5 crucial tips on running a successful salon in a small town

Many of the UK's salon businesses are located in and around our largest cities, however it's the smaller and coastal salons that are the cornerstone of their towns and villages. But how do these salons' client lists stay full? And how do you keep the salon busy with little foot fall or transport links? Running a successful salon in a small town is no small feat so we spoke to Karen Thomson, owner of KAM Hair and Body Spa to share her top tips on keeping business afloat.

Stand out from the crowd

To be successful in a small town can be very difficult but if you offer something different from your competitors people will travel the extra mile to go to your salon. It can be as simple as offering lower prices, better deals or a bigger variety of products and services or better customer service or all of these combined but it’s important that your salon finds a way to stand out from others in or around its surrounding area in order to get people visiting your salon.

Promotion

Publicity and marketing is very important to get your brand/salon name out there and does not need to be very expensive. Whether you advertise in local magazines and papers or online, this can be a great help towards gaining new clients and shout about your salon. It’s also very beneficial for your salon to have marketing procedures such as a monthly newsletter, emails and texts that can be sent to your clients to keep them informed of the latest deals in the salon, competitions, and new products and to generally let them know what's going on in the salon.

Social media

Your salon's social media can be used for many things, including getting feedback and recommendations from clients, which can result in new clients and retail sales for the salon too. Social media is a great tool for allowing salons to engage with their clients, to promote brand loyalty, build relationships and spread awareness of your brand. It’s rare that a client will not have social media, so it’s the perfect platform to communicate with your clients and keep them engaged with your salon, whether it’s by creating posts that ask your clients questions, by hosting giveaways or showcasing pictures of your stylists work.

Have a great website

A salon's website is a reflection on the salon itself and therefore should look great, be up to date and easy for your clients to use. Having a website that looks good and is functional and informative will engage your clients and will make them more likely to visit the salon. Therefore, if you have a booking system on your website, be sure to make sure this is easy for your clients to use. Have a great welcome page that will really stand out, as well as other pages a client may be interested in looking at, such as price lists and a blog. Never underestimate the power of the personal touch; clients will love to hear news on your blog on what the salon has been up to. News on award wins work particularly well and will show professionalism of the salon to your existing client and new clients.

Build relationships with the community

It’s very important to build relationships with your community in order to be successful in a small town. You can build relationships by targeting local businesses through promotions and partnerships and teaming up other local independent businesses wherever possible to show community support. Supporting local charity events are also a great way to build relationships with the community and will give your salon a great name. If you are holding a charity event it may also be picked up in the local papers and attract great publicity for your salon. Ready for more? Catch our guide on how to grow your business with creative colour – even if you live in a small town.