Are you ready for Mothers Day?

By caroline Turner

Make Mothers Day an incredible event for your salon or spa!

With 60% of UK shoppers spending money on Mothering Sunday and a whopping £510 Million spent on gifts according to the Mintel report.

It's a serious opportunity that needs marketing and team planning.

What's your focus, Packages, Retail and Gift Vouchers?

Here's a top tip for package sales, design three packages and focus on selling the middle with this clever technique.

Package 1 needs to be good value but not as good as the middle package. Its design is to make people feel;

"I might as well spend a little more".

Taster Facial

File and Polish

Blow Dry

£/$49.99

Package 2, the main event! It needs to be MUCH better value than package one but affordable compared to package 3. Its designed to make people feel, I'm better off spending the extra.

Hour Facial

Manicure with a hand massage

Blow dry with an intense scalp massage

£/$89.99

Package 3 is called "The Anchor". It's designed to be expensive and that makes the middle package feel the best option. It must be a package that can be delivered in one visit but its main purpose is to highlight package 2 as the best buy.

Luxury Facial

Spa Manicure

Spa Pedicure

Luxury Hair Treatment with intense scalp massage

Blow Dry

£/$195

You'll find this technique in lots of industries from car sales to fashion, as an example.

The designer store will put something like a keyring display next to T-shirts, next to the handbag.

If the shopper wants the designer label, placing the £/$99 T-shirt next to the £/$45 keyrings next to the £/$1,000 handbags, the 3 "packages" what will MORE people buy?

The T-shirt because that feels better value than a key ring, and the £/$99 price tag doesn't FEEL as expensive next to the £/$1,000 handbags.

Don't give too much choice!

When faced with LOTS of choices our brain gets frustrated, its too much and consumers are prone to making NO choice and walking away.

Its known as buyer fatigue!

LESS REALLY IS MORE

Designing loads of options and packages can be tempting. However, you'll get more sales by offering less choice (that goes for our service menu too).

People become overwhelmed by too many choices, and if that happens, they don't buy anything, IF you offer LOTS of services, especially in beauty it can be very beneficial too;

Review the menu layout to make it as easy as possible for clients to find what they want, fast.

Discontinuing services

If you're interested in finding out more about consumer overwhelm and the "famous" table laden with jams experiment, have a read of this article.

https://neilpatel.com/blog/too-many-choices/

Seriously, fewer services offerings can make more revenue

So keep your offers, packages or promotion to a minimal, then its time to consider what and how many touchpoints, how to market the event;

Video - Website - Window Display - Email and Direct Mail Marketing - Posters and Flyers - Text Message - Social Media

A touchpoint can be defined as any way a consumer can interact with the salon or spa, whether in person, the website, or any form of communication (marketing). The touch point helps the client form an opinion and influence buying decisions.

Did you know that up 95% of decisions any human makes including booking services or buying homecare is based on emotions?

It forms a big part of my online training course because knowing how and why people love to buy or book increases retention and retail. Every human being in every part of the world makes decisions based on how they feel, so here are a couple of tips to consider when you start to put your marketing together;

1 - Facts Fade

Not only do facts and figures, AKA features fade in peoples memory, they also stimulate the wrong part of the brain for bookings and buying, Proven and researched for 30 years by leading scientists have found;

Buying is between 70 to 90% emotional.

If marketing with facts and figures about a service or product it communicating with the part of the brain that only influences spending by 5 - 30% and some believe stops impulse buying.

So, as you write your headlines, social media posts, build a mothers day web page, avoid facts and figures and focus on results, feelings and stories.

2 - Use MORE Imagery

A few tips on selecting images;

1 - The human face, especially children holds peoples attention longer, and as its Mothers day, there's no other perfect time to have children in the picture.

2 - The buying brain doesn't like black and white images, so stick with colour. We can logically look at black and white photos and see their beauty or artistry but not emotionally; that's what the scientists have discovered.

Touchpoints

Website Page

Setting up a mothers day page is easy to do, and a great way to funnel interest from social media marketing, whether from your followers or making a small investment into an advert played into the local community.

Its KEY to use the website to drive business not social media. Why not social media?

Its someone else's business, imagine if a company only used social media and then they got kicked off, shut down! Over the last few years, many of the social media sites have changed what people see (unless it's paid for). Social media IS a powerful tool and MUST be used, and I know many salons have been very useful because of social media. However, it's important to remember you own the website you don't own or control social media.

The website is in your control and should be where any business drives clients AND should have some form of sign up form so you can collect email addresses.

Get inspired by having a search under mother days, like the 2 examples below. In the first example, the site uses a headline and a beautiful image to the top

The Headline;

"On 11th March, we're celebrating all mothers, from mum's by blood to the matriarchs who help guide, protect and care for us. Looking for inspiration? Here are some ideas..."

A great statement, they keep the "market" open, not just for birth mums but any women who we love cares for us, and then they finish with a question (very clever).

Questions hijack the brain.

The moment you hear or see a question the brain literally can’t think of anything else. And that can be a powerful tool in marketing.

Behavioural scientists have also found that just asking people about their future decisions significantly influences those decisions, a phenomenon known as the “mere measurement effect.”

Back in 1993, social scientists Vicki Morwitz, Eric Johnson, and David Schmittlein conducted a study with more than 40,000 participants that revealed that simply asking someone if people were going to purchase a new car within six months increased their purchase rates by 35%.”

There is power in framing questions in a positive light in order to get a positive response.

Asking a question like;

Looking for inspiration?

Is very clever marketing.

Then to prevent buying fatigue the site uses images and simple title to direct clients to what they want too see. Very clever and a technique I would recommend especially for salons or spas with a large service menu.

In this second example can you see the 3 packages? Not offering lots of choices and focusing clients to either;

A day experience (£180-£230) - 1-night stay (£275 - £340) or the big package 2 nights (£545 - £679)

Exacting what I shared at the start. The jump from package one to two is only £95, for an extra £95 you can stay the night have more spa services, an evening meal and breakfast BUT package three is a jump of £270!

Now, one final point about websites!

Are you using a sign-up form?

Because you should, no MUST!

Below is my sign up form AND an example of a sign-up form I used with one of my clients.

Your database of clients, potential clients IS the most valuable marketing tool you have because...

YOU CONTROL IT - YOU OWN IT

Email allows you to speak, communicate with your clients or potential clients directly.

All you need is a sign-up form with some value, *WIIFM if I give you my email address?

*WIIFM - what's in it for me

Consider for Mothers Day having a special gift or voucher available for anyone who joins your mailing list.

Then you can contact that person directly for Mothers Day and in the future to inform them of events, promotions and share useful information.

Sign up for the Revenue Newsletter and receive TWO FREE lessons from Salon Team Training and more!

Plus revenue-generating techniques because that's my focus, supporting salon and spa professionals to make money in a way that clients enjoy and teams feel comfortable.

I will NEVER share your email and will only send you useful information focused on generating revenue. I will NOT bombard you with loads of emails; no one likes that, right?

Finally, I'd definitely have a video on the website (BUT not on auto-play, let people choose to play) towards the top of the page.

Video Boosts Conversions and Sales - The right video in the right location can increase sales by 80%

Video Shows Great ROI - To get you even more excited (because I AM excited about what video can do for our industry), 83% of businesses say that video provides good return on investment

Video Builds Trust - Trust is the foundation of conversions and sales.

Google Loves Videos - Videos allow you to increase the time spent by visitors on your site. Thus, longer exposure builds trust and signals search engines that your site has good content. Moovly gives us whopping statistics: You’re 53 times more likely show up first on Google if you have a video embedded on your website.

Video Appeals to Mobile Users - Video and mobile go hand in hand. 90% of consumers watch videos on their mobile. From Q3 of 2013, mobile video views have grown more than 233 percent. YouTube reports mobile video consumption rises 100% every year. Since people like to watch videos on the go, and the video audience keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Video Encourages Social Shares - Social networks encourage video. Facebook has 360 Video, Live Video. Instagram has 60-Second Videos and Instagram Stories and Twitter has Periscope. And YouTube is the second most popular social network in the world. Its important to know people share emotions, not facts. That's why you'll see in my video store emotion based adverts.

Video Ads Work Wonders - The average click-through-rate of video ads is 1.84%. That’s the highest CTR of all digital ad formats! For a 15-second non-skip YouTube video ad the completion rate is 92%. For skip video ads, the rate is 9%.

Video Is Rocking Email Campaigns - When you’re creating videos already, make sure you to incorporate them into your email marketing campaigns. An introductory email that includes a video receives an increase click-through rate by 96%! That’s a great way to stand out from competition and get your message across.

Can you STANDOUT and offer something different?

A whopping 37% of shoppers want something inspirational, different and are willing to pay MORE for the privilege, and big companies are using this a lot this year (2018).

From hiring chefs in department stores for cooking lessons to even being able to sleep in the store (experience the furniture before buying!).

Can you add to your package or have a select number (less is more) of experiences that STANDOUT?

Skin and or makeup lessons, Blow dry class for mothers and daughters. 3 Generation Package (age appropriate service/lesson), add a craft like making jewellery (a necklace, bracelet or picture frame), serve cream tea.

Window Marketing

Now over the years, I've written a LOT about window marketing because done well it can make serious money!

You can read more in What to put in the window - if there was space in a window I would put some form of TV screen especially if;

1 - Humans have to look at moving objects

Using Video in the window would be VERY powerful in overcoming invisibility.

When setting up a TV screen measure from the sidewalk/pavement 5 foot 4 inches that would be the centre point for the screen (and the same for posters).

2 - Video has the power to leave a mark in our memory.

This is were using LOTS of touch points becomes effective, imagine using social media into a 5-10 mile radius, people see the video leaving a marker, then they walk past having to look at the moving object, stimulating the memory "oh that's the salon I saw..." video leaves a memory marker.

The person is MORE likely to respond and walk in, even if to just check out the salon with the old safety question "do you have a price list?".

To monitor I would keep a tally on how many price lists are being given out during the marketing, in the online course there's a bonus lesson on how to get more "have you got a price list?" inquiries to book as the person is looking for a new salon, its down to the team to impress the person to get the booking. If a team knows how then 70 - 90% of people should be booking.

Sign up for the Revenue Newsletter and receive TWO FREE lessons from Salon Team Training and more!

Plus revenue-generating techniques because that's my focus, supporting salon and spa professionals to make money in a way that clients enjoy and teams feel comfortable.

I will NEVER share your email and will only send you useful information focused on generating revenue. I will NOT bombard you with loads of emails; no one likes that, right?

Social Media

Have some fun and get followers involved.

Look to stimulate the client's emotions,

So, use your social posts to get clients thinking, consider a daily theme over a 2-week build-up to the event.

Perhaps something like Monday Music - Tuesday Toys - Wednesday Weddings - Thursday TV shows - Friday Fashion

Grab a few pictures or youtube links, share some of your own and ask a question or two, remember questions Hijack the brain!

The reason I'd do this is simple I want to stimulate emotions with memories, many of our most POWERFUL memories (for emotion) come from our childhood and teenage years.

So have some fun, here are some ideas to get you thinking!

And in-between those fun posts is a repeated reminder of your promotion or packages

Ideas for social media, Remember these...

Run a social media Competition

The point of the competition is 2 fold;

1 - Get clients involved with something that FEELS (emotions) good, the engagement (action) and doing something good for others

2 - Linking your brand (salon or spa) with community action whilst still getting clients to think about Mum!

So why not do something like Nominate a Mum who deserves a treat. Do you know a mum who's working hard, makes a difference in the community or just deserve a treat?

When I ran this in my business and we had a number of winners, a mum whose house had burnt down leaving her and her family in the clothes they stood in and nothing else, she'd been working so hard to get the children everything they needed after such a horrid event.

Two ladies who's partners were serving in the armed forces who helped other families and a mum who was a full-time carer for her disabled child.

We spoiled them with a package of hair and beauty services because they deserved a special treat.

Can you run some form of competition to get engagement, be part of your community and do something good for others?

Hot spots around the business

In my book 7 Killer Sales Mistakes, I cover salon/spa HOT spots, often overlooked by business owners.

In the salon or spa are key hot spots that people will naturally look at, and those HOT SPOTS could have some form of marketing to assist in driving sales, especially promotions and events such as mothers day.

The key hot spots will either be a right side or central position to where a client will naturally walk too, stand or sit in the business and at eye level (5 feet, 4 inches).

Using visual marketing materials such as posters and video will simulate inquiries;

"do you sell that here?" "What's in the package for mothers day?"

People only ask questions if they're interested then it's down to the teams selling ability to sell what's on offer! And that's why to me training teams in sales are key!

Top Tip

One of the KEY hot spots in every salon or spa is the right-hand side of the reception desk.

Keep the price list on the left-hand side and present the right-hand side with the homecare or promotion that is the current focus, make the display shaped like a pyramid. The shape will make people LOOK and hold their attention long enough to stimulate an inquiry "Does that eye cream work?"

Final 2 points that are essential

Sign up for the Revenue Newsletter and receive TWO FREE lessons from Salon Team Training and more!

Plus revenue-generating techniques because that's my focus, supporting salon and spa professionals to make money in a way that clients enjoy and teams feel comfortable.

I will NEVER share your email and will only send you useful information focused on generating revenue. I will NOT bombard you with loads of emails; no one likes that, right?

Bounce Back Promotions and Monitor

After all the hard work and time that goes into ANY promotion to get people into the salon or spa, it is ESSENTIAL to get them back and FAST.

And that's what Bounce back marketing is focused too!

Some form of offer, promotion or specific service that the client is given to return ASAP

The quicker the return, the faster we build a loyal client.

Whether you use the SAME offer to all clients like a monetary voucher, that can be used against a service over a certain spend BUT critically within a short deadline.

So, a £/$10 voucher with T&C's that include the minimum spend and dated for 4-6 weeks.

But IF you can get them back quicker that's even better. Consider sending via email to all new clients a particular service or offer with a 7 to 14-day deadline, and or giving a voucher before they leave (so you can book them there and then).

It's giving the person the INCENTIVE to come back FAST that's key AND costs very little to do.

Every salon or spa should be using BounceBack Marketing

And finally, monitor ALL marketing results.

For years I had a book I documented EVERY promotion, every detail.

What marketing tools/touchpoints I used (posters/flyers/email etc.), what results I had from the promotion, how many clients brought retail or upgraded, EVERYTHING from cost, method and return on investment.

Everything was reviewed after the event and monitored, so I only put my time, money and energy into what worked.

So, once Mothers Day is done and the services used (most of them) go through and look at the results, get the facts and figures.

It's SUCH an important task, its no good just saying "yeah it was great, it worked" go over the cost, the time required and results which includes the profit margin.

It's NOT a success if it doesn't make money or has been a loss-making event. The only way to know is to monitor.

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And of cause, if you, like I are a Mum too, Happy Mothering Sunday.

Caroline

Xxx

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