In winter, especially in November and December, Lash Studios are flooded with clients. However, the impressive number of visitors does not mean that you need to forget all the worries of a stable customer flow. You should remember that the sharp decline of clients in January (or lack thereof) depends on your marketing decisions in October and November.
Very often eyelash extension studios cannot track their clients during the winter bustle just before the New Year. They don’t know who the client is, how they have found out about the studio or whether they are new or a regular. This is important, because some people, for example, only do their lashes once in winter as an annual ritual.
Often lash studios neglect such clients, and that is an absolutely wrong approach. Each of them should be important to the company. Each visitor – whether a regular or a new one – pays for the services, and all of them need to be taken care of without exceptions. When trying to attract new clients to your lash studio never forget about your regulars.
• Package deals
December promotional deals can be offered for just about any type of services. For example, you can offer eyebrow correction free of charge with a classic extension or free decoration with volume extensions. This way the client will see real savings in choosing a package deal. Moreover, the studio can afford offering December deals without fear of inflicting financial damages on itself, as it compensates for the workload before the holidays.
On the eve of winter, a lash studio owner needs to think about December clients in October or November in order to avoid a decline in January and the problems that accompany such decline.
Offering your own money-equivalent items such as gift certificates is an enticing marketing choice for January and first part of February. You can offer every client who visits your studio from December 15 to December 31 a certificate of $30 or more. This gift certificate can only be used within a specific time limit typically during the predicted decline period. The first stage typically takes place in the first two weeks of January, and the second one lasts until mid February.
It may seem that these gift cards come with a large cost to your business, but it only seems that way. Providing the clients with a specific amount instead of a more abstract percentage discount incentivises a client to spend this amount (and more) on your cervices. In return you receive a cash flow that more than covers the discounted amount.
One of the advantages of a gift certificate is that your regular client can give it away to their friends or relatives, providing you with a flow of visitors. This gives you confidence that after the holidays people will come to your studio and you will see some fresh face among them.
The amount you are willing to allocate on gift certificates should be calculated based on previous years’ experience. This way not you do you get the metrics right, but also track the return on your investment and how the promotion performs.
Do not confuse gift certificates with coupons. The audience of sites offering coupon are people constantly hunting for discounts, and they are not (nor will they become) your customers.
Winter is the gift season. It is the time any self-respecting supplier creates various home care kits on December holidays’ eve, which customers can buy as a present for their relatives and friends.
The gift set should be handed over in branded packaging and at a cost favourable for the buyer. This way, you will both win points with your clients and increase sales in one fell swoop. Customers who bought such a set are also likely to return to your lash studio afterwards buy the same eyebrow pencil or eyelash shampoo, for example. But this time they will be doing so at a retail price.
Winter gift sets can be put together with whatever products you have on-hand in your studio. Usually there are always products that are stocked in abundance for various reasons like eyelash foam or facials. They can be used as pieces of a gift set for the client.
• Appreciation tokens
Other holidays should also be factored in your marketing plan, including those that come well before the December holiday season like Thanksgiving.
You can organize all-prize lotteries for clients and give them small souvenirs like product samples, hair combs, certificates for extension correction, etc. The key thing in such drawings are guaranteed prizes and a pleasant experience for your clients.
• Cross promotions
Cross-marketing in the salon business should approached be with great caution to avoid nonsensical advertising moves along the lines of, “buy a car and get a free t-shirt.” Large differences in perceived value between the purchase and the gift will only irritate your customers.
When choosing a cross-promotion partner you should avoid companies who offer services which have little or no overlap with the ones you offer like restaurants, clothing stores, etc. A specialized massage studio, for instance, will make for a much more successful cross-promotional partnership.
We hope these tips will help you keep the client traffic to your lash studio flowing!
Metro Square Victoria
