Business tips

5 unique Women's Day marketing ideas for hair and beauty businesses

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5 unique Women's Day marketing ideas for hair and beauty businesses

The International Women’s Day is so much more than flowers and boxes of chocolates (although we never say no to either, especially the latter!) - it’s the day when we challenge the stereotypes, praise our achievements and celebrate womanhood in every shape it comes in. If you are a woman yourself (which is very likely, as 84% of people working in the hair industry, including hair salons and barbershops, and 94% working in the beauty industry are female*), it’s a day in which you should give yourself and all your fellow ladies a big pat on the back - you are awesome and doing an awesome job. Womanhood is so much more than just physical beauty. Nevertheless, feeling good in your body is also an important part of celebrating being a woman. The experience of being pampered, indulged and cared for are the qualities that can be a great gift for yourself or other important ladies in your life. Hence, Women's Day can be very fruitful for your hair or beauty business - you should most definitely invite all the ladies to spoil themselves in your salon... but forget about generic ideas from a decade ago. Let’s talk about 5 unique ways in which you can celebrate Women's Day in your salon!

1. Choose a theme and go big with it

Instead of trying to target women with banal, outdated motifs people stereotypically associate with femininity (flowers, pastel colours, lipstick marks), choose something more fulfilling. Think about the real women in your life - what are they like? What would they like to celebrate? Moreover, think about women from your target group - do you get more busy moms, vigorous businesswomen or ladies in their 70s? Focus on certain aspects of womanhood - something relatable and personal at the same time.

Example - a “Mothers’ and daughters’ day” campaign

It’s a great time to celebrate the relationship with the most important woman in your life - your mom and/or your daughter, especially as Mothers’ Day is just a few days apart! You will host young mothers introducing their children to the world of beauty, teenagers bonding with their parents, grown-up women pampering their deserving mothers, maybe even three generations enjoying their time together - this theme allows for a wide target group.

  • This day, offer clients who bring their mom or daughter along with them an additional service as a gift - for example, a free conditioning treatment or a hand massage.
  • Offer a 15% discount on a second retail product (“one for you, one for your mother/daughter”)
  • At least a week before, publish a post announcing the promotion on your social media fan pages (mainly Facebook and Instagram).
  • At least a week before, send your clients a message announcing the promotion, preferably also a follow-up a day before. Use the Booksy Message Blast feature to target your female clients exclusively and send a message to all of them with just one click.
  • You can create a similar campaign for a “Female friends day” campaign - encourage your clients to celebrate this day with any dear woman in their life. Adjust your promotion messages accordingly.

2. Target gentlemen with gift card promotions

Like every year, in late January and early March, most men will be in search of the perfect gift to present their beloved ladies with. Although the usual box of chocolates is alright, what we're truly craving is a moment of relaxation for ourselves. This is why gift cards to hair and beauty salons make such wonderful Women’s Day presents.

To create a successful gift card promotion campaign:

  • Check Booksy’s Gift Cards feature, thanks to which you will be able to manage the circulation of gift cards without any problems.
  • At least two weeks before, publish a post promoting the gift cards on your social media fan pages (mainly Facebook and Instagram).
  • At least two weeks before, send your clients a message encouraging them to invest in gift cards. Use the Booksy Message Blast feature to target your male clients exclusively.

3. Run a competition - and make your most desirable service the prize

Competitions hosted on social media channels are a great idea to promote your business, however, you have to know how to implement them properly. Much of what you can see on Facebook actually goes against their terms and policies and you risk being banned for using such techniques.

When creating a contest on Facebook, you cannot:

  • Ask your audience to “share” the post to enter the competition
  • Ask your audience to “tag their friend” (or anybody else) under the post to enter the competition
  • Ask your audience to “like” your fan page to enter the competition

Instead, you can:

  • Ask a beauty-related trivia question
  • Ask your audience to create a caption for an image
  • Ask your audience to share their stories or ideas (eg. “describe your perfect Women’s Day scenario”)
  • Host a “guessing” competition (eg. “guess how many bottles of polish are in this photo”)

Now, here comes the kicker - if you want your audience to really get involved, the price must be worth it. Ask yourself - what is my business known for?  You’ll gain much more engagement and hence - wider reach, and in consequence, more people will be interested in your services and more likely to visit your salon. And let’s not forget about the good publicity and boosted loyalty from the winner!

4. Run a transformation campaign

We all love to witness a good metamorphosis. There is something truly captivating about seeing how much one can change if given a new hairstyle, brows or lashes (and a huge confidence boost along the way). Why not take advantage of this trend? To make the most of it, you can make a metamorphosis the prize of your contest, in which ladies can partake in by sending you their photos and a short explanation of why they want to change their image. The chosen lady will be given a free makeover.

  • Remember, that you always need permission to share somebody’s photos on your social media fan pages - make sure that the winner of the contest gives you one before you start working on them. It’s best to include a paragraph regarding the necessity to give such permission in the initial announcement of the contest.
  • If the client permits, share their makeover photos along with their story - it will give the campaign more depth, showing that you are not only a skilled professional but also a person who truly cares about the well-being of their customers.

5. Prepare a lottery

Lotteries are being overlooked nowadays - which is a shame because they fit the marketing needs of beauty salons perfectly. At a relatively low cost, you can lure a significant amount of people to your salon, boost the customer experience (and hence, loyalty) of each of them and earn great publicity in the process. What do you need to do?

  • Begin with deciding on the prizes - most of them should be small things (eg. little bags with product samples), a few should be more significant (eg. a 20% discount on the client’s next appointment) and one should be the main prize (eg. a free service of choice - though it’s best to set some boundaries).
  • Prepare the tickets - remember to make them indistinguishable when folded.
  • At least two weeks before the launch, publish a post announcing the lottery on your social media fan pages (mainly Facebook and Instagram). Include a sneak-peak of what’s the prizes are going to be - the more hype around the lottery, the better.
  • At least two weeks before, send your clients a message announcing the lottery, preferably also a follow-up a day before. Use the Booksy Message Blast feature to target your female clients exclusively.
  • Remember to always take photos (ask for permission first!) of the effects of services received as lottery prizes - they will make for great promotional content for your social media fan pages.

International Women’s Day is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate womanhood - and to make your business thrive too. To prepare an outstanding campaign for this day you have to combine clever marketing ideas, an advanced tool that allows for automation, the knowledge of your clients, a fair share of empathy and an honest desire to make your female clients happy. With all of these combined, you are on your way to success.

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*According to the statistics for 2018, presented by the National Hairdressers’ Federation and the National Beauty Federation UK.