifically to young people. So you have to make sure that whatever you offer is also convenient and easily accessible to your target demographic.
For teenagers, offer special prom night deals. High school students should be able to come to your salon and get their hair and make-up done at an affordable price. For instance, Bliss Hair is a salon that offers prom night hair discounts and it has seen a lot of profit from it.
2. Put Up Flyers In Your Locale
Flyers are a time-tested marketing tool that never fails. The more flyers you have in your neighborhood, the greater the chances of your salon reaching the radar of young people who live nearby.
Make sure to put up flyers in places young people go to most often. For instance, school notice boards are a viable option if you’re marketing to teenagers. Apart from this, universities, bars, cafes, and other social spots are all good places to put up flyers at.
Remember to check with relevant authorities before you put up any flyers. You don’t want your flyer to get taken down after you leave!
If you have a limited marketing budget, you don’t need a graphic designer to make your flyer. Websites such as PosterMyWall have tons of salon flyer templates that you can customize according to your preference. They also have templates for specific services, for example, spa flyer templates, that you can use to advertise special offers.
3. Keep Up With The Trends
Young people are most likely to set their hair and make-up preferences according to trends they see on social media and find out from friends. As a salon marketing to that demographic, you need to stay one step ahead of the game.
Follow some beauty and fashion pages online. Keep track of what’s in and what isn’t. Stay up to date with the activities of influencers on social media. Do heavy research on what looks are in, and what make-up looks everyone is carrying this season.
Once you have all of this information, use it to advertise to your target audience. For instance, if contouring in make-up is all the rage in a particular season, highlight that in your campaigns. Talk about your elite contouring services, and let people know that you know what you’re doing.
American Salon did something similar in their marketing campaigns. They saw what young people were into, and then generated specialized content, including blog posts, talking specifically about those things so that more young people would click on their website.
4. Have A Robust Social Media Presence
This is one strategy that must not be overlooked, no matter what. It’s no surprise that young people are the most avid users of social media. So take advantage of this. Market to them on their own platform.
Make sure to use your social media strategically. Put up regular posts about your services and infographics on hair and skincare. Do giveaways to increase your reach. For instance, offer a free haircut to the winner. All your followers would have to do is share your post and tag their friends. This will put your page on new screens and build your following as a result.
Also, partner with notable local influencers. Young people are more likely to follow influencers and if they see their favorite social media star to promote your salon, they will definitely be inclined to check it out.
To get influencers on board, offer them a free or discounted service. For instance, hair coloring. Then make a video or take a picture of it, and ask them to post it on their page and tag your salon. Their young followers will instantly be made aware of your salon, and you’ll automatically get a bigger reach.
Wrapping Up
And there you have it. These are some of the most important tips you need to keep in mind when you are trying to promote your salon to a younger audience. It might take more convincing than usual to bring in young people because, as we said before, Gen Z is largely a DIY generation. But if you tailor your services to their needs, and implement these strategies effectively, you’ll see them coming in droves.