Grow your beauty salon business with text marketing
Texting your customers helps build trust with your brand. This is essential in a business where providing personal care is at the core of operations. Texts can also prevent missed appointments, which your customers will appreciate. In turn, this type of interaction can encourage them to keep coming back to you. When done right, text messaging increases your client base and maintains loyalty among your current customers.
At Appointable, we simplify the process of sending out SMS campaigns for you. Our services are centered on the concept of two-way texting to give you a competitive advantage. Keep reading to understand why marketing via text for your businesses is a great idea.
Sending text messages is effective
You may be hesitant about sending texts to clients because you think that they would find it bothersome. But that’s not the case at all! Data shows that the average person actually opens 98% of the messages that they receive.
Even better is that they engage with these texts. People tend to respond within 90 seconds after getting a text. The numbers show that the average click-through rate for text messages is about 36%, while the conversion rate is at around 45%.
Clearly, the numbers and engagement for SMS marketing are high. Now you are probably wondering – what makes this any different from sending emails instead?
Well, the open rate for emails from beauty salons is at only 28-33%. It’s significantly lower compared to the 98% open rate of text messages. Response time for emails is also lower, averaging at 90 minutes. Imagine how much growth potential you could have maximized within that time frame! This is why text marketing is a powerful tool for beauty parlors, spas and salons.
Why Appointible?
There are various ways to engage with your clients via text marketing
The great thing about sending SMS campaigns is that you can tailor them to your needs. You do not have to limit yourself to advertising discounts or in-store promos. As an engagement channel, messages can also be about expressing thanks for your customers’ patronage.
With Appointible’s text messaging services, you can send text campaigns, confirmations, reminders, and so much more. It lets you track your results and ensure that you’re reaching the right people. Choosing a platform that freely allows you to implement your strategy is paramount in launching a successful SMS marketing campaign.
There’s one thing you should keep in mind, though. You cannot send messages to your customers without first securing their permission or written consent.
With that in mind, here are some other ideas on how to make SMS marketing work for your spas and salons.
1. Send mass text messages to your clients
Mass texting is an efficient way to reach your market. It is particularly useful for spreading general content that everyone would benefit from. This includes information such as new services, package deals, and discounts.
By engaging with your customers on a mass scale, sales can also subsequently increase. Actively communicating with clients lets them recognize your brand better. And with greater brand awareness, you can fill your booking calendar and encourage consistent event attendance.
2. Personalize your messages
People visit spas and salons to get some much-deserved downtime. When you send out personalized messages to your customers, it ties in the whole experience for them. Positive perceptions about your business are always beneficial for higher returns and better revenue.
Some types of text messages that you can send are thank you notes, booking confirmations, feedback requests, and appointment reminders. As a bonus, sending text reminders helps you save up to 50% on phone call expenses. This also helps prevent no-show bookings and potential profit loss.
3. Other forms of text messages that you can send
Aside from sales-related messages, here are other types of content that you can use in SMS marketing:
- Hairstyle tricks such as how to dry hair efficiently
- Blog links to wellness guides
- Skincare recommendations
- A style that’s currently trending
- “We miss you” letters
- Requests for ratings or feedback
- Job ads
- Notices to employees
The key to attracting clients with text marketing
Visibility is the primary factor that influences the results of an SMS marketing campaign. For beauty salons, creating an SMS keyword is helpful in advertising your business. SMS keywords are words or short phrases that people text to a local or toll-free number to subscribe to future messages.
It is essential to promote your keyword in order to grow your subscribers. You need to put yourself where your target customers will see you. You can advertise your keyword through traditional or digital advertising.
QR codes are a great way to do this. You can place them in your social media posts, attach them to your storefronts, print them on flyers, or even use them to qualify for a special rewards program. They’re incredibly easy to use – your potential clients only need a smartphone with a QR scanner installed.
Examples of engaging text messages
Formulating a text message that can pique people’s interest may seem hard, but you don’t have to overthink it! Remember that your goal is to engage and converse with your clients. With that in mind, always try to maintain a natural and approachable tone, whether you’re sending a welcome message, opening update, or asking for a review once an appointment is over.
Here are a few samples that you can refer to:
“Posh Parlor: Thanks for coming in, Cathleen! How was your experience with us today?”
“Nail Palace: Brenda, get 10% off when you book online. Visit our site to see available times: https://nailpalace.com/appointments!”
Or you can promote your new services with these spa advertisement examples:
“Glam Salon: Get a free complimentary conditioning treatment when you purchase ANY other service! Offer expires at the end of the month, so book now!”
“Michelle’s Spa: Are you ready for the summer? Book now and save 15% on all our jet bath treatments!”
Steps to launching your SMS marketing
Finally, all that’s left to do now is to take action. Getting started is easier than you may think, and it only takes a couple of steps:
1. Enable your number for texting
The first step is to set up a text-enabled number. You can pick your existing business number or a toll-free one for this purpose. Using your business number shortens the process for current customers because they’re likely familiar with it already. Meanwhile, opting for a toll-free number is optimized for mass texting and two-way conversation. Appointible can help you acquire the latter.
Sending texts from a dedicated number strengthens customer trust. That’s why it is essential to choose one that’s suitable for achieving your marketing goals. If you want to use it mainly for customer support or one-on-one texting, go for a local number.
2. Encourage your customers to subscribe to your number
Text marketing is geared towards growing your audience, which you can do in several ways. The easiest method is to use a list of numbers from your current pool of customers. But to attract more prospects, you will have to increase your visibility.
One way to achieve this is by creating a keyword and promoting it. Ideally, your keyword should be short, relevant, and easy to remember. Advertise it wherever possible for maximum reach. Also, make sure to pair it with calls-to-action that will prompt customers to subscribe to you.
Other ways you can go about collecting numbers include sweepstakes, special offers, and sign-up forms. Whichever method you choose, it is important to assure your clients that their personal information will remain safe with you. Being transparent about the content you will be sending them is also helpful in keeping their trust.
3. Begin communicating with your audience
After growing your subscriber base, it’s time to communicate with them. Appointible has multiple features to ensure the success of your text marketing campaigns. As an all-in-one SMS messaging service, we can help you save time and resources with our tools.
For mass texting campaigns, you can easily send a text to your entire customer base with bulk messaging. For one-on-one texting, you can send out reminders or thank you messages through our automation tool. Consistently engaging with your customers will positively affect the growth of your spa or salon.
Take your beauty salon business to the next level with text marketing
Ready to dive into text marketing? Try it out by contacting us today. Let us know what you need, and we will reach out with possible solutions.
You can also check out our Features page to learn more about our services. Our tools are designed to assist you in every step of setting up your text marketing campaigns.