How To Use Your Unique Difference To Attract & Keep More Clients
Thought Process: The Number One purpose of your marketing is to answer the question, “Why should your prospects and clients choose you over every other service provider, including doing it themselves?”
Ever Wonder… How To Promote Your Salon?
You are unique. There is no one who can do what you do; just the way you do it.
As the owner of a new salon, one of the most important decisions you will make is what to name your new salon. Perhaps you’re already a salon owner and have already chosen your salon name.
You will have much more flexibility and build your client base faster if you add a winning tagline.
What is a Tagline?
Your tagline is a short phrase or slogan that captures your brand essence, personality, and strengths to distinguish you from your competitors.
By being yourself, you put something wonderful in the world that was not there before. Crucial to your salon’s success and longevity, your tagline tells and sells your unique brand story.
The way to attract lots of clients is to answer this question for your prospects…
“Why should I choose YOU over all the rest?”
Need help answering this essential survival question? Go back through the first few Keys To Success. You did save them, didn’t you? They will help you uncover your unique difference.
Your tagline is part of your marketing message –
It will appear on your business cards, your signage, and your brochures — All marketing materials. It can also be part of your conversation with prospective customers. Your tagline can even be more important than your salon name.
To see what I mean, try to think of an established brand without remembering its tagline. It’s nearly impossible!
• Maxwell House – “Good to the last drop”
• Nike – “Just Do It”
• FedEx – “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight”
• Wheaties – “The Breakfast of Champions”
• Dominoes Pizza – “Fresh, hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed”
Taglines can change when the outside world changes. For instance, Dominoes had to drop their famous tagline when it resulted in too many traffic accidents!
A great tagline tells your unique story –
The tagline’s goal is to help you become the salon of choice for your preferred customers. It must be readable in small print. If you can trademark it then you can protect it. Descriptive and simple taglines don’t just come out of thin air. They grow out of a creative and thoughtful process.
Action Steps: Here are 5 secrets on how to write winning tag lines to stand out from all the rest:
1. Choose a descriptive phrase that clarifies what you do. Your tagline will describe you to new customers who don’t know you yet. It will make sense and “sound right” to your current clients as well.
2. Remember: Your tagline is NOT the same as your mission statement. Your tagline seeks to connect outwardly into the marketplace, while your mission statement in inward-focused.
3. Put some distance between your salon and all the rest who compete for your clients. A great tagline shows how you are different from all other salons. What is it that you do better than anyone else on the planet?
This is called your “unique selling proposition”. Your USP is the value you give your clients that makes you different from everyone else.
4. Find the most compelling nouns and verbs to describe your USP. Adjectives add little umph. You want potential customers to see your tagline and know instantly that you are their best choice.
5. Avoid “buzz-killers” – over used words are easily ignored and quickly forgotten, such as Quality, Service, Commitment, and Excellence. Think of a phrase that creates curiosity.
Stumped?
Try starting with a commanding verb: Kinko’s: Express Yourself
Use a phrase that makes a promise: Allstate: You’re in Good Hands
Confer value to your customer: L’Oreal: Because you’re worth it
Ask a question: Dairy Council: Got Milk?
Position yourself as the leader: Minolta: The essentials of imaging
Check If You Have Your Best Tagline By Asking These 9 Basic Questions:
1. Is it short?
2. Is it unique?
3. Does it capture your essence?
4. Does it make you stand out from your competitors?
5. Is it interesting?
6. Does it touch emotions?
7. Is it easy to say?
8. Is it easy to remember?
9. Does it avoid the negative?
If you answered “No” to any of these questions, keep working on it before you set in stone. Ask your family, friends and clients to help you create your best company tagline – it will be fun!