8 Types of Salon Suite Contests for Client Attraction
THOUGHT PROCESS
There are over 86,000 salons and barbershops in the United States, which averages out to 2.5 per US city or town. In a competitive marketplace, a boring brand simply doesn’t stand out. How can you give your Salon Suite an edge when it comes to client attraction and retention?
ACTION STEPS
Sometimes it’s not what your business does, but what it does differently than the rest that creates a competitive advantage. You can use contests like these to get the attention of local consumers and create interest around your Salon Suite’s services and products.
There are many reasons that contests work when it comes to marketing. First and most obvious is the contestant’s opportunity to win something they want; however, that’s not all. Some people are motivated by competition itself, others may participate because they enjoy the type of contest being run.
Using different types of contests on a regular basis also gets social followers, email subscribers and clients to pay attention to see what your Salon Suite is going to do next. Depending on the type of contest run, it can also stimulate referrals and help a Salon Suite grow email and social followers lists.
You can use low cost, high yield prizes like Salon Suite gift cards or gift cards paired with a few retail products to assemble prizes that people in your area will want to win – including both clients and prospective clients. We came up with a list of eight different types of contests you can use for Salon Suite client attraction, engagement, referrals and marketing.
1. Selfie Contests
Client selfies should be part of nearly every client’s appointment. Before and after selfies can be shared on social media. You can also use them to track a client’s progress over time. As a contest tool, selfies can be invaluable for many different types of contests (voting, caption contests, retweet to win, cutest contests, etc.) You can also use selfie contests as themed contests (such as having someone take a selfie at a specific place in your town or while doing specific activities – remember planking?) or for charitable fundraising. KOMO TV in Seattle recently ran a contest where people took a selfie of themselves wearing a bra on the outside of their clothing to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research.
2. Referral Contests
We know of a salon that ran a year-round referral contest culminating in a grand prize of a year’s worth of hair services to the client who referred the most new clients during the year. High-value prizes can be especially motivational; however, you can also run shorter, lower-prize-value contests to generate referrals.
3. Voting Contests
Voting contests can be effective at driving web traffic. You can hold them on social media; however, if you have a website, you might want to host the contest on your website with promotions and voting occurring on social media as well. This way, your website gets the benefit of additional traffic, not just your social posts. You can also use voting contests to raise awareness of retail products by listing several and asking clients and social followers to vote for their favorite for a chance to win one. You can also use voting contests to gauge interest in potential new products or services you’re thinking of adding to your Salon Suite’s menu.
4. Guessing Contests
You could hold several guessing contests throughout the year for different types of prizes. For instance, you could have a “guess how many razors are in the jar” contest and reward the winner with a men’s grooming package. Or you could have a general “guess how many combs are in the drawer” or “how many hairclips are in the bowl” for women’s or kid’s service and retail prizes.
5. Caption Contests
From client selfies to your own selfies or hairdresser memes, any image you like can be used for a caption contest. This is where entrants write a caption that might go along with the image. Prizes can be given at random with all entrants getting entered to win or based on votes, which encourages people to get their friends, family and social networks involved – and visiting your website or social profiles – in order to win.
6. Tag-a-Friend Contests
In tag-a-friend contests, social followers can enter to win drawings when they tag a friend on your social posts or get friends to like your social media profile pages and posts. This often creates viral tagging which extends your social media reach and brand awareness to new prospects.
7. Like, Share, Retweet to Win
When social followers like your page or a post on your page, share it or retweet it, each of these actions can merit an entry into a prize drawing. Like Tag-a-Friend contests, this generates social media virality which extends your reach and earns your brand’s pages more followers.
8. Try Me Contests
Try me contests can be used to get clients to try specific products or services. This can be an effective way to introduce and kick-start sales of new retail products or services in your Salon Suite. In addition, you can ask clients who “try me” to provide feedback and testimonials which, in turn, you can use to encourage other clients to try them.
What about you? Have you run contests that were effective in helping your Salon Suite attract new customers or increase the number of social followers and email subscribers in your contact lists? Leave your feedback below!
