5 Reasons Why You Need to Use Before & After Photos in your Salon Marketing

Before & after photos emphasize your credibility as a legitimate, results-driven salon and when done well can attract new customers, increase treatment bookings, boost sales and grow your social media following. 

At Professional Beauty Solutions, we believe in the power of showcasing client transformations because we know that when a salon shares their own authentic before & after photos, the positive flow-on effect for their business is huge!

Why should you be sharing your own Before & After photos?

1. Help boost your sales by attracting new clients and encouraging repeat business.
   

2. Emphasise the power of the services you offer and the efficacy of the products you sell.
   

3. Grab attention and encourage engagement on your social media channels, which can lead to an increase in followers/new customers.
   

4. Help create an authentic connection with followers because they’re real results that people can relate to and aspire to.
   

5. Build your credibility, authority and trustworthiness in the eyes of current and prospective customers, which in turn builds your reputation. 

Your before and after images are a powerful tool to show potential and existing clients that you’re capable of achieving the results they want.

Whether it’s treating a specific skin concern, a makeup look or finding the right spray tan shade, customers can see real life results for themselves and feel confident that you can solve their specific problem.

Are you using SMS marketing? You should be! Here’s why….

The average open rate for text message marketing campaigns is 98%, compared to 20% for email marketing campaigns. And with most of us opening a text message up within 90 seconds of hearing that little beep which gets our curiosity soaring, it’s no wonder using text messages as a marketing tool is considered one of the most effective ways to reach clients and promote your services or products.

So, if you haven’t tried SMS marketing for your salon, is it because you are unsure of how you should engage with your clients (what type of information should you be sending?) or perhaps because you simply have no idea where to start?

To help you realise the full potential of SMS marketing, we’ve listed some of its benefits here.

Exclusive Deals
One way to use SMS marketing for your spa or salon is to send out exclusive deals to your clients. People like to feel special, and there is no better way to make your clients feel special than by making them part of an exclusive club. You can do this by promoting exclusive offers, discounts, VIP sales & events through text that you do not promote via any other marketing channel.

Last Minute Specials
On slow days, you can help increase your sales by sending out a limited-time offer available that day only. This incentive will help drive people to your business, turning a slow day into a busy one!

Inform Clients of New Services
When you add new services to your spa or salon, you want to inform your customers about them. You can use SMS marketing to let your clients know about the latest services offered by your salon or spa. You may also want to provide a special reward to your mobile subscribers and offer an exclusive trial of the new service before it becomes available to everyone else. This extra step can make your clients feel special and valued while driving traffic to your salon.

Appointment Reminders
One common problem spas and salons face is loss of business due to clients forgetting about appointments or mistaking the time. It’s natural, we’re all human, but a simple text message is an easy way to send a reminder – and will hopefully cut down on the number of missed visits. This will help you not only maintain a busy schedule, increasing your bottom line, but it also provides an added level of customer service which helps build client loyalty.

It’s Time Efficient
Email marketing is wonderful. It’s free, it’s effective, and it’s easy to do. But sitting down and writing and designing an email takes time, and that’s one thing many of you don’t have. With SMS marketing, your message is to the point, rather than being buried in a 500-word email (which can also get skimmed past in your inbox).

Let’s get down to business.
SMS text messaging can be an effective tool for building your salon, reducing the amount of missed client appointments, and improving your customer service. It can help to strengthen your reputation and increase your profit potential. If you are ready to start on your text messaging campaign journey, here are a few companies you can try.

• Click Send

• SMS Broadcast

• SMS Solutions Australia

• Direct SMS

Why a salon photoshoot is a great investment?

In today’s day and age – the first point of research into your business for your client is taking a look at your social media and your website. Having good-quality photos across your marketing platforms is vital as it works as a digital display of your portfolio; demonstrating your brand and visual identity.

📸 WHY YOU NEED A PHOTOSHOOT 📸

Often when salon owners start their business they use stock-standard photos on their website. Whilst this is great for kick-starting your business, stock photos can be a little bit cold, distant and lacking authenticity. On the flip side, a salon photoshoot captures you and your business at your most warm, intimate and transparent state.

When existing and prospective clients get this insider look, they instantly take a virtual step into your salon space & treatment rooms and learn the faces behind the business.  

We would suggest hiring a local photographer, take half a day for you and all your staff to come in and get shooting! Schedule this on a day that your business is closed, or blackout a few hours one day from all bookings to get the photo shoot done.

Anna, from Anna’s Skin and Beauty is a business owner and beauty therapist that truly see’s the power of a professional photoshoot..

“I have always felt that professional photoshoots are important for my business as they show case my work and the parts of my business that I want to promote. I am more of a skin focused salon and that is predominantly what my photo shoots involve. As such, I also like to create a lot of brand awareness for Image Skincare as I am devoted to the brand and I really believe in the results I achieve with my clients, so my photoshoots show this!

I also like to promote myself as my brand and show a little of my personality in my photos, that way clients feel like they “know” me, even before they haven’t met me in person. I also like to promote the fact that the salon is owned and operated by me; I do all of the treatments and the clients know that when they come to my salon, they will see me and my 23 years’ experience every time. This is one of the reasons that I feel that my business is so successful. I feel that it is important to always portray a professional and friendly image.

I also like to promote that my husband John is also part of the business, he doesn’t actually work “in” the business but he definitely works on the business.

Over the years, I have had 3 different locations for my business and each location change marked a significant chapter in my business journey as well as a business owner and a person. I have felt that I have needed to update my photos as the location has changed. It’s really important for me to move forward with a positive attitude and mindset.

Anna, Anna’s Skin and Beauty

📸 WHERE TO USE THE PHOTOS 📸

Here are the three places you should be using your photography from your salon photoshoot;

-          Social Media

-          Website

-          Treatment Menu

Credit: Turramurra Natural Beauty

📸 WHAT TO SHOOT 📸

-          Treatment photos

-          Team photos

-          Around your salon

-          Retail display

-          Reception counter

-          Waiting area

If you want to check out a great example of how amazing your own salon photoshoot can look, head to @annasskinandbody

Salon of the Month August 2019 – Fresh Face Bar

Nestled in Melbourne’s trendy inner-city suburb of Richmond, Fresh Face Bar offers an escape from the hustle and bustle with their modern wellness space boasting treatment packages from a fully qualified team of skin specialists. Appealing to a unisex market, Fresh Face Bar is a unique fusion of day spa and skin salon, and their signature treatment is a non-invasive express treatment using the Dermalux LED Compact System in a laid-back lounge area.

Owner Lisa Vong believes that great skincare should be easily accessible and that everyone deserves glowing skin no matter their budget or time constraints, and this clever approach to wellness and skin health for busy lifestyles is reflected throughout the Fresh Face Bar client experience. Friend referrals get a free Dermalux  LED treatment, take-home products are prescribed to treat each clients’ skin issues holistically, and there’s an emphasis on accessibility and affordability for everyone.

“Make Fresh Face Bar the friend you meet for a regular lunch date, not the friend you always forget to call!”

Fresh Face Bar also utilises social media to run competitions that encourage their followers to promote their salon to a larger relevant audience through tagging and sharing. This often-underestimated marketing strategy has been hugely successful for Lisa and the team, growing their followers online and leading to more traffic coming through their salon door.

Once in the salon, clients can expect to get pampered with products from Image Skincare, Pure Fiji and ECOCOCO in conjunction with Dermalux LED treatments, and each experience concludes with the prescription of hardworking take-home products in a stunning retail space that includes new client favourite, Bestow Beauty. Adding Bestow products to their extensive retail range has allowed Fresh Face Bar to encourage their clients to take a holistic approach to skincare and wellness by feeding their skin from within.

“We chose to stock Bestow Beauty because we know it’s just as important to nourish your skin from within as it is to treat it topically. We’re big believers that a healthy gut is imperative to achieving glowing healthy skin, and our clients have definitely experienced less skin congestion since using Bestow Beauty on a daily basis.”

What really sets Fresh Face Bar apart is their efforts in going the extra mile – educating clients on skincare, wellness and gut health at a monthly “Fresh Faced Workshop”. These fun, interactive nights allow clients to get hands on with products in a safe and encouraging environment, learning fundamentals such as the importance of cleansing and the benefits of masking. And the best part is that these workshops are totally free! Fresh Face Bar knows that the hardest part of doing business is often just getting people through the door, and providing free workshops is a great way to attract new faces and let the amazing product range  speak for itself.

A big congrats to Lisa and the whole team at Fresh Face Bar! We’re thrilled to be a part of their success story and can’t wait to see how they continue to grow and succeed. A huge congratulations on being our Salon of the Month!

2019 PBS Roadshow is coming to a capital city near you!

How do you take the brands you stock, the treatments you offer and the clients you serve and bring them all together to create a profitable, predictable business that works for you, your family and your staff? Find out this July and August when the Professional Beauty Solutions team hits the road for the 2019 PBS Roadshow!

Coming to a capital city near you, the PBS Roadshow is a full day of business education packed with practical growth strategies to help you increase profitability and take your business to the next level! Covering an array of business-building topics in a fun, engaging environment, the PBS Roadshow is a great opportunity to connect with fellow small business owners and therapists, whilst gaining key insights into growing your business and boosting your profits!

Topics covered include:

• The most critical Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for small business and how to measure what matters most.

• The growth of the clean beauty movement and the wellness revolution, and the business opportunities they offer.

• How to get the most out of our “Marketing on a Platter” (MOAP) service so you’re able to easily and effectively market your salon, your treatments and the brands you stock.

• What it takes to become social media savvy regardless of which generation you’re from.

• How to stop selling and have your clients spend more by consulting with pride.

• Why coaching your clients for optimum skin fitness is the best way to get them visiting you more frequently.

• Everything you and your team need to know about the new training content on the PBS Online Education Portal.

• QLD July 29th - Pacific Hotel, Brisbane

• WA August 5th - Crown, Perth

• VIC August 12th - Quay West Suites, Melbourne

• SA August 19th - Majestic Hotel, Adelaide

• NSW August 26th - Pullman, Sydney Airport

Whether you’re a salon, spa or clinic owner, manager or team member, the 2019 PBS Roadshow will benefit everyone and is a must-attend event for your whole team! Everyone is welcome to this industry event.

To book your tickets click here