A salon is an intensely personal business. Your job is to help your clients look as beautiful as they feel, and your work is sculpting the image they present to the world. It’s built on trust and expertise, and can be incredibly emotional. Building and cultivating these relationships are crucial to your beauty business.

Investing in email marketing is a great way to stay top of mind with your clients between appointments, and more salons are relying on it to stay in touch, especially in the era of social distancing. Although email marketing is widely used, there are some best practices to follow to stand out from the crowd and to stay out of the spam box.

Why Should You Use Email Marketing for Your Salon?

Email marketing for your salon can help you stay in touch with clients before, between, and after appointments. Unlike texting or social media, email gives you more room for text and imagery, and offers more versatility for formatting and presentation. Email marketing is used by 64% of small businesses to reach customers, generating up to $42 for every $1 spent, making it one of the most profitable marketing channels you can invest in.

GlossGenius offers email marketing for free to all customers. You can email all customers, segmented lists, or individuals through GlossGenius’ eMailer. Tap More >Email Marketing > Create New Email Campaign, select who you’re going to email, click Next and you’re ready to craft your email.

What To Look For In An Email Tool For Your Salon

When picking an email tool for your salon, it's important to think about a few things:

Automation

Automation can save you a lot of time. Look for tools that let you set up automatic emails for reminders, follow-ups, and special events. This makes sure your clients get emails at the right time without you having to send each one yourself.

Deliverability

Deliverability is important because it means your emails actually get to your clients' inboxes and don't end up in the spam folder. A good email tool should have a high deliverability rate and show you how well your emails are doing.

Security

Security is really important, especially when dealing with your clients' personal information. Make sure the email tool you choose follows the rules for protecting data and has strong security to keep your clients' information safe.

GlossGenius is a platform that does more than just email marketing. It has features like appointment scheduling, client management, and a booking site. GlossGenius offers a solution that brings everything together for your salon's needs. By using GlossGenius, you can manage all parts of your business from one place, making it an easy and user-friendly choice for salon owners.

What Kind of Emails Should I Send My Clients?

Like other marketing channels, emails are effective ways to communicate with your clients and prospects. Offering promotions, sharing news and updates, or distributing helpful “value-add” content can all help build your brand and a community among your clients. Here are a few ideas of what you can send to clients:

Reminders and follow ups

Setting up automated reminders and follow ups for clients can help ensure they’re attending appointments, and that clients feel cared for even after they’ve left. You can automate email reminders through GlossGenius so that clients receive reminders via email before their scheduled time.

Pre-booking reminders

Pre-booking is always a good idea for clients especially if the holiday season is coming up. Reminding your clients how fast your calendar fills up can not only help you plan ahead but also make sure all your clients are happy during the holidays.

Promos and coupons

One of the most popular types of emails you can send is for promos and coupons. Time-sensitive deals like limited-time coupons or flash sales can inspire quick engagement and boost sales in the short term.

Announcing a new service

When you have a new service or offering to announce, your customers should be the first to know. Whether it’s a service that clients have been requesting or a service that can elevate their current experience, a formal announcement is always necessary when there’s an update to your service menu.

And, whenever you have a new service available, you can add it to your GlossGenius booking site with just a few taps. Tap on the settings icon in the top right corner of the dashboard, scroll down to Services, and tap on the plus icon in the top right corner. Fill in the details of your service and tap Save for the new service to instantly be added to your website.

Special events and occasions

Sending personalized emails for birthdays, anniversaries, or holidays can make your clients feel welcomed and appreciated. You don’t always have to offer a deal or a coupon, either. Showing your clients you care can go a long way: 80% of consumers say they’re more likely to make a purchase from brands who offer personalized experiences.

Vacations and time off 

Yes, you deserve a vacay or at least a few days off here and there! Email marketing makes it easy to let all of your clients know at once. You can also include information on how they can easily book with you by including a booking link in the email for when you're back.

Once you send your vacation notice, you can update your GlossGenius calendar to block time, so even if your customers don’t check their email, they’ll know you’re getting some much neededR&R.

Moving salons or location

There’s so many things to take care of when you’re changing locations and letting your clients know exactly when and where should be an easy thing to check off your list. In a simple email, you can announce your move to all of your clients with new address information as well as even more details like driving directions, parking, and opening dates.

Email Marketing Best Practices

When email marketing works, it works well. But there are a few steps you need to follow, and a few red flags you need to avoid, so that you’re not spamming clients or wasting your time. Here’s some high level tips to make your email marketing more effective:

1. Be mindful of when you’re sending emails

When it comes to communicating with your clients, timing is everything. There are some studies as to when the best time to send an email is, but your clients might behave somewhat differently. No matter what, sending emails in the early morning or late night will most likely result in your clients missing, never reading, or angrily deleting your emails.

2. Try personalizing

Use personalization tokens like [FIRST_NAME] to add a personal touch to every email. Personalized details in emails help boost open rates: not only does it stand out from other items in an inbox, it helps the content feel more focused and targeted than a generic message.

3. Be concise

Some research shows that about 20 lines of text, or 200 words, results in the highest open rates. There’s some wiggle room here, but the biggest takeaway is that less is more. People don’t want to read an essay of a newsletter – make your point fast and clear.

4. Keep promotions and call to actions above the fold

If you’re sending emails with a specific call to action, like hurry in, book now, or act now to save 15%, make sure it’s present at the top of your email. Most people interact with an email by clicking in and skimming, so getting to the point at the very top helps increase the chances they’ll interact with your promotion.

Getting Started in Email Marketing With GlossGenius

A great way to start email marketing campaigns for your salon is to work with your salon booking app. You’ll have a list of clients available to whom you can send emails, and platforms like GlossGenius provide you tools to spin up easy, beautiful, and effective email campaigns in just a few short steps. To find out how GlossGenius can help your small business, start your free trial today.