Easy Marketing Ideas that Produce Real Results

Ah, the power of marketing. We are advertised to most days whether we realize it or not. We watch or hear commercials, see ads while we’re browsing the web, pass by billboards each day and these visual or auditory advertisements can affect the decisions we make. It’s obvious that we live in the age of information, but how can you best inform, educate and market to your clients without overstimulating them with promotional material? Oh, and how can this be done with a small budget?

Here are a couple of stress-free ideas that you can track so you’ll become aware of what works best for your business and clients.

Thoughtfully tailor your Facebook business page 

Educating potential and current customers are one of the ways that beauty and wellness companies thrive, people need to know what you’re offering. Targeting clients at every level of awareness in your business is in your best interest because up to 74% of consumers follow businesses on social media for more information about products and services (LocalVox). This is why including a variety of material on social media is highly recommended, a prospective customer may be enticed by a different message than your return client.

Here are some bullet points to make your Facebook page shine.

• Does your business page have a unique URL? Why do you want one? This is useful for branding, enabling better search engine results and promotional reasons. It’s a lot easier to include facebook.com/SunshineSpa on a brochure than a long string of code. Facebook has been allowing users to generate their unique URL for a while now so if the URL you want is not available get creative and use something that stands out about your business. If your exact business name is unavailable, consider including another key fact about your business. This could be something that pertains to your business, like the city you’re in! An example of this would be facebook.com/SunshineSpaSanDiego now my clients know my business name and where I’m located.

• Utilize the “Add Action Button”. Calls to action are an integral part of using social media for marketing. It’s fantastic that you’re posting content for your clients to see, but it doesn’t help you much if they don’t act on it! A CTA could be something like “Contact Us, send us a Message, Book Now, or Sign up!”

• Picture perfect! Use vivid and eye-catching images that relate to your business. Update your cover photo and make sure it’s a. not pixilated and b. really represents your business. Don’t forget to change it up! Create a new cover photo for big events and promotions.

• Allow reviews, 88% of customers read online reviews before making a purchase (BrightLocal). Real and honest feedback is hard to find these days, so people value reviews when they read them. Responding to all reviews is a great way to engage with those looking at your Facebook. If you choose to respond to the reviews left, make sure that your responses to any negative reviews are professional. Please, no e-battles!

Are you a social butterfly? Read more about bettering your social media here!!

Lights, Camera, Action!

Most, if not all of us have smart phones and/or digital cameras that can easily take a quick video. I mean…hello, Snapchat 😉

So use video visuals to market your services, products and promotions. Clients like to “see” what their experience will be like when they visit you. You can film short client testimonials, your team members sharing their favorite product and why or even a filmed tour of your business.

Videos can be utilized in email blasts, social media and even on your website. Some successful business owners will create their own YouTube channel to host their videos, enabling them to copy and paste a URL to share these videos on another platform.

E-Blast Off!

Make use of your current data base! This is your list of customer names, phone numbers and email addresses. Sending out email blasts is a great way to stay in touch and top of mind with your clients, many people have access to their email on their smart phones and check their messages daily (or obsessively!)  and sending out a text or email campaign with a special promotion will remind your clients about you and what your business is currently offering. There are quite a few e-blast options out there, Vertical Response, Constant Contact and MailChimp are all popular and highly recommended.

MailChimp is one of my favorite email blast programs to use for a few reasons.

• It’s free to sign up and use for lists of less than 2,000 clients
• It’s user friendly
• You can use their well-thought out templates or create your own
• It allows you to track open rates and access some reporting
• You can upgrade your account to gain access to even more features!

I have personally utilized MailChimp for spas that I’ve managed and I found that sending out a monthly newsletter and an email each time we did an event or big promotion was pretty successful. A monthly newsletter can include wellness tips, bios on new employees, monthly specials, the product of the month, etc. Aesthetically pleasing emails are important here, share your message with images and text!

SurveyMonkey

Can you tell that I like primates ;)?  But in all seriousness, SurkeyMonkey is another great and free tool that you can use for marketing. How so? Well, getting to Know Your Customers is crucial and sometimes, they won’t give honest feedback when they are right in front of you for numerous reasons. Including surveys in your monthly e-blast (see how we tied that in there) is a great way to find out what you’re doing well and where your business can improve. Making changes to better your business is something that clients notice and appreciate.

Are you hungry for more marketing tips? Click here

Getting started is half the battle! If you’re worried that you may not be tech-savvy enough, enlist a team member or even a family member to get you setup. Some business owners may even delegate these tasks to a manager or lead coordinator, this also enables them to use their skills and grow in the process.