Hosting salon events can be the key to unlocking new opportunities for growth and success. From attracting new clients to boosting sales and enhancing brand awareness, well-planned events can yield a multitude of benefits, if done right. In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to plan and execute a successful salon event that leaves a lasting impression on your clients and new prospects.
Before diving into event planning, it’s essential for you to establish clear objectives on what you want to get from your event. Are you aiming to launch a new business or a move to premises? Is it a new skincare line, product launch or treatment you want to promote? Increase flagging homecare sales? Expand your client base? By defining your goals upfront to guide your event strategy you’ll be able to set in metrics to understand how successful it went post event and take the learnings to ensure increased success in future planning.
Organising the essentials for successful events hinge on meticulous planning. From choosing a date to curating an enticing agenda and marketing plan, every detail matters. You might want to consider partnering with complementary businesses or influencers to amplify your reach and attract a larger audience.
Naturally you’ll want to use your event as an opportunity to showcase your salon as well as the latest products and treatments but don’t underestimate your team’s involvement in this. Clients buy into people they trust and respect. Make sure your team are fully aware of your goals and aspirations for the event and not only what you expect from them but what they will get out of making your event a great success. Don’t just use your event as an opportunity to showcase your latest products and treatments but your most valuable assets, your people. Your team plays a crucial role in the success of your event. Ensure they are trained and motivated to deliver exceptional customer service. Assign specific roles and responsibilities, such as greeting guests, conducting consultations, and managing retail transactions.
Offering live demonstrations to educate and entice attendees will reap more rewards than a sales approach. Ensure your team are well-versed in product knowledge, focusing on the features and benefits to your client’s and that they’re equipped to answer questions confidently. Don’t forget to have a streamlined checkout process in place to facilitate sales at the time of the event.
Maximise retail sales by strategically displaying products and offering exclusive limited time discounts. Encourage impulse purchases by highlighting special promotions and bundling complementary items. Make sure you have plenty of people available to provide personalised recommendations based on individual customer needs and preferences. Personally, I’m not a fan of discounts as it can devalue your offering but with savvy reward programs and careful consideration to your offering you can give added value to your clients. Bundling items costed into a course of treatments targeting the client’s specific concerns are a great way for them to feel they have additional value to courses they buy. Whether you decide on offering giveaways, goody bags, or limited time discounted treatments as incentives to attendees be mindful of costs and ensure they aligned with your overall objectives.
A super positive way to drive potential clients to your salon is by encouraging those enjoying your event to post on their own social media pages. Create an interactive and visually appealing environment that prompts them to share their experience. When encouraging clients to post on their own social media pages and share with friends and family, ask them to tag your business (@yoursaloname) and use the hashtag you want such as #SalonLaunchParty, for a chance to be featured on your page and win exciting prizes.
These calls to action will encourage attendees to document their experience at the event, tag your businesses social media account, and use the event-specific hashtag. It also creates a sense of excitement and engagement by mentioning the opportunity to be featured on your page and win prizes.
On another note, we often forget as salon owners that we are very important customers to the brands we promote and sell in our businesses. Ask your brand representatives to attend your events. They should be collaborating with you to ensure the success of your event and increase profitability. How are they supporting you? What are they providing you with in terms of goody bags for your attendees. The concept should include free gifts (not just samples) and if you don’t use your own branded gift bags they should be providing you with the brands gift bags. Can the brand send you a representative to do the treatment demonstrations, freeing your team up to be with your existing and potential new clients collecting contact details, providing consultations and discussing the treatment and benefits of the services your salon provides? Ask your brands to provide sales literature to include in your gift bags and videos demonstrating the treatments for your media screens.
To garner media attention for your event, reaching out to local newspapers and magazines is a shrewd strategy. Craft a compelling press release detailing the unique offerings of your salon, such as innovative treatments, expert staff, or inclusive product lines. Highlight any special features of the event, like live demonstrations or VIP guests. Personalise your pitch by addressing it to specific journalists, editors and local beauty influencers who cover lifestyle or beauty topics. Offering them exclusive access or interviews and invite them along to try a treatment you’re launching or want to promote at your event. Don’t forget to emphasise the newsworthiness of your launch, whether that’s filling a gap in the market, serving your community and contributing to the local economy. Follow-up politely after sending the press release to ensure it’s on their radar. A well-crafted pitch can pique the interest of local media and lead to valuable coverage for your business.
Gathering priceless customer data during events to inform future marketing efforts and personalise client interactions is key. Utilise sign-up sheets, surveys or digital forms to capture contact information and preferences. Make every effort to collect this information at the time of your event rather than sending out an email later to potential clients, as it will be much harder for you to ensure they respond once they’ve walked out your door with a gift bag! Building a robust customer database is essential for nurturing long-term relationships and driving repeat business. When briefing your team prior to any event reemphasise the importance of this to the business. I like to get a little competitor spirit going for events and offer prizes for the highest numbers captured and for forms detailing all the client’s information.
So, you’ve had your event, and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves, the team had fun. What’s next? After every event analyse key metrics to evaluate its true effectiveness. Track attendance numbers, confirmed bookings, sales figures, customer feedback and social media engagement to gauge ROI and identify areas for improvement. What’s your profit and loss looking like? How much did the event cost you in terms of overheads, employee costs, food and beverages, gift bags etc?
The work doesn’t end when the event concludes. Follow-up with attendees to express gratitude, gather feedback, and nurture leads. Send personalised thank-you emails, offer exclusive post-event promotions, ensure they’ve signed up to your newsletter and continue the conversation to keep your salon at the forefront of their minds.
As a seasoned beauty business strategist, I specialise in helping business owners and skincare brands elevate their events to new heights. From crafting compelling event strategies to optimising retail opportunities and driving long-term success, I provide tailored solutions to meet your unique needs. If you’d like help propelling your business forward pick a time that works for you here and let’s have a 25-minute free discovery call, to see how I can help you create an unforgettable event that leaves a lasting impression on your clients.
And don’t forget to have fun and enjoy the experience!
Hi, I’m Alison, a certified business growth specialist, mentor and mindset coach and have been in industry for 20+ years. I work with beauty salons and aesthetic clinics who want to grow their business. For more information drop me an email at info@kickstartbeauty.com or find me on 07725 105782.
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