How To Get Clients For Hair Stylists + FREE Marketing Blueprint

How To Get Clients For Hair Stylists Even If You're Brand New

By DAWN-MARIE NESBITT

Struggling to get clients as a hair stylist for your new business?

Let’s talk about the different online marketing and current strategies that you can use today, to become fully booked and blessed.

I am focusing this post on online marketing, because in today’s world, where we are in the Digital Age, many of your potential clients are going to find you through various online channels like Instagram, Facebook or even YouTube.

That’s why as a hair stylist or hair salon owner, you have to be willing to learn how to implement online marketing methods in your business, so you can make it work for you.

And truthfully, when it comes to online marketing, it’s just a matter of finding a platform that works for you and sticking to it.

Because when you stick to something for a while and as long as you are doing it properly, the effect of that, is that it begins to snowball. Our efforts will not create results right away, but by being consistent, we begin to see positive growth and income over time.

So as you read my suggestions for getting clients as a hairstylist, I would like you to keep this in mind.

Let’s kick this off with 10 ways that you can get more clients as a hairstylist in 2020.

Facebook Organic Marketing

If you have not yet created a Facebook business page or a personal profile, this is one of the first places you should start.

You have probably heard people talk about Facebook and perhaps you have a personal profile where you connect with friends and family.

But how do you actually use it for business?

If you are using your personal profile and creating posts related to your hair salon, for your friends and family, I suggest that you also create a Facebook Business Page.

Start here.

The reason why you want to do this, is because with a Facebook Business Page, you are more likely to be found by your ideal clients, since Facebook allows your page to be searchable in their search feature for the keyword “hair salons near me”.

If you continue to use your personal profile, Facebook does not allow your personal profile to be searchable.

Also, by creating a Facebook business page, you can create content and build an audience here, which will eventually set yourself up as a reputable business owner, since your clients will be able to leave reviews for you, you can create valuable content for your audience and they will begin to trust you as you build your brand.

When using your Facebook business page, ensure that you create engaging content that your prospects want to see. Content such as video tutorials on how to take care of your hair, how to do wash and go hairstyles, different ways to style your hair or how to do blow-outs.

You can also post testimonials from clients and product recommendations.

But what if you are just getting started as a hair stylist and you do not yet have a clientele?

Step-by-step organic Facebook marketing plan

Here is a step-by-step Facebook marketing plan that you can implement straight away.

Ask your friends and family to be your first clients. Also ask them to like your business page, so you can start the process of building likes to your business page. Remember that likes will take time to generate, so be patient.

Once your friends and family have become clients, ask them to leave a review on your business page, using Facebook’s review feature.

Next encourage your friends and family to take pictures of their finished look and to post it to their timeline and tag your business page in their post.

This will then open up opportunities for more people to not only see your work, but they will be exposed to your business page, which may result in more likes and potentially more clients.

Should you get more clients through this method, ask all your clients to repeat this task, so it allows you to gain more visibility.

Some clients may not follow through with your request and that is ok. If they do not follow through with your request, you can incentivise your request by perhaps giving a discount for their next hair appointment or a referral fee for anyone who becomes your client and mentions their name.

Once you have followed this process consistently for approximately six months, consider boosting the visibility of your Facebook page with Facebook Ads, you can share your Facebook page in hair-related groups or in the Facebook marketplace.

By using this method, you are building brand credibility for future prospects who come to know about you and by the time they come to know about you, your business page would already have gotten some likes and reviews, which only makes a good first impression on people who are finding you through other Facebook channels like groups and marketplaces.

Other things that you can do to attract clients are giveaways or competitions. These typically have a tendency to go viral and generate a lot of shares, if you have a great offer and you are telling people to share the competition with their friends and family.

Facebook Ads Marketing

Organic marketing is great but sometimes you may not have the time to create content on social media and you need clients right now.

This is where you can take the fast route and put some money behind your marketing efforts by using Facebook Ads marketing.

Facebook ads is a powerful platform that allows you to target people that are local to your hair salon, inviting them to come and try your service.

When using paid advertising however, especially Facebook ads, it is important that you have a good marketing strategy, since Facebook Ads is not the same as Google Ads and the approach you take here, to acquire clients, is very different.

Some people create direct response ads on Facebook, resulting in money wasted. The reason why direct response ads do not work, the first time you launch an ad, is because people will hardly invest in your services through a social media platform, when they are not looking for your service.

On Facebook, you will not find people looking for a product or service to buy. Rather they are there to hang out with their friends, see what friends and family are up to and probably will never buy your product or service.

That’s unless you use an effective marketing strategy for your business.

When running Facebook Ads for local business clients, I recommend that you start an ad campaign with an engagement ad that delivers valuable content to your target audience.

That content should introduce your brand first to your local target audience, so they can become familiar with your business.

Only once have you put that content in front of your local target audience, should you then retarget them using a call to action ad that helps you get leads and then convert those leads into clients.

One way to do this, is through a client funnel.

You can give away an offer for one of your hair services for free or at a discounted rate. The aim of this offer is to help you start generating leads through your client funnel.

That offer could be a hair consultation or hair wash or steam.

Once you have generated the lead and they have attended your salon, you can upsell them into a paid client by providing a paid service such as a hair colour and style or a hair blowout and style.

But if you were to use this strategy, keep in mind that it is up to you as the business owner, to follow up with your leads to remind them of their hair appointment. You can do that through email marketing, SMS or a telephone call.

Instagram Organic Marketing

Whilst Instagram is owned by Facebook, the two have different capabilities in helping you get found by your ideal clients.

Should you however use Facebook over Instagram or Instagram over Facebook? Why not both?

The reason why you should use both, is because you do not want to leave money on the table, since your ideal audience may frequent Facebook more than they do Instagram and vice versa.

Now I do not say this to mean that you should also set up a social media account all across social media platforms like Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr or Snapchat. Keep it simple.

Commit to one or two platforms and master them and your presence there. You will find a lot more success when you do it this way.

So let’s talk about how to use Instagram.

Location tagging

Instagram allows you to get found as a business owner, through their location tagging feature. That means when you set up your Instagram account and you start posting to your Instagram newsfeed, you can tag your location which will help you get found by people who are searching for similar spots in their area.

If you do not see this option, then you may have to turn on the location settings on your phone.

One way of leveraging this feature is, you can ask each of your clients to tag themselves or check-in from your hair salon. By engaging with your location, your client’s followers will then be able to see your location, helping you increase the possibility of them finding your business and even becoming a client.

Also, if many people start tagging your location, it helps you appear in Instagram’s search should any Instagram user want to find a hair salon that’s near them.

Another reason to use this feature, is it will help you increase your credibility as a brand. Let’s say that your clients get in the habit of tagging their location, every time they visit you. Should anyone want to check you out, you now have several posts that show that many people have attended your salon, giving your next prospect the opportunity to see that people do use your services and so they may likely want to use your services too.

This is a huge win for your business.

Hashtags

Other ways that you can get found through Instagram marketing, is through the use of hashtags. A great way to make use of this, is to see what your local competitors are using and how many people actually follow the particular hashtag.

For example, when I search for #naturalhairsalon here are the results.

Consider using hashtags that have a good number of other accounts that use them. This means that there is potential for your target audience to search for them as well.

If you use hashtags that only have less than 100 uses, then it may mean that it is not often searched.

When using Instagram for business, like any other organic marketing techniques, you must be consistent and give your efforts some time.

Like Facebook, post content that is engaging and shareable. Post pictures of your work but don’t let that be the only thing that you share on your Instagram account.

You should switch things up. Share relevant photos of hair-related content, quotes, videos, hair tips and tutorials. You can also do an Instagram live if you have a client in the chair, you might want to show how you achieved a particular style, of course with the client’s permission.

There are so many content ideas you can use to attract and keep your followers engaged.

Google My Business

Google My Business (GMB) gives your business a free listing with Google and allows you to get found by searchers who are searching for your products and services using Google.

If you want your hair salon to be found by potentially 600 million people, then you must have a GMB account.

With a GMB account, you can share your hair salon’s address, phone number, business hours and the type of payment method you use. If you are a mobile hair salon, you are also able to use GMB.

If you are yet to claim your GMB listing, then here is where you start.

Now one of the biggest problems that business owners make, when they create a GMB listing, is they add their listing and forget about it.

Whilst back in the days, when you had a yellow pages listing, all you had to do was pay for the listing in the directory, with a GMB listing, you need to actually put in work to ensure that your listing is optimised and you can use it to attract your ideal clients.

Google allows you to create posts just like you would with a Facebook or Instagram account. The aim of doing this is to help you build community as well as show that you are active so your listing can show up in the Google local search results.

Here are some types of posts that I would recommend you create:

GMB has so many features that allow you as a business to get found by new potential clients. Your clients can now book appointments, text or call you or even ask you questions, which you can add to your GMB listing, making you stand out as a business that truly cares about your community.

Google Local SEO

On the backend of GMB there is also Google local SEO.

I however will not recommend this strategy, if you are looking for quick results. That’s because it takes time for SEO to actually work to your advantage and for your website to get found.

But, it is something that should not be ignored, because by utilising local SEO, you are also building a solid brand through content marketing.

In order for an online business to thrive, it should always be producing content, to help it’s audience solve their problems.

When you help your audience solve their problems, they look at you as an authority and will refer to you, should they need any help with their hair troubles.

How does local SEO work to help you get more clients through the search engines?

Well you use keywords in your content, that your target audience are likely searching for. You then create helpful articles that answer your target audience’s questions and you invite them to get to know more about your brand, by perhaps offering them a free gift or discount code in exchange for their name and email address.

For example, when I use Google to see the type of keywords that people are searching for when it comes to hair, here are some relevant keywords that you can use to create content on, so that it gives your website visibility in the search engine and help you potentially get found by potential clients.

These are the type of keywords you should also be using in your content, as a hair salon, because it means that if someone is searching for “questions to ask a hairstylist”, it means that they are ready to seek out the services of a hair stylist and that could be you.

Google Ads

We have talked about Google My Business and Google SEO. Another arm of Google that you may want to invest in, if you want faster results, is using Google Ads.

Google Ads is a guaranteed way to get in front of your target audience because you are creating ads based on the keywords that people are searching for, that will help bring your business up at the top or bottom of the search results and put directly in front of the people that matter to you.

When you create Google Ads, make sure that you are selecting highly trafficked but low competition keywords, which will help you reduce your cost per click.

You should also send people who click on your ads, directly to a product page instead of your home page. For example, if you are targeting the keyword, Mongolian Kinky Curly Lace Front Wig, be sure to add the exact URL, so that when people click on the link in your ad, they will land on the actual product page, making it easier for them to shop.

Another way that you can get a good return on your investment when using Google Ads, is to add your Facebook business pixel to your website so that Facebook is able to track the visitors who come to your page.

You can then set up a small ad on Facebook or Instagram with an offer, such as a discount, to retarget people who came to your website from Google Ads, but did not purchase.

That way when they come to browse Facebook or Instagram, your business will show up on their timeline as a reminder that they were once on your website and so you have a better chance at converting them, when you make an offer to close the sale.

Prime Location Spot

I have covered what I consider to be the most important platforms that you should be on, as a hair stylist or hair salon that is looking for new clients.

Now I will cover other places that you can consider that still does relatively well for business owners.

Having a prime location spot, in the heart of a city centre where there is a lot of foot traffic, will help your business get in front of your target audience, provided that location spot is actually where your target audience is showing up.

The benefit of this, is that you don’t have to do as much advertising, since your door step will be at the heels of the potential clients, who are actually walking in front of you.

A great way to get people to come inside your salon, is by having a post or notice board that gives away something for free or at a discounted rate.

For example, when I spoke about the Facebook Ads Marketing strategy that you can use, a similar concept can be used here. The aim is to offer an incentive to the people that are outside, to come in and see what you have to offer.

So an offer like a free hair consultation or a discounted wash and steam, might be a good offer to entice people to step foot inside your salon.

It is then up to you as the salon owner, to make a great first impression and upsell the client on a more expensive hair treatment for their next visit.

If you really want to make sure that your client keeps coming back and that their visit isn’t just a one and done, make sure to get their name, number and email address where you can send content to them in the form of hair care tips, promotions and offers.

By doing this, you will keep at the top of their mind should they need hair care services in the future.

Networking

Networking is still a great way for you to connect with other salon business owners or non-competitive business owners and share your business with them.

As a hairstylist, consider networking events for fashion retailers, wedding fairs or event planners, for example.

The businesses that you meet at networking events, may be able to put your business details in front of their clients or customers, giving you more visibility than if you were to do it alone.

When you do networking, remember that this is not a quick marketing tactic. Try to go with the intention of building relationships with people first. You may have to network in these events more than once to form a strong and long lasting relationship built on trust, but by doing so, you build a connection with a business owner that could potentially help you get clients or help your business grow.

And if you want to push these networking events further for what they truly are capable of doing, select business owners that you can have potential business partnerships with.

For example, a complimentary business partnership might be a wedding or event planner who can refer their clientele to yours and you can refer your clientele to them. You might be one of the recommended hair salons for brides or special guests to have their hair done.

Partnerships like this can open up new markets for both you and your business partner so keep an open mind about this method of marketing.

Referral Scheme

Here’s how you can make a referral scheme work well for you, to help you get clients as a hairstylist.

This is particularly useful for new hairstylists who are just getting started.

Invite your friends and family around for a “hairstyle party”. The aim of this hairstyle party is to do a demonstration of your hair treatments on your hair model. You could also make it a fun get-together where you have eats and drinks.

So let’s say it’s a launch party.

Next, invite all those who attended, to refer their friends to your hair salon and give them an incentive for doing so.

An incentive could be a discount on their next hair treatment or you can give a percentage of the cost of a service back to the person who referred you a new client, just as a thank you for referring that client.

By doing this, you are able to build up a network of people that you know and it’s a great way to get started until you are able to implement one of the above marketing suggestions that I made.

Leaflet Distribution

Finally, there is leaflet distribution. I have left this one for last, because I am not convinced that this is an effective and worthwhile marketing method, since it probably will waste your time and money.

I have heard that leaflet distribution typically has a conversion rate of less than 1%, but if you still want to try it, then you can.

I would recommend that you leave leaflets in nearby stores where your target audience will go to, such as nail bars, barbershops or spas.

You can even do letterbox drops, but as I mentioned in a previous blog post, typically letterbox drops often result in wasted material because not many people look at leaflets dropped through their mail.

What’s Your Strategy?

To grow a successful and profitable hair salon business requires a robust marketing plan that will help you get more clients, increase your client loyalty and boost your profits.

It also requires time and effort.

As a hair salon, be prepared to use the above techniques to get started, but always work on introducing effective marketing methods to grow your business with a daily implementation plan using various marketing tools and channels.

How long would this take? I would say to give your efforts at least 12 months of work and then take a review to see what went well and what didn’t go so well.

If you want to build a sustainable and profitable hair salon business that will have a massive impact, learn the must have systems and processes that you will need to put in place.

I share those systems and processes in my 8-Step Marketing Blueprint For Small Businesses. Click here to get access to the blueprint now.

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