An increasingly common method of providing hair and beauty services to a bigger audience is to launch a mobile beauty business. It’s crucial to devote time to marketing your services if you want to see rapid growth in your new company.
Starting a mobile beauty business is exciting, but it also requires a lot of work. You will need to juggle client appointments, stock management, and a wide range of administrative responsibilities whether you plan to offer make-up, hair, or waxing services.
Your top priority should be providing exceptional customer service, but it’s also crucial that you spend a large amount of time promoting your new business. You must differentiate yourself because there is severe competition in the beauty market.
Here are our top suggestions for attracting clients, expanding your customer base, and building awareness around your exciting new venture as a solo mobile hairdressing business.
1. Get the word out on social media
These days, no one is a stranger to social media. When wondering how to promote a new mobile beauty business, this is the first place most entrepreneurs will turn.
Set up a Facebook and Instagram account for your business and get posting. The best thing about using social media is it’s free. In a highly visual industry, curating interesting images of your beauty therapy work should come naturally. Just tag your photos with relevant and local hashtags and you might start attracting new customers – all without spending a thing.
2. Use daily deals sites
If you have a small marketing budget, advertising on sites like Groupon and Wowcher can be a great way to attract new business. Offer deals for a limited time only and you can quickly win new customers who may not have otherwise heard of you. However, be careful to make sure you’re still making a profit from any deals you offer.
Groupon and Amazon are known to take a hefty chunk of sales on their sites. But, even if your margin isn’t that high, discount sites are still an invaluable tool for generating leads and turning them into repeating customers.
3. Build a website
If you don’t have a website, you’re definitely missing out on new clients. If you have a website that isnt up to scratch and doesn’t work very well, you’re probably putting potential clients off. It’s super important to make sure you not only have a website, but that it is a good reflection of who you are as a business – you work in a highly aesthetic industry, and potential clients won’t trust you with their hair and nails if you put out an ugly website!
The good thing is, it’s much easier than people assume. There are options for all kinds of budgets and abilities – from using pre-built templates on WordPress and hiring freelance web designers on Fiverr to specialist agencies who can build your website and help with marketing.
4. Word of mouth Marketing
In the initial months of your firm, word-of-mouth marketing can be just as successful as expensive advertising. If you struggle with self-promotion, enlist the assistance of your friends and family. People are, after all, much more likely to trust a recommendation from someone they know, according to study (external link). Give your loved ones your business cards so they can distribute them to people you know who could be interested in your services.
Read Also: How to Start a Mobile Infusion Business?
Another excellent strategy for increasing your clientele is to give discounts to consumers who recommend friends. Customers enjoy learning fresh beauty tips. You might become their newest insider tip if you launch a mobile beauty business in your neighborhood! You can get admirers that want to talk about their excellent work by offering discounts.
5. Optimizing for Google (and other search engines)
Did you know there are over 200,000 searches every month for “hairdressers near me”? There are another 90,000 for “nail salons near me”, 33,000 for “beauty salons near me” and 200,000 for “barbers near me”. Our point is, ranking well on Google is probably the number 1 way to attract new customers (although, without a good website there wouldn’t be much point!).
Ranking well on Google is a complicated thing to achieve, and you’ll always be best with SEO experts to help you with this, but there are things you can do yourself. Writing good content for your website is the best way to rank well on Google
6. Online advertising
There are several low-cost alternatives to reach potential customers online with your business. All of these platforms—Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and, of course, Google—offer excellent, user-friendly advertising alternatives.
Imagine being able to promote your salon to individuals who are searching for a haircut right that second within a 10-mile radius of your salon? You can advertise on these platforms and do all of that without having to conceive it. Once more, you can seek assistance with this from specialists in digital advertising, but if you are familiar with social media, there’s no reason you can’t do it on your own.
7. Gather reviews and shout about how good they are
It’s one thing for you to say how good you are, but it’s a totally different thing for real clients to say it. Research has shown that over 90% of people are influenced by online reviews, and that number can get as high as 97% when choosing a local business.
Think about the maths there for a second – if you don’t have any online reviews for people to read (or you do but they’re negative), then you’re potentially losing out on 97 of every 100 potential clients. There are lots of ways you can gather reviews, but potential clients want to know that they’re genuine, so making sure your business is registered on a site like Feefo or Trustpilot is usually the best approach.
Then make sure you shout about the results. Have your star rating displayed prominently on your website and salon window, share the comments you get on your social media and ask your current clients to write about you online.
8. Local PR
PR is an age-old, tried and tested way of generating awareness of your business and helping to build a good reputation. You won’t necessarily get people banging on the door for appointments as a direct result of this kind of thing, but it’ll get your name out there in the community in a positive way so that when people need a haircut or treatment you’re the first person they think of.
But what can you do? Put on events in the community, training sessions, charitable work, competitions and giveaways – anything that gets people talking about you!
9. Friends & Family Schemes
Referrals, like reviews, are a great way to build business. Create a scheme where your current clients will get a discount off their next visit when a friend or family member books an appointment with you for the first time. Turn your clients into advocates!
Growing a mobile beauty business may be time-consuming and labor-intensive. However, the payoff can be substantial with the correct marketing and promotion. Don’t forget that you’ll require beauty therapist insurance to safeguard your clients and yourself from unforeseeable threats. It will provide you peace of mind and safeguard your company from any mishaps, allowing you to concentrate on creating a beauty company you can be proud of.