Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

My wife tends to only frequent establishments that have people in them. So, one idea is to have more people being worked on at your salon. Imagine helping out a local breast cancer or homeless mom's group - schedule people to come in for a free manicure (etc.). Send out a press release announcing your goodwill within your community.

Do mini-makeovers at the salon. Teach people (teens? single moms?) how to improve their looks easily. You could sign up people through your local community ed program.

Another suggestion - co-market with other stores. While the snack shops might be a candidate, think of the places your clients are likely to go: women's clothing, women's shoes, etc. These establishments would be natural partners of yours.

The trick is to simply get people used to coming in your front door.

I also live in the area. Your customer base are those within a few miles -- and you have a lot of them with the lofts etc. A residential post card campaign with only the zip 80202, wouldnt' be expensive to start.

I like the happy hour special-- it makes sense to hang an additional hour and get your nails done vs sit in rush hour traffic.

I travel alot and when I break a nail, its a challenge where to go. Work with the concierges at the hotels to recommend you.

Carol
Sell Well and Prosper tm

You said your goal was to get people in the shop during off-hours: I don't think generic postcards, happy hours, or sidewalk signs are going to make much of a difference unless you segment & target.

You need to figure out who is most likely to come in during off hours and then market to that group by differentiating your salon from the competition.

For example, I imagine that if men are going to get a manicure/pedicure, it's most likely going to happen when the salon is empty, during off hours. They don't want to go when the salon is packed, because getting your nails done surrounded by a bunch of women is not a very masculine experience. But they are more likely to go when it's not crowded. So maybe you should do a promotion targeted at the girlfriend/wife. Bring your boyfriend in from 3-6pm and our services are 2 for 1. Or maybe you create an ad targeted at men who like pedicure & manicures, but don't like to be seen getting them. Create messaging around your salon being a "safe place" to get an "undercover, very masculine manicure/pedicure" from 3-6pm.

Don't forget about the gays. Try running an ad in the local gay paper with a call to action (coupon, happy hour, etc.)

Back to the point of differentiation: what can you do to seperate yourself from the pack? The place around the corner from me has a big sign in their window emphasizing their very comfortable, massage chairs. They also offer a "spa pedicure," whatever that means. It sounds more luxurious than the place 2 doors down that doesn't have spa pedicures.

What kind of experience do people have when they are in your salon? Do you have a tv? Music? Are all the magazines 3 years old? If you have male clients and only female oriented magazines, you've got a problem. Create an atmosphere that people enjoy.

Then there are line extensions. Do you have room for massage, facials, waxing, etc.?

I spent a few years doing marketing for a salon/spa. What we often tried to do is "re-direct" our current clients. For example, if someone typically came in on lunch hour, when asking them to rebook for next week, we would state something like, "I'm not sure if you are interested, but we are currently running an 'after 4' special. If you book an appointment for any service after 4pm next week, we will give you $5 off those services." - we always tried to keep it very light. We found that spa-goers need a less-pushy approach. If they turned down the offer, we gave them their "usual" time. If they went ahead with it, it opened another time-slot up for our busier time of day.

We always tried to promote booking before they leave. It's much more effective than waiting for them to call. We always did a monthly raffle for a really good prize that if you booked your next appointment prior to leaving, you would be entered to win the prize. This got many people that wouldn't have ordinarily re-booked an incentive. (We had 3 spa-pedicure stations, so we offered one month's prize was a "Triple Pedicure". It included a free pedicure for you & two friends). If someone said they did not want to book before leaving, we would make sure they left with a flyer in hand that had a coupon on it.

You may also want to try seasonal pedicures to make yourself stand out from the competition. For example, we did an "autumn apple cinnamon pedicure". It included a cup of hot cider, an apple-cinnamon scented pedicure line of aromas, oils, lotions, etc., an apple-cinnamon scented candle was lit next to the pedicure station, etc. The seasonal pedicures were one of our highest selling services, and they were $10 more than our spa pedicure.

What about a special called the "Commuter's Dream"? Maybe create a flyer stating "Had a long day of work? Sick of dealing with all the downtown traffic? Need a break? Come to NAILSALONNAME after work and enjoy the comfort of our massage chairs while being pampered by our staff. The commuter's dream includes a warm (or cold) cup of herbal tea, a nice relaxing massage in our very comfortable massage chairs, and a relaxing pedicure. This one-hour service will leave you feeling revitalized, and when it is complete, most of the commuter traffic has disappeared...it's a commuter's dream". You would need to put restrictions on it stating that it is only valid after a certain time. You may even want to target the "morning commuters" with it too - valid before 10 or after 4?

I have many other ideas - if you need more, let me know.

You've gotten so many good ideas and most have said what I was going to propose except for these:

Hit your target audience with ads that say things like:

"Unwind, Relax, or pamper yourself after work" to fill you evening hours.

also focusing on quality in your ads, some of us have had bad experiences and have heard rumors of nail fungus so if you can distinguish yourself as a safe place you may draw more people from the other places.

And to piggyback on the idea of 'donating time' to charity causes; You could approach women's shelters because those ladies could always use a pick me up and their gratitude will translate into lots of 'word of mouth' business.