3 Digital Marketing Mistakes You’re Making as a Salon Owner

1.  Using Social Media As Your #1 New Client Generation Strategy 

As salon owners, it has been beaten into our heads that digital marketing means social media. For the past 10-12 years, this is all that we’ve been taught. There are endless courses on social media marketing, tips for getting more followers on social media, and more. While these educational social media resources can be a great addition to your digital marketing efforts, here’s why it is a mistake to consider it your number one new client generation strategy.

Social media is a visual medium and should act as your salon’s portfolio. 

Having an account social media presence is powerfully influential, and we want you to have a strategy for scheduling, posting, and interacting. However, we don’t want social media to be your new client generation strategy. At Salon.Marketing, we strive to turn that paradigm into streamlined digital marketing.

“What is streamlined digital marketing?”

Streamlined digital marketing simply means that rather than relying on one singular, unreliable platform such as Instagram to reel in new traffic to your salon, you are building a practical strategy for attracting traffic and converting it (turning it into a sale). Streamlining a digital marketing strategy for your salon is a step-by-step process, beginning with identifying your goals (increasing profits, brand awareness) and assembling a plan involving a kick a** website, SEO, and potentially PPC ads (paid ads).

In short, social media is a fantastic way to showcase your beautiful salon space and the work of your talented stylists. That being said, social media is pointless without streamlined digital marketing. If you are not showing up on a Google search, and you don’t have a website that can convert your traffic, then you are missing a huge chunk of your target market.

 2. Not Optimizing Your Website For a Mobile Device  

80% of those visiting your website are doing so from a mobile device. Simply having a website for your salon is not enough! If your website is not optimized for the masses, then you are making a massive mistake in your digital marketing strategy.

Having a website that converts visitors into clients plays a large role in streamlined digital marketing. Prioritizing easy access to your CTA’s (call to action) and clear navigation is crucial in ensuring you don’t miss out on potential traffic.

Can a client easily find out how to book an appointment with you?

Is your contact information easily accessible?

At Salon.Marketing, we build websites that function seamlessly on a mobile device. Below is an example of a mobile salon menu that is designed to drive visitors straight to your booth the minute they enter your website.

3.  Not Investing in Local SEO Services  

In the ’80s, 90s, and even 2000s, finding a service or a business was about real estate or your location. Today, in a digital world, it’s about where you are located on Google. Even to find this information, you’ve made a quick Google search. Maybe you’re reading this from a coffee shop, and you’ve googled “coffee near me” in order to find it.

When you use Google to make a decision, Google gives you its’ best, right?

Wrong.

Google gives you the best optimized.

This is exactly how my own salon was able to grow as quickly as we were. No one else in our industry was prioritizing search engine optimization. No one even had a great website!

When you prioritize having a search engine optimization strategy, a sound website and a Google Business Profile that can be located on the first page come with it. The more real estate you take up on the first page of Google, the more likely that you have of capturing a new client.