How much do you spend on your advertising?

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kezza*

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I open a beauty salon from home back in September and it's going really well. Since starting I have paid over £300 for an ad in yellow pages, never agin haven't had one person from that, I do a monthly advert that cost me around £35 a month. I'm always getting approached from different companies about advertising and I always listen to them even if it's just sales, I like to know what's out there and about prices. I'm placing an ad next month in a completly different area magazine that's around £90 so see if anything comes off that. And today someone else has approached me which cost about £300. How much advertising and how much does everyone else spend?????
My other half thinks I'm mad but because it's my first year I want to do as much as possible.
 
Hi, IMHO the yellow pages are a thing of the past. Around 10 years ago things were different but nowadays I think most people, like me, put them straight into the recycling bin as soon as they are delivered.

Local newspapers 'can' work but you need to keep putting the adverts in week after week until they get into peoples heads, but this will be very expensive and again, really, a thing of the past.

The best (and cheapest) types of advertising comes from word of mouth, recommend a friend cards, handing out leaflets and of course a website. Also take full advantage of all the free advertising websites to get your business out there:)
 
I don't spend very much on advertising as I find the free ads help to get your name out there.

Also, introduce a friend schemes work well especially if there is an incentive...you could maybe give a client a gift or service when they have sent X amount of people your way.

I don't advertise in the yellow pages as its not something I refer to very often. I keep one in my house but every year when the new one is delivered it sits in its wrapper until the next one replaces it. do you have an advert on yell.com??

xx
 
Hmmm, I spend as much as I can afford month to month on marketing.

Without doubt - the very best was a £20 voucher for a back wax. Not only has he has turned into a £55-a month client - but he recommended his brother who spends a further £25. £80 a month - or just under a grand a year from the free stock cost of about £3. WOW!

The point of the story; direct advertising is a very expensive marketing tool for some treatments. There has to be a more imaginative solution these days?

 
Thanks everyone.
I'm doing a skincare day next month so I'll try and think about recommened a client scheme. But thanks it's deffo given me some things to think about.
 
yellow pages works ok for me but ive put it on the online one as well as teh book and i get people through yell.com. as i check my site stats and people do come through there website
 
I have tried all sorts of things.
Leaflets at wedding fairs £50 ish, doing a wedding fair £150 ish
Local mags £30 ish
Just recently a Village Posatal Advertiser £40 ish
None of them have brought me anything.
I have a web site which has lots of hits but has only brought me 1 new customer so far
Leaflet drops round town brought the most.
I have to say word of mouth is the best.
I have started a referrel scheme and knock £5 off a set if they refer someone so they could end up with free sets if they send enough.
Loads of offers and some competitions
Its tough though
:Grope: from Mel
 
I think you are mad too, no offense. What you have to think of is what what you do if you were to look for a beauty therapist? Where would you look? Most probably online. I do think that if you have a little book that goes round your area then they are a good idea but anything like yellow pages is a waste of time now. Yell.com is probably more sucsessful. Get yourself listed on free business directories online and save the money you are spending on a website. You will get so much custom from a website xxx
 
Flyers and £5 off next referal vouchers. Far better than paid advertising.
 
I spend between around 5% of my annual turnover on advertising. This could be in the form of adverts, flyers, special offers etc. This has worked well for me and my client base is not just limited to Yorkshire. Fashion shoots and trade competitions are a great form of advertising too. I am now thinking of going on the local radio station as well, as this has worked fantastically for a lot of our local businesses.
 
Word of mouth works the best I have found so it could be free:)But of course it's getting the word spread in the first place,hence why you hear of good salons/therapists not advertising much at all as they dont need to.

I do look in the Yellow Pages quite a bit when I need anyone for a job,but I do look online too.I have generated clients through my free add in Yellow Pages when I was mobile,still get the occasional call now from clients who have old issues.
I think local mags work well,leaflet drops were my worst waste of money.Luckily I paid the kids to deliver so didnt waste too much on postage.

It's interesting actually as I spoke to someone other day(who supposedly) knows a LOT about advertising,and she said flyers in newspapers works well....Mmmmm,not in my opinion,I get a free paper and empty the whole contents of flyers straight into the recycling bin without even looking at them.Sorry:smack:

I bought some car magnets a few years ago,didn't get any calls from those and they were bright:green:Had a guy ask me where I had them done in the garage mind,as his girlfriend was about to set up and wanted some:eek:Good advertising for the guy who made the magnets I suppose.

Anyway,I would say,save your pennies and get a website designed,it definately seems the way most people find what they want.
 
Hi
Thanks again
I do have a website I forgot to say that. And I do get a lot through that. I always put my web address on business cards and any advert that I do and I find that people look on the website first before booking an apoointment. When I google it I'm pretty much on the top.
I'm always looking around at what salons are around to see what the competition there is etc.
Ok I'm going to stop wasting my money and start putting my thinking cap on.
Thanks for the advise, it's always good to heard what other's have to say, guess the other half is right, this time lol.
 
Once you've got some clients, by far the cheapest & easiest thing to do is get those existing clients to come in more often and/or spend more money.

If clients haven't been in for a while, send them an offer to encourage them back in again.

Direct mail like this works extremely well, for relatively little cost :green:
 
Once you've got some clients, by far the cheapest & easiest thing to do is get those existing clients to come in more often and/or spend more money.

If clients haven't been in for a while, send them an offer to encourage them back in again.

Direct mail like this works extremely well, for relatively little cost :green:

Just be careful not to be a nuisance though,we have had several clients who went to a salon near us and reported that they were sick to the bk teeth of this salon texting and sending them emails,some of them even emailed owner back requesting she take them off her mailing list as it has got so bad.:hug:
 
Hi
Thanks again
I do have a website I forgot to say that. And I do get a lot through that. I always put my web address on business cards and any advert that I do and I find that people look on the website first before booking an apoointment. When I google it I'm pretty much on the top.
I'm always looking around at what salons are around to see what the competition there is etc.
Ok I'm going to stop wasting my money and start putting my thinking cap on.
Thanks for the advise, it's always good to heard what other's have to say, guess the other half is right, this time lol.

I have to say hun it's nice to see that you are putting your all into into it. I dont think there is a right or wrong way as it depends on your area etc. You will find out what works best for you. If you dont try then you dont know! Good luck chick, sounds like you are doing well :hug: xxx
 
Just be careful not to be a nuisance though,we have had several clients who went to a salon near us and reported that they were sick to the bk teeth of this salon texting and sending them emails,some of them even emailed owner back requesting she take them off her mailing list as it has got so bad.:hug:

Agreed hun. It can also make us look desperate too...never a good look but within reason is a good idea xxx
 
I emailed clients with February's offers which is the first time I have done this and 10 people have booked in so far, I'm going to carry on doing this with specail offers and promotions. I'm looking into doing recommend a friend just need to think it through a bit more, weather 2 do % off treatments. I'm doing a skincare day in March so that's taking up a lot of my time getting everything together for that.
Because it's my first year I wanted to put a lot into advertising to get my name out and about.
I'am another salon that's opened up but I'm sticking around and fighting lol.
 
I handle advertising as an agent for spas and there are a couple of simple ways to make your advertising spend most effective:
  • find out what publications your clients actually read (do they read the local county 'Life' magazine, for example, local press, free sheet or actually very little). If you can work out which titles or websites appeal to your existing clients, chances are other readers will be fairly warm to what services you offer.
  • Never take up cheap advertising that you are offered on the phone - it is cheap because no-one wants it
  • Try to incorporate a response mechanism so you can accurately track any advertising - a promotional voucher or similar - and keep a note of which ads give you a return and which don't.
Bluetooth advertising (where someone's phone bleeps with a message from you if they have bluetooth activated) can be quite good for salons, especially if you have late availability appointments that you can sell at a fairly heavy discount to people just passing by. It is fairly cheap to set up (around £150 for the hardware) and will literally hit people within a few hundred yards of your salon - fantastic if you've got a high street location.

Just one more other thought - if you are going for newspaper advertising, make sure you know the difference between display advertising (alongside the features and stories in the paper that people actually read) and classifieds, which are the long lists of things to sell, buy, car, jobs and ads for dodgy 'massage' parlours! Get a decent size ad in the display section rather than a classifieds, and ask the newspaper to do you a decent design, if you haven't got a friendly graphic designer of your own.
 
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Hmmm, I spend as much as I can afford month to month on marketing.

Without doubt - the very best was a £20 voucher for a back wax. Not only has he has turned into a £55-a month client - but he recommended his brother who spends a further £25. £80 a month - or just under a grand a year from the free stock cost of about £3. WOW!

The point of the story; direct advertising is a very expensive marketing tool for some treatments. There has to be a more imaginative solution these days?


I have to completely agree with the above. Think about it for a sec, those brands that you stock in your salon all have extensive marketing departments....why?....because they know that its the message that sells the product or service. You as a business owner need to think like this also.

Here's an example.....Brand x is launching a new anti cellulite product, the rep comes to your salon and starts explaining the benefits .....what it can do.....what the press are saying and if its a big brand, they will most likely have some celebrity endorsements also. You're convinced and order stock.....that brands marketing objective has been achieved......why?......because the marketing message was clear and it has done exactly what they set it out to do.

Which was to convince you the customer of the benefits of the product, why you should stock it in your salon and to secure an order.

Advertising isn't always the most cost effective way to get your message across to your target audience unless you have the funds to cover a big campaign.

Having a marketing plan and strategy in place for your salon should be one of your top priorities. Not only does it give you the chance to pre-plan your promotions but you will save loads of £££, be more organised and focused if you know what's coming up in advance.

Hope that helps.....
Jx
 
Totally agree with Lipstick Jungle.

Traditional print advertising is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to getting your message across. Unfortunately there's no magic, one-size-fits-all formula for what's going to be best for getting your business booming. But the better you plan, monitor and evaluate what you're doing, the more you'll learn about what works for your business and make your marketing more effective.

And as many of these guys have shown, spending ££££s doesn't always equal results - sometimes a cheap, simple idea will bring the rewards! x
 

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