Nurture clients with a two-way texting solution.

Facilitate bookings that clients have already agreed on and fill space in the appointments calendar with engaging messaging.

Business owners in the beauty industry understand the importance of keeping their calendars booked. Traditional emails and phone calls still have a place in your day-to-day operations, but with drastically higher rates of reading and responses, text messaging is the ideal form of marketing communication for small businesses that go well beyond reminders and confirmations.

Read more about the benefits text marketing services can provide for any number of independent or small businesses, including:

  • Beauty salons
  • Laser clinics
  • Beauty clinics
  • Medical practices
  • Wellness centers
  • Health centers
  • Med spas 
  • Hair and nail salons  
  • Barbershops 
  • Tanning salons

Use business texting to confirm visits and reduce no-shows

Looking at that empty salon chair or tanning bed where a client might have been sitting is a disheartening but sobering reminder of missed appointments or no-shows for your small business.

For everyday hair, nail, or tanning appointment reminders, try the convenience of a text messaging service to confirm appointments. If you can’t get a hold of customers on the phone, your booked appointment may sit in limbo, giving you added uncertainty and stress until the time of the appointment.

With business texting software, you can pre-populate text message reminders, confirmations, and other automated messages. Choose from a variety of SMS templates to take the legwork out of replying to your beauty or wellness clients individually for salon reminders. The amount of time you’ll save from the administrative busywork of phone calls is usually enough financial incentive to get most small businesses going on SMS appointment reminders alone.

While texting obviously can’t guarantee a client shows up to their hair cut, for instance, a scheduled reminder a day before will increase the likelihood of arrival. And if they cancel, you’ll immediately know and have the ability to offer the opportunity to the next set of clients so you can fill that spa or barbershop seat.

Text messaging for small businesses is becoming more efficient and less costly each year. If you’re able to reduce a single no-show to your salon through SMS reminders, you’ve likely already paid for your SMS monthly subscription.

Offer text-based marketing campaigns or promotions

What better way to provide a spa or salon discount, giveaway, or new promotion than on your client’s birthday or seasonal holiday than through SMS marketing. Whether Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or any number of seasonal holidays, you can easily send a promotion via text instead of another email for better customer engagement.

Because your beauty or wellness customers have opted in to your SMS marketing, you can feel assured knowing they expect a text from your small business. Text messages are perfect for same-day flash sales of beauty products or spa packages, creating a sense of real urgency and sudden demand.

For longer promotions or campaigns, you can use text for a brief teaser and easily redirect them to your website to learn more. It’s nearly effortless and instantaneous on your end—and with analytics in place, you’ll be able to see exactly how they got to your website.

Business texting service for event and party planning

One of the most successful ways to create buzz or brand awareness for your salon or spa is through special events. Sometimes in collaboration with other related small businesses, you can create the perfect storm of sales, new customers, and overall brand impression from business SMS marketing.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest are still perfectly acceptable ways to advertise your party or special events, but standard email open rates are getting progressively lower. That’s simply because customers are getting too many emails, so one promotion gets lost in a sea of other discounted offers and sales. Text message marketing works in conjunction with your other small business marketing to take your event and party planning to the next level.

Think of how easy it is to have someone text a special code to a number you provide at the event for added discounts or beauty giveaways on the day of the event. Throw in a special code in a gift basket or with every purchase to sign up for SMS reminders or text to receive a wellness goodie – you’ve just opened up a fast and easy way to convert curious observers into paying spa clients, for example, and collected another phone number for to add to your small business marketing list.

Don’t forget that while you can send bulk text messages to advertise your special event, SMS also allows you two-way messaging. It’s best practice to reply to anyone who signs up for your small business giveaway, whether that’s through an automated text reply or something you write from the SMS dashboard. Your small business customers will feel great when they get that personal text notification and have a positive experience of your tanning salon, spa, or barbershop.

SMS thank-you’s and feedback surveys

After another satisfied client has left your beauty salon or barbershop, you can reinforce their experience with an upbeat text message. A small gesture like a thank-you text can go miles for creating a memorable, long-term relationship with your beauty client.

And while you’re at it, send an SMS survey for private feedback or even better, a link to provide a Google review. These online reviews are becoming increasingly important to growing your small business. Not only do reviews show up on searches as prominent as the search result itself, but the overwhelming majority of customers also use these reviews as the primary driver of their purchasing or inquiry behavior.

Small businesses should also consider using some sort of incentive for filling out a survey—whether the feedback becomes public or private. Many beauty clients will love the opportunity to save 5-10% (or more) off their next haircut or spa package for the small amount of time it takes to press a few buttons on their smartphone. Plus, feedback gives you excellent data to improve your business and keeps your small business competitive in the local search results.

About the author

On the mission to provide salons, spas and individual beauty professionals with the most efficient appointment scheduling tools so that you can focus on taking care of your clients.

Paulius Maciulis

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