Hair salon marketing: 15 ideas for more rebookings

The most important marketing for a hair salon happens in the chair: when the client is happy and you suggest the next appointment before they get up. After that, the bookings keep coming through reminders at the right intervals, recommendations from happy clients and reviews that help new clients find you.

Here are 15 ideas, sorted by when they happen: in the chair, between visits, through the clients you already have and online. Most of them cost nothing but a new routine.

In the chair

1. Book the next appointment before the client gets up

When you have finished and the client is looking in the mirror, they are at their happiest. Say what you recommend: “To keep the shape, I'd come back in six weeks. Shall we book that in now?” It is advice from a professional, not a sales pitch. The client can always move the appointment later, but a booked appointment happens far more often than a plan to book one.

2. Explain why the timing matters

Clients book more readily when they understand why. Colour growing out or a short style losing its shape after a few weeks are concrete reasons. Put the recommended interval in the booking confirmation or on the card you give the client.

3. Offer a short appointment between the big visits

A quick fringe trim or neck tidy between the big visits keeps the client in rhythm. Set a clear price and show it on your price list, so clients know it exists. You can make a clean price list with our hair salon price list maker.

It does not need to sound salesy. Here are a few lines that usually feel natural in the chair, which you can adapt to your own way of talking:

• “This length stays looking good for about six weeks. Do you want to book now, so you get a day that suits you?”
• “The regrowth usually shows after a few weeks. Shall we book your colour in with the cut next time?”
• “I've got free slots on Thursdays. Shall I pop you in there? You can always move it if it doesn't suit.”
• “Would you rather I sent you a reminder? Then I'll get in touch when it's nearly time.”

Get everyone in the salon to use the same routine, even when it is busy. Ask in the chair, not at the till, because by the time clients take out their card they are already thinking about the next thing.

4. Note the colour, length and what you talked about

Write down the colour formula, the length and something the client told you, such as a trip or a new job. Next time you can ask how the trip went. That is how a client becomes a regular: they feel remembered and do not have to explain everything from scratch.

Between visits

5. Time reminders to the client's rhythm

A common rhythm for cuts and colour is every four to eight weeks, but it varies with the style and the treatment. A reminder a couple of weeks before it is due works better than one message to everyone at once. Many booking systems can send reminders, so check what yours can do and set the interval for each treatment.

6. Give a loyalty card that suits the rhythm

What many people call a stamp card or punch card, we call a loyalty card. A card with ten stamps takes over a year to fill for a client who comes every six weeks, and most people give up. Four to six stamps is often about right for a salon. The reward could be a free fringe trim, a conditioning treatment or a discount on the next treatment. You will find more suggestions among our reward ideas for hair salons.

7. Keep the card on the phone

A paper card easily goes missing over six weeks in a wallet. A digital loyalty card sits in the client's Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, and they do not need an app. They get a notification when the card is stamped, and location reminders can show the card on their lock screen when they are near the salon.

8. Get in touch with clients who have not booked

If a client has not been in for two or three months, the habit has probably been broken. With push campaigns in Stampioo Pro, you can reach clients whose last visit was 30–90 days ago with a friendly message or an offer on free slots, straight to their lock screen and with no text message costs.

9. Fill the gaps in the diary

If you often have free slots on Tuesday mornings, tell clients with flexible days, such as students or retired people. A small offer on a quiet slot is better than lowering prices for everyone, and a client who tries a morning can become a regular morning client.

Through the clients you already have

10. Make it easy to recommend a friend

Give happy clients a card to pass on to a friend, with an offer for the friend's first visit and something for the person who recommended you, such as a conditioning treatment. The reward is only given when the friend actually comes in, so you only pay for the new clients you get.

11. Ask for a Google review after a great result

The best moment is when clients say themselves that they are happy. Keep a QR code for your Google reviews by the till or the mirror. Never offer a discount or any other incentive in exchange for a review, and ask every client, not just the ones you think are happy. Otherwise you break Google's rules.

12. Reply to every review

Say thank you for praise and reply calmly and factually to criticism. Anyone thinking of booking reads both the review and your reply. A calm reply to a grumpy review can carry more weight than ten five-star ones.

Online

13. Show before and after, with the client's permission

Photos of your work are your salon's best advertising. Always ask the client before you take and post a photo, and show the result as it is, without filters that change the colour. A short video where you explain what you did also teaches your followers something.

14. Make it easy to book from anywhere

Link to your booking page from Instagram, Facebook and your Google profile. Every extra click is a chance for the client to put off booking until later, and later often becomes never.

15. Show who does the cutting

Clients often book a person, not a salon. Introduce your stylists with a photo, their speciality and the days they work. Anyone looking for a particular kind of cut should be able to see straight away who is the right person.

Start with three things

If you only do three things this month: suggest the next appointment in the chair, put up a review code by the till and start a loyalty card with four to six stamps. Then keep track of how many clients rebook on the spot, and compare after a month.

Three figures are enough to see whether it is working:

• The share of clients who book their next appointment before they leave, per stylist.
• The average time between two visits by the same client.
• How many new clients come through a recommendation from an existing client.

The figures are not there to put pressure on your staff. They show where the routine is working and where it needs practice.

If you want to start on paper, you can make a printable hair salon loyalty card. To read how a digital loyalty programme works in a salon, see our page for hair salons.