Photo courtesy Krista Baltroka.
Halloween is nigh which means two things.
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There’s barely enough time for you to slip in last minute Halloween specials,
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There’s another two months of Holiday madness to prepare for.
We’re entering the time of obligatory parties, family get-togethers, special events, and heinous gift giving, all of which are things many people will be looking to you, the salon owner/stylist/barber/unofficial counselor for help. If you haven’t had time to come up with some quick specials and marketing plans for the end-of-year trifecta yet, here are a few ideas that will bring some holiday spirit into your business.
Gift Certificates Like Crazy
There is no saving grace to the desperate gift search like the beauty salon gift certificate. The husband to the wife, the friend to the friend who’s too scared to pay for a new hair color, or just someone who’s too busy or poor to make and keep consistent appointments. The list of people looking for extra quality time in the chair is endless.
Become the Escape, not the Next Thing on the To Do List
Whatever your customer base is like, it’s about to become a lot more stressed out. Make a holiday special that highlights the relaxing services you provide: manicure, touch up with head massage, complimentary refreshments (especially now that salons can legally serve alcohol in California), etc. Make a nice blue poster to hang up in your window and post on social media, regardless of the holiday so it stands out as a calming offer in a sea of red and green or yellow and orange.
Holiday Themed Hair Styles
This is a little bit gimmicky, and relies on social media like Instagram and Pinterest, but it gets people’s attention. There’s a certain feel and set of colors that goes with each holiday. Fall colors with a mix of black and red for Halloween, pure orange, yellow, and red fall colors for Thanksgiving, and then blizzard of white, red, and green that dominates everything in December. Take time to perfect a style that fits in with the feel of these months and post them around your social media, preferably with some well placed hashtags, then offer something like a 10% discount on first time color appointments. And speaking of hashtags...
The Holiday Hashtag
If you don’t already do regular hashtag research, this is a good time to start, because when someone doesn’t know what look they want this fall/winter, they’re going to type in seasonally charged words to find inspiration, and that’s when you want to show up on their feed. Keep an eye out for people using things like #holidayhair, #autumnlocks, #christmaslook, or pretty much any combination of fall, autumn, winter, snow, pumpkin, and snow with color, do, hair, and beauty. This kind of thing shifts year to year, but about twenty minutes on Instagram should give you a pretty good idea of how people are using these terms and how to tag your holiday and season specific pictures.