October 3, 2016

Suite Success Secret #45

“An Email is Worth a Thousand Social Updates”
​No Salon Suite Marketing Plan is Complete without Email 

THOUGHT PROCESS:
When they say “a picture is worth a thousand words” they are speaking about impact. When it comes to Salon Suite marketing, the emails sent to clients have far more impact than all those social media posts; here’s why.
 
ACTION STEPS:
Send regular email updates to your clients for increased client retention, referrals, revenue and other marketing ROI (return on investment).
 
It’s easy to believe that “new media” like social networks have supplanted traditional marketing; however, it simply isn’t so. Email marketing has been at the top of the heap when it comes to return on investment and effectiveness for years, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change any time soon.

Consider some of the statistics:

  • Emails are 6x more likely to get a click through (to your website) than Tweets (Campaign Monitor)
  • Emails are 40x more effective for customer-acquisition than Twitter (McKinsey)
  • Email has a higher conversion rate (66 percent) compared to social media or direct mail (DMA)
  • Email subscribers are 3x more likely to share your updates on social networks than non-subscribers (QuickSprout)
  • 72 percent of consumers prefer to receive promotional materials on email compared to just 17 percent who prefer social media (Marketing Sherpa)
  • An email message is 5x more likely to be seen than a Facebook update (radicati.com)

 
Email can be a powerful marketing tool for Salon Suite owners!

You can use email newsletters to shine the spotlight on your Salon Suite’s services and products, and extend special offers to your subscribers. However, promotional emails are just one of many ways you can use email to grow your book of business, get more word of mouth referrals and increase client retention. 

5 Ways to Use Email in Salon Suite Marketing 


1. Reaching Out to Lapsed Clients

 
Hopefully you rebook most clients during their appointments; however, it’s not always possible.  Depending on how often you expect clients to book, when it’s been a few weeks since you expected to hear from them you can use email to let them know that you miss them, invite them to book their next appointment or let you know if some type of dissatisfaction is standing in the way.
 
2.  Reminders
 
Some of your clients may prefer email reminders to phone calls, texts or social media messages; or, you may use multiple channels (such as an email 3-4 days prior and a text message the day before) to remind clients about booked appointments. Studies show that reminders can reduce no shows by anywhere from 22 to 35 percent. This is money in your pocket!  
 
3. Thank Yous
 
You have probably been advised to send client thank you notes, but may have been discouraged by the thought of having to sit down and write out thank you notes at the end of each day. Email takes the pain out of client thank you notes. With a few scripts to cut and paste, you can send client thank you notes at the end of each day in a matter of minutes.
 
4. Reviews and Referrals
 
Positive online reviews are one of the most powerful forms of referral marketing today. In fact, a majority of consumers say they won’t even do business with organizations that don’t have at least a 3-star rating, and 4 out of 10 will only do business with those that have 4 stars or more. You can use email to ask select clients to leave a review for your Salon Suite on Yelp, Facebook, Google My Business and other popular review sites. You can also use email to remind clients about any referral rewards or incentives you offer.
 
5. Expertise
 
In addition to promotions or special offers, you can use email newsletters to extend your influence with your clients by infusing expert tips and advice into your Salon Suite’s email updates; such as:

  • Seasonal hair, scalp or skin care tips
  • Retail product and styling tool evaluations and recommendations
  • Step by step styling instructions
  • How-to tips for replicating celebrity looks
  • Debunking myths – and so on

 
It’s time for you to start taking advantage of all the marketing returns email has to offer. Integrate email as one of the cornerstone marketing channels to grow your Salon Suite business. 

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