A new year brings an opportunity to renew and strengthen your business. With that opportunity comes the need to plan and focus your energy on business activities that will bear fruit in terms of generating business as well as nurturing those most precious treasures you’ve already worked so hard to gain – your existing clientele.
Visibility is key
Your clientele need gentle reminders that you are around and eager to make them look and feel fabulous, at their convenience. Why not establish a simple email marketing strategy and schedule right now that will help you stay on track? Emails need not be cumbersome epic novels. A paragraph or two, perhaps from a blog article you’ve already written, is all you need to send. Be sure to mention the ease with which they can book services with you, and include a link to your Booking page. Always include a mention of and link to your Instant Gift Certificates page as well. Many milions of dollars are spent every year by email recipients just clicking on those links when they’re reminded of a gift need or are encouraged to book a service!
How often should you send emails? One every couple of weeks will inform and educate your recipients without annoying them. You want people to open your missives, not automatically delete them. That line is a fine one, and we tend to err to the conservative. After all, if your readers want to hear more from you, they can pop into your blog, too!
Visibility across all media is now your goal. That means your Social Media needs to be a place of give and take. Images that connect directly to your message du jour will really help catch the eye and reinforce your message. Are you offering up a great new non-drying color technique in your salon? Cool! Be sure to include an image of a client having their hair colored/conditioned to support a headline of Come in for a Deep Nourishing Color Treatment! for example. You get my point..don’t just include random images that look anonymous and aren’t really tied to your message. The social media audience just responds well to concise copy and clearly tied images.
Wherever you are, be there on a regular basis. And always be sure your website is showcasing any new services or products. That will be a default location for your audience to learn more about what you’re up to at any given point.
Consistency is key, too.
Starting out with a bang and ending with a fizzle isn’t an optimal marketing strategy. At a time when information flows at the speed of light, if you only send out one email campaign every quarter or write one blog article every couple of months, or are less than regular with your Facebook or Twitter posts, you’ll be doing your business a disservice.
Again, length of message isn’t really what’s important, it’s the regular reception of that message by your audience that ensures you’re presenting an organized and professional marketing effort. Your clients and prospects will appreciate your efforts with visits and word of mouth referrals.
Keeping your brand clear and maintaining that clarity everywhere your message is distributed? Also key.
Yes, there are lots of keys to marketing, but they’re all related. If you write consistent blog articles about your areas of expertise, generate emails, then create social media posts based upon those blog posts, you’re meeting the key criteria with a minimum of effort. Maybe we should have called this post Your Blog Posts – Keys to Your Entire Marketing Strategy?
Clarity, though, that’s important in a whole different way. If you are clear about what your business represents, what you’re doing, what you bring to the spa or salon or massage experience, etc., then that will flow through into every bit of content you produce. Knowing what you want to be known for is huge, and keeping that front and center on your website, (with imagery as well as content, of course), in your blog posts, in your emails, and out in the social media realm will ensure you’re drawing the clientele that fits your sweet spot and will set the stage for building long-term relationships that net consistent business over time.
Simple tricks like posting your mission statement, or a similar reminder of just who you are and what you’re trying to be to your audience, right above wherever you go to write content are helpful. Who doesn’t get carried away by the Muse of Random Tangents from time to time? Stay on track, and always depict the true essence of your business as you write.
Maintaining clarity isn’t easy in a time when many businesses are trying new things to garner business. Know your true self and stick with that. Doing otherwise can alienate your audience and confuse in general, which usually makes people just go somewhere else. Nobody likes to try to figure you out. Your job is to be so clear, so consistent, and so visible that the natural decision for them to make when seeking spa or salon services is your business.
Laying a simple but comprehensive marketing foundation sooner rather than later will put you ahead of the game, and the work you do now will serve you well for the entire year to come!