Mothers day offers for salons: maximise your gift certificate business

Mothers Day offers for salons provide a great way of boosting your gift certificate business; Simone Gribb offers her advice for maximising potential. Mother’s Day, which this year falls on 30 March,  represents a huge marketing opportunity for salons and the best possible time to promote your Gift Certificates to people looking for a thoughtful, yet simple gift, says Simon Gribb. So how can you maximise your Gift Certificate retail at this profitable time of year? Do: Make them look professional and in-keeping with your salon’s branding.  If you send them by email ensure there are no unsightly borders when printed. Physical gift vouchers should be beautifully presented with your choice of a gift box, bag or scroll. Do:  Position them prominently and creatively on your website. An item on your navigation is perfect for people who are actively looking to buy gift vouchers, but including them on your retail, product and services pages along with a well-designed link on the homepage will increase the rewards. Don’t forget to include a link in your newsletter too. Do: Make them as easy as possible to buy. All too often websites have a nice little tab for gift cards, but when you click on it you get a page saying ‘we sell gift vouchers in the following denominations. Please call the salon.’ If someone has clicked on the link they are ready to buy, so you should have an option to convert the sale there and then. Don’t: Limit your Gift Certificates to specific denominations. If the gift certificate is for someone who is yet to visit the salon or wants to try something new, a monetary value can be perfect. If the gift is for a salon regular then a voucher for their usual service makes a more thoughtful gift. Don’t: Be afraid to be the voucher giver. Gift Certificates can be a perfect birthday gift for you to send to your clients too. Whether that’s a nominal value or a voucher to be redeemed for a new service or a treatment, it will make the client feel valued and increase loyalty. Don’t: Forget to make your terms and conditions clear. Is there an expiry date on your vouchers? Do you offer change if the whole of a monetary value hasn’t been spent? Can any unspent money be carried over to the next visit? Will you allow the recipient to swap for an alternative service if they prefer? Getting this wrong can leave a bad taste in the mouth and rather than gaining a new client, you can lose an existing one. Do: Include Gift Vouchers in your marketing plan. The build up to Mother’s Day represents a fantastic opportunity to promote your vouchers, as do Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day and even Easter. Use all of the available channels, including your shop window, SMS messages, your voicemail, your newsletter and social media, to promote your vouchers as the perfect gift and be creative about any seasonal voucher promotions. Don’t: Forget to use all your social media channels to promote your Gift Certificates and where possible link to an easy way to buy them. Simone Gribb is marketing manager at SalonExperiences.com who offer a simple solution for retailing Gift Certificates online.