Whether you’re starting your business or are already established as an esthetician or spa owner marketing is always going to represent one of your most important activities, even if you’re renting a space in a busy salon. Here are 17 great ways to build up your beauty & wellness business in Vancouver:
- Word of mouth:
Word of mouth will always be the most valuable way of promoting your business. It requires no actual investment into itself, however everything else you do will play into this one. Deliver an astounding aesthetics service and people will talk/RAVE about it.
- Referral program:
Interested in making sure your clients talk about you? Setting up a simple referral program can be a great way to reward your clients and build your client base. A very simple program can be to give your client 20% off their service for each client they refer, and 20% off for the people they refer. If you have enough clients doing this you’ll be able to build a book of business very quickly.
- Pamphlets/Service Menus:
Creating a compelling, easy to understand spa menu or pamphlet can be a very easy way to help clients pick out which services they would like. This also allows you to make better use of the professional treatments you have available. A good distributor will be able to help you with this design. Otherwise we recommend Vistaprint for pamphlet design. You can also use these in your door-to-door sales.
- Facebook:
Although Facebook is becoming increasingly difficult to get noticed on for businesses, it’s still good for keeping in touch with your clients. For a solo entrepreneur I would recommend starting a group on Facebook and letting your customers join so that when you post they are able to be notified by Facebook automatically, increasing your exposure. You can also use this space to create an open forum for discussion on points of improvement!
- Email Newsletter:
This is an excellent way to digitize your marketing. There’s just so much you can do with a simple email newsletter. Whatever message you want to spread and have go directly to your clients becomes very easy with this method. Here at Breizh we use Mailchimp as our provider, the drag and drop templates are very easy to work with and create compelling designs.
- Blog:
A great way to demonstrate your know how and to collaborate with brands to promote the products you retail. At the spa or esthetician level it’s great to really go into detail about the product lines you’re supporting to both demonstrate your knowledge and create the opportunity for more sales.
Twitter can be a really great way to promote your business! However with the amount of noise on Twitter these days it’s really becoming less about posting and more about seeking out your target market and interacting with them directly. Do this through retweet, replies and DMs. Likes are nice and might encourage the person to check out your profile, but they don’t often drive the desired behaviour.
- Your Website
What is the intended function of your website? Many people simply set one up and then simply display what services they have available. That leaves SO MUCH opportunity to do more with it. Ecommerce is an essential of having your website. Blogging, promotions, increasing your personal brand, this is the place to do it all! Personally we recommend you check out Shopify for web solutions!
- Partnerships with Colleagues
Does one of your clients have a problem you’re unable to resolve? Are you too busy to take on additional clientèle? Well instead of doing the potential client a disservice why not render them a great service by referring them to a well known friend of yours in the industry who may have the additional time for them. Perhaps you could setup a referral system between the two of you? It’s common place for business partners in this type of relationship to provide the referrer with a cash value item (which is both a taxable expense and revenue!).
- Networking events
Where do you go to find stressed out professionals who are looking to build new relationships with other business owners? Networking events! It’ll be a great opportunity to also build a network of people who may be able to help in different aspects of your business or life! Meet-Up.com is a great place to find networking events in Vancouver!
- Door-to-Door
It might seem old fashioned, but put on your esthetician uniform, your best looking shoes and makeup and get out there pounding the cement! Approach local businesses in your area to see if you can leave some cards with them for their staff or even offer a discount just for them being in your neighbourhood! This can be a great way to start filling your book.
- Community Boards/Papers
If there is one in your local community or if there’s a local paper that you may be able to post in/get an interview with these can be very valuable ways to boost your presence with the local community. Also any press coverage also looks fantastic!
- Location/Yelp/Yellowpages
Remember where you establish your business is very important! Make sure you do some research before you jump into any available location. Check the local competition, if there’s a lot it probably means there are many clients in the area but be prepared to work for them! If there’s not too many, it could be because there’s not enough demand or that it just hasn’t been done. Due diligence is required! Also make sure to create your free business listings on Yelp, Yellow Pages and Google. These are free resources to help people find and spread the word about you.
- Business Cards
The best way to show the world who you are: a professional. Your business card should give people a sense of who you are and what you represent, while at the same time projecting your professionalism as a cosmetician. You can also get clever with these to include loyalty cards as well. Double sided is the new standard.
- Working with your Distributor
Whoever you decide to work with in your esthetics & beauty business, your distributor is going to be one of the most important partners. When it comes to product, they should be the ones to provide the training. Business setup they should be able to offer help. And for pretty much any of your marketing needs (posters, website info, products/treatments, etc…) they should be involved as they probably can provide all of the info you’re looking for. They may even offer a coaching opportunity! ;P.
- The Personal Touches
Your space should be a great reflection of yourself while still being able to allow the client the ability to relax. Abstract paintings, some light music, and maybe an aromatherapy diffuser. You can also use essential oils in creative ways, but just don’t overdo it cause remember your products also can have a potent scent to them.
- Your Personal Image
Finally you yourself are an important representation of what your clients can expect. If you know how to take good care of yourself this will reflect in what clients end up seeing in you. Esthetics is a very personal business and something we’ve discussed in a previous post. You can still be yourself and add touches of your personality, but you should still come off as a professional cosmetician.
So we hope you enjoyed this post on the Esthetician's Corner! If you have anything to add let us know in the comments below or by email to info@breizh.ca!
Cheers,
Taylor
