The Growing Cost of Salon Marketing – The Old Way!

It’s been a while since my last blog post.  But, it’s not because – I haven’t found anything new to report (there is always something new).  It’s mainly because I’ve been “hip deep” in getting our new HairMax version out the door.  It’s almost ready.   And I have to tell you – it’s the best upgrade that we’ve done in the last 5 years.

You’ll be hearing more details about it in the next 2-4 weeks – but lets just say – there are some awesome features in it that nobody has ever put in salon software before!

But today, I wanted to talk to you about something that just recently caught my eye.  The postal service is increasing its postal rates again by 2 cents (44 cents to 46 cents a letter).  Now that may not mean much to you, but it represents another 5% increase in postal rates!

And what that represents to me – is another reason why “marketing the old way” is dying a little more every day.  Let me give you an example.

No more than 2-3 years ago, we did EVERYTHING through direct mail.  We had fancy brochures, we marketed to prospective clients using postcards, had detailed information packages that we sent out when a salon wanted more information about HairMax.  Guess what?  Those days are over!

It’s just too cost prohibitive to market to clients using these old methods.  And our average new client is worth over $2,000 (to us)!  So, if your average client per year is worth only a few hundred dollars – it won’t work for you either.  You and I both need to work smarter to bring in new clients and squeeze out new business from existing clients.

A few months ago, I attended a 4-day marketing conference in Dallas.  In fact, I wrote about it in my last blog post.   During the first 2 hours of the conference, I learned something that literally PAID for the entire event.  A marketing expert named Dan Kennedy gave a presentation that really opened my eyes about effective marketing.  It was all about client segmentation.  Let me explain.

Marketing is all about sending the right message to the right client at the right time.  This is referred to as “message to market match”.  The better you are at doing this – the more effective your marketing will be.  Your salon has all kinds of different clients.  For example:

• Some clients only get haircuts
• Some clients get services but never buy retail products
• Some clients take advantage of certain promotions
• Some clients haven’t been to your salon in over 90 days

I think you get the picture.

Well, here is the key.  When you’re creating a promotion – the message should be slightly different – depending on the “group” of clients you’re sending it to.  So, let me give you an example.  Let’s say you’re doing a retail promotion.

You might create two different email messages.  One email for clients who buy retail now – where you might highlight the great deal or the major benefits that the new retail product will provide.  And a second email for clients who’ve never bought retail from your salon before – that will first highlight “why” salon products are better and then go into the specific benefits of the product that you’re promoting.

In other words, the way that you would sell one “group” of people would be different than the way you sell another “group” of people.  By “grouping” your clients into smaller segments you can better “match your message” to the market. 

Think of it this way, if you were trying to sell something to someone – wouldn’t your best results come if you sent a personal message to them addressing their specific wants and desires?  Of course.  But you don’t have the time to “know” all of our clients or to send out 500 “personal” emails to clients.

Grouping your clients (using the HairMax mailing system) will allow you to get the maximum benefit from promotions by segmenting your client list into different sub-lists.  That will make all of your marketing efforts much more effective.

Be on the lookout for the informational videos regarding the HairMax 11.6 upgrade.  It takes email marketing to an all-new level. 

By the way, the post office is just helping you and me transition faster to an entirely new way of communicating messages to our clients. 

Best Regards, Steve Sampson

HairMax Salon Software is a product designed to be the best investment your salon has ever made.  It is not only the easiest and most powerful salon software on the market.  It is from a company dedicated to becoming the ultimate VALUE source to the industry.