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Marketing that will attract your ideal clients | Caroline Sanderson

June 15, 2021

Award-winning salon owner Caroline Sanderson heads up the Salon Jedi Coaching Academy, and is author ‘The Ultimate Business Bible for Ambitious Salon Owners’ available on Amazon.

All profits from the book go to charity, including the Hair & Beauty Charity. This month Caroline gives advice on salon marketing and introduces her new online portal, The Hub.

How do you hook your ideal clients and reel them into your business? In marketing, it’s your message that is the hook and line. You need to touch on your clients’ desires.

USE DIFFERENT HEADLINES FOR DIFFERENT PLATFORMS:
When running a Facebook advert for example, you have to remember that people are scrolling and you need to grab their attention.

This is interruption marketing, so whatever you put in your advert has to stand out, the headline being only part of that. You can also include exciting emojis and text to attract attention as long as it fits with your brand messaging, or alternatively imagery or video content.

Your advert has to relate to what people are seeing. If you post an advert with a completely unrelated image, people will feel it’s not authentic and they’re more likely to scroll on.

On Google however, you may take a different approach to your headline, focusing more on someone’s pain point. If someone is searching on Google, it’s often because they have a pain point and they are looking for a solution. If you can tap into that you’re more likely to attract attention for the right reasons.

DON’T FORGET THE CALL TO ACTION:
One of the main mistakes I see people making with their marketing is failing to have a call to action. If you’re giving someone a solution to their problem, or you’re telling someone how you can give them exactly what they’re looking for, you need to make sure that there’s a way for them to access that.

You have to make it easy for people to contact you, whether that’s the option to book an appointment online or your number for them to call.

THE AIDA MODEL FOR MARKETING: When writing your marketing, use the classic AIDA model as a basis:

 Attention: you have to grab their attention.
 Interest: you have to provide them with more information that interests them and keeps them reading.
 Desire: you want them to have a desire to learn more and use your services.
 Action: this interest and desire leads them to your call to action. This needs to be very clear and specific.

TIPS FOR WRITING YOUR MARKETING MESSAGING:
The most important thing to remember with marketing is that each step is designed to get your customers to take the next step. There are some key things to bear in mind:

 Who you’re writing your message for; that’s your ideal client avatar.

 Use the rules of AIDA when you’re writing your marketing messages.  Your headline is what hooks people. Take time to craft this and get it right.

A very simplistic example might be ‘Professionally-done hair without the wait.’ You’re taking away the pain of having to spend a long time in salon and you’re giving them what they desire, which is beautiful hair.

Other things to consider using in an advert include:

 Risk reversal; this is where you offer a guarantee.

 Testimonials or social proof.

 Positioning; this might include sharing expertise, accreditations or awards.

THE ‘WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?’ RULE:
‘What’s in it for me?’ is really important to bear in mind when you are writing any marketing message. Your clients are only interested in what’s in it for them. A common mistake I see on many salons websites is that they’re talking about themselves without mentioning the customer and what they can do for them.

Your customers want to know what you can do for them, which doesn’t mean you shouldn’t talk about the fact you’ve won awards or that your team are trained in a particular way, it just means you should think about how you can use that positioning while telling your customers how that benefits them.

A top tip is to read aloud any piece of marketing material that you write. Pay attention to how many times it says ‘me’, ‘I’, ‘we’, as opposed to ‘you’, ‘your’ etc. That can be a great eye opener and show if you’re not focusing on your customer enough.

Caroline Sanderson has launched her new, free online portal, ‘The Hub’, aimed at hair professionals across the globe. Head of the Salon Jedi Coaching Academy, Caroline is now offering this free hub to provide her expertise on business strategies, marketing and more through online courses, eBooks and cheat sheets.

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