Introduction
The beauty industry needs constant customer engagement to ensure they take advantage of their timely appointments and exclusive offers. One way in which they can attain maximum engagement with customers is through text messaging.
It’s a great means to send customers appointment reminders, exclusive discounts, promotional offers, and more. Through this article, you’ll learn why should the beauty industry use text message marketing, its use cases, some templates you can use for texting, the benefits of text message marketing, and how you can send your first text marketing campaign. So let’s begin!
Why Use Text message marketing for salons and spas?
Text message marketing has become a popular method of marketing across all industries. One certainly attributes this popularity to the channel’s high engagement rates consisting of its open rate and read rates. If there’s a speck of doubt in your mind about this claim, let’s look at the numbers as compared to the other popular marketing channel the email.
| Basis of differentiation | SMS Marketing | Email Marketing |
| Delivery requirements | Requires a phone with active cell reception. | Requires a smart device or computer with an internet connection. |
| Opt-in regulations | Businesses need explicit consent from consumers before sending text messages to comply with local regulations. | Email opt-in regulations are relatively more relaxed and differ among countries. |
| Open rates | Text messages have a better open rate of 98% than emails. | Emails risk getting lost in the shuffle, especially if they end up in the spam folder. |
| Character limit and visual options | SMS have a 160-character limit and don’t support visuals. | Emails have no character limit and support visuals, such as images, GIFs, and videos. |
| Cost | Cost varies based on your business needs and the marketing platform. The cost per SMS is generally higher than per email. | The cost depends on the marketing platform, your subscriber list, and the email frequency. Email marketing tools charge a monthly fee for email campaigns. |
| Frequency | Anywhere between 2-6 messages per month is fine. Sending a lot more messages can look spammy. | 1-2 emails per week is a good practice. However, you may send an occasional email for time-sensitive notifications, such as a flash sale. |
| Brand customization | Not a lot of opportunity for branding your content. | Ample space to add branding content, which is great when you want to build brand awareness. |
| Click-through rates (CTR) | Thanks to higher open rates and more personalization, the CTR text messages are generally higher at about 20% to 30%. | CTRs for emails are generally lower at about 2% to 5%. |
As you can infer from the table, text message marketing is the new way forward to ensure maximum customer engagement! Let’s now have a look at the use cases of salon and spa text message marketing.
Use cases of spa and salon text message marketing
You can use text message marketing at your salon or spa in the following ways:
Appointment Reminders
To ensure that clients keep up their appointments, you need to send them timely reminders. Text reminders work wonders because of their high engagement rate.
Tip: Include all relevant information in the text message such as the time and date of the appointment, the location of the salon or spa, and a call to action(to confirm or cancel the appointment)
Promotional Offers
Promotional offers are a great way to ensure that customers keep coming back for your services. More often than not, all they need is a bit of a nudge. Text messages can be an effective medium to send enticing promotional offers that customers can’t resist.
These can include limited-time deals on services, product promotions, or special packages tailored to individual client preferences.
Feedback and Surveys
Text messages provide a convenient channel for soliciting feedback from clients about their salon experience. Salons can send post-visit surveys to gather insights, improve service quality, and address any concerns in a timely manner.
Review Generation
Another way in which text message marketing can help you is through review requests. You can use text messages as a medium to send review requests for your online business listings. For example, the more Google reviews your Salon or Spa has the more it is perceived to be trustworthy.
You can simply include the URL to the review platform in your text request to urge customers to leave a review.
General Announcements and Alerts
Text blasts can be used to send announcements and alerts. For example, If your Salon/Spa had to be closed due to an emergency weather condition, or construction requirement you can send out a text blast to the customers scheduled for an appointment that day.
Spa and Salon Text Message Marketing SMS Templates
You can use these templates for the above-mentioned use cases:
Appointment Reminders
“Hi [Client’s Name]! Just a friendly reminder that you have an appointment scheduled at [salon Name] tomorrow at [Time]. We look forward to seeing you at [Location] and providing you with a relaxing experience! If you need to reschedule, please reply to this message. See you soon!”
“Hello [Client’s Name]! Your appointment at [salon Name] is coming up on [Date] at [Time]. We’re excited to pamper you! To confirm or make any changes, please call us at [salon Phone Number]. We can’t wait to help you feel rejuvenated!”
Promotional Offers
“Exclusive Offer for Our Valued Clients! Get 20% off any salon service when you book your appointment before [Date]. Treat yourself to a day of relaxation and rejuvenation at [salon Name]. Call now to reserve your spot!”
“Limited Time Only! Enjoy a complimentary upgrade to our deluxe massage package when you book any facial treatment this month. Relax and indulge in ultimate bliss at [salon Name]. Book now and unwind like never before!”
Feedback and Surveys
“Hello! We hope you enjoyed your recent visit to [salon Name]. Your feedback is valuable to us! Please take a moment to share your experience by clicking the link below. Thank you for choosing us! [Survey Link]”
“Hi [Client’s Name]! We strive to provide exceptional service at [salon Name]. Your opinion matters! Please rate your recent experience with us by replying with a number from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest rating. Thank you for helping us improve!”
Review Generation
“Hi [Client’s Name]! We’re thrilled to hear that you enjoyed your visit to [salon Name]. If you have a moment, could you share your experience with others by leaving us a review on Google? Your feedback helps us grow and serve you better! [Google Review Link]”
“Hello! Your satisfaction is our priority at [salon Name]. If you loved your recent salon experience with us, please consider sharing your thoughts on Yelp! We appreciate your support! [Yelp Review Link]”
General Announcements and Alerts
“Important Update: [salon Name] will be closed for renovations from [Start Date] to [End Date]. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to welcoming you back to our refreshed salon soon!”
“Attention Clients: Don’t miss out on our upcoming special event! Join us for a salon Open House on [Date] from [Time]. Enjoy complimentary mini-treatments, refreshments, and exclusive discounts! RSVP now to secure your spot!”
Benefits of Salon Text Message Marketing
Reduce No-Shows
As discussed above, text appointment reminders allow clients to remember their appointments and adjust their schedules accordingly. Appointment reminders have proven to be able to reduce no-shows by upto 90%.
A missed appointment can leave a gaping hole in your pocket, so timely cancellation allows businesses to open up slots for other customer appointments. Sending appointment reminders can help mitigate this loss.
Nurture existing customers via automated campaigns
One way to ensure that your customers keep coming back to your business is by engaging them regularly. Salons and Spas can utilize text message marketing to send automated campaigns delivering beauty tips, the latest trends, etc.
Text message marketing allows salons and spas to engage with their clients on a personal level. By sending targeted promotions, exclusive offers, and personalized greetings, salons can foster stronger relationships with their clientele and encourage repeat visits.
Enhance customer experience with two-way messaging
The two-way messaging nature of texting allows customers to have an open line of communication with the business. When the business is so easily accessible to the customers, they are bound to feel more connected.
Two-way messaging can also be used to enhance customer service. Whether it’s addressing client inquiries, resolving issues, or providing updates, SMS allows for swift and efficient communication, leading to improved overall customer satisfaction.
Cost-Effective Marketing
Compared to traditional advertising methods, SMS marketing is highly cost-effective. Sending text messages requires minimal investment and can yield high returns in terms of customer retention and loyalty.
Helps gather insights
Most SMS marketing platforms offer analytics tools that allow salon and spa owners to track the performance of their campaigns in real-time. By monitoring metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates, salons can refine their marketing strategies for optimal results.
How to Send Your First Text Message for Salons/Spas?
First and foremost, you will need a text messaging platform to help facilitate text marketing for your salon. A text messaging platform like Emitrr will allow you to send one-on-one messages as well as mass text messages to your customer base.
You can also use its conversation management features such as folders, read and unread conversations, notes, translation, filters, personalization, etc to make your texting process even easier and more effective.
Here’s how you can send your first text message marketing campaign with Emitrr;
- Log in to Emitrr dashboard
- Go to “campaigns>text campaigns” on the left navigation panel
- Select “create campaign” on the top right
- Add your campaign name, and text message (or select from templates), add personalization or attachments as required. Select “next”.
- In the campaign settings page upload list of contacts or select from an existing list
- On the next page, schedule your message.
And there you have it, you have sent your first text marketing campaign!
Salon Text Message Marketing FAQs
You can text your clients with the help of a text message marketing platform like Emitrr.
If you have due consent from your customers you can send them marketing messages via text. Just ensure to keep the copy short and simple. Utilize the 160 characters at your disposal to craft an engaging message. Always remember to add a CTA.
Yes, SMS marketing is legal. In order to send marketing messages legally, you need to get your customer’s consent. Customers need to consent to receive marketing communication from your business. Once you have their consent, you can text them.
Conclusion
Salons and Spas can greatly benefit from using text messaging marketing because of its high engagement numbers. Text messaging allows for a direct line of communication between the business and the customers, which in turn helps to create a positive customer experience.
To send text messages, salons need to invest in a text message platform like Emitrr. Schedule a demo with Emitrr and get started with text marketing today!
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