Marketing Strategies of 5 Top Salons

The owners of growing salons wear many hats, and one of those is marketing guru. Here, the owners of five top salons share their marketing strategies.

Nancy Brown Ladies & Gentlemen Salon Spa Mentor, Ohio	Thom Ciarniello Casal’s de Spa & Salon Canfield, Ohio	Scott and TJ Weaver Douglas J Day Spa Salon  three locations in Michigan	Linda Voigt New Reflections  Plymouth, Minnesota	Michael Taylor Michael Raymond Salon Dallas, Texas

How far ahead does your salon work on promotions?
Nancy: Two to three months ahead.
Thom: We meet three times a year to discuss ideas, and plan 6-12 months in advance.
Weavers: A few months ahead, we like to be able to react to the marketplace quickly.
Voigt: We have an annual marketing/advertising focus in place and then finalize the marketing calendar 4 – 6 months out.
Taylor: Each promotion is planned the month prior with input from staff.

Who from the salon team is involved in marketing and promotions?
Nancy: Primarily our management team, but everyone has great ideas because everyone can think like a shopper.
Thom: Our team includes: general manager, executive directors and the director of marketing and visual merchandising and me.
Weavers: We have an in-house marketing team that works on the external elements, and also with the director of each of our seven locations to roll out the promotion in each store.
Voigt: We have a marketing team made up of service providers, guest services, call center team members and our graphic artist.
Taylor: We work hard to engage the entire staff in our marketing promotions. Managers meet with staff and upper management to come up with ideas and the execution. 

What outside agencies/consultants do you use?
Nancy: We rarely use an outside agency—we know our guests better than anyone.
Thom: Most of our marketing concepts are done internally. Recently, we started working with a company designing a new concept for our website.
Weavers: We have a public relations firm and an outside media buyer that work with our marketing team.
Voigt: Our web master works close with us to keep our online presence effective. We work closely with our point-of-sale vendor to electronically maximize our marketing efforts.
Taylor: We don’t contract with outside agencies for marketing promotions.

How much do you budget for marketing each year?
Nancy: We work on a per-event budget more so than on an annual basis. 
Thom: We set a 3-percent budget. Our campaigns all have some form of trade involved. Trade has proven to be the best way to shrink the marketing dollars we spend, as well as maintain great exposure.
Weavers: $125,000 for the three locations.
Voigt: 2– 2.5 percent of total revenue. We allocate for team incentives, advertising, events, community and recruitment.
Taylor: This year, we budgeted around $9,000.