You’re a nail salon owner with big dreams — and who can blame you? You’re in a thriving industry that’s only promising to grow with the popularity of platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest.
It’s also a line of work that brings people happiness and makes them feel like their best selves.
The truth is, you provide a service that customers genuinely do appreciate. However, you first must get them through the door, and that won’t happen through magic.
And that’s the crux of the matter, isn’t it? Don’t get us wrong, you’ve got a steady stream of business walking through your doors every day. But we’re willing to wager that as an ambitious business leader, you’re always looking for ways to attract more people to your nail salon.
So, read on for ten helpful tips that’ll attract more customers to your nail salon:
1. Encourage Customer Loyalty
Yes, we live in cynical times, and millennials might not appear to trust brands. Yet, surprisingly, brand loyalty very much still exists in this world.
What’s changed is that customers are far savvier than they’ve ever been before. They want to attach themselves to brands with which they can identify.
As such, encouraging brand loyalty means you must offer not only exquisite manicures and pedicures but also add value to customers’ lives.
Also, it helps to offer perks and features to your clients — which brings us to our next point.
2. Incentivize with a Loyalty Program
There’s no way to argue with the fact that loyalty programs make sense for any business — but especially a service-based business such as a nail salon.
Imagine, after already being pampered, a customer finds out they’ve earned 50% off of a mani-pedi with their rewards. It’s the ultimate in bliss!
With Loopy Loyalty, for instance, a customer can earn a stamp for every $20 spent. Then, at $100 spent, you can paint their nails for free.
When word spreads about this rewards program, you’ll have new foot traffic lined up outside of the door.
There’s something else about Loopy Loyalty’s stamps that your customers will appreciate — the fact that they’re digitized.
3. Digitize Your Loyalty Program
Put yourself in the shoes of your target customer. They want to show up at your salon, let go, and relax. It’s a way to catch a break from their busy lives.
Finding out you’ve forgotten your stamps at home when you could have used your rewards throws off those positive vibes. No, it’s not the end of the world. But attracting new business is a game of inches.
Getting that word of mouth marketing out there requires you to maximize each customers’ experience. A physical printed rewards stamp is bound to get cumbersome and irritating because it’s likelier that customers will lose them and forget them. While your intentions are good, it could leave a bad taste in their mouths, even if it is slight. As such, they’re less likely to refer you new business.
However, with Loopy Loyalty’s digital stamp cards, there’s no way to forget a card, as your loyalty card is saved in the customer’s mobile wallet app, and there’s no card to remember…or forget, for that matter.
4. Encourage Google Reviews
91% of millennials — which is likely one of your target demographics — trust reviews online as much as they do family and friends.
Unsurprisingly, Google — as the world’s most dominant search engine — holds the lion’s share of the online review real estate at 57%. So, if you don’t already have a Google My Business page, we strongly suggest looking into it.
Note that Google Reviews are only as effective as they are positive — let’s take a closer look at that idea:
5. Provide Memorable Service
On Google Reviews, over half of all customers won’t use a business if it’s rated below 4-stars out of 5.
That means, as a nail salon owner, you need to provide consistently excellent service. Though in today’s day and age, that might not be enough. Many customers demand supreme satisfaction to leave a positive online review. Unfortunately, if you’re at all off your game, they’re likelier to leave something negative that hurts your business.
You can be strategic and only suggest that you bring up Google Reviews to highly satisfied customers with whom you’ve made a personal connection.
If a customer seems aloof, your keeping silent about reviews isn’t going to hurt anyone. In contrast, one bad review can really hurt your nail salon.
Also, add further perks in your salon. A premium coffee maker combined with a complimentary hand or foot massage will go a long way to encourage positive online reviews.
6. Offer Online Tutorials
The beauty industry and YouTube go hand-in-hand at this point.
In fact, beauty videos generated 169 billion views on the platform in 2018 alone. So, why not capitalize on this lucrative trend.
Start by finding out the best practices for making a nail tutorial video. Then you should share it on your social media pages as well as asking your current followers and clientele to share the video with their networks.
7. Special Limited Time Offers
Encourage a flood of new customers by providing a limited time offer. For instance, with your Instagram account, you roll out a quick deal on your story, promising the first five people that reply 40% off on a pedicure. The story only lasts 24 hours, so the offer is very short.
This establishes urgency and gets customers in the door who previously may not have been considering getting their nails done that day.
8. Pound the Pavement
Sometimes attracting new business is as simple as making your way around town and introducing yourself to people.
Find yourself at the local Hot Yoga center, for instance, and hand out coupons — perhaps offering the owner something in return.
9. Get Involved Locally
Your business is ingrained in a community. Therefore, it’s important that you take part in related culture and events so that you stand out as a member of that community, instead of a faceless entity trying to earn a quick buck.
Donate to a local charity or sponsor a recreation girl’s soccer team, for instance.
10. Keep Up the Good Work
Too many advice blogs act like you aren’t already doing incredible work. If you stay consistent with your effort and passion, your nail salon will continue to grow, even if it happens to be gradual. Soon enough, all that effort will pay off, and you’ll be at the top tier of the beauty industry.
