For many self-care business owners, marketing is a lot like exercising. We know it’s good for us and that we should do it regularly — but it sounds like a lot of work, and we don’t exactly have a ton of free time and money to spend on it.
If that sounds roughly like the state of marketing at your salon or spa, you’re not alone.
Much like exercising, making effective marketing a regular part of business management depends on finding an approach that’s simple, effective, and sustainable.
Enter automated text and email marketing. Advances in technology have made it possible to execute sophisticated direct-to-consumer campaigns on those platforms, even without a ton of time, money, or expertise.
Even so, many salons and spas have yet to lean in. When I talk to their owners about automated text and email marketing, the most common pushback is they don't think the juice would be worth the squeeze. It just sounds too complicated, and they doubt it would make much difference to their business.
Remember When Online Booking Was Scary?
It’s no surprise that so many business owners hesitate to lean in. If learning new tech isn’t your strong suit, the idea of adding automated text and email marketing can be daunting.
But I’m old enough to remember salon and spa owners telling me there was no way they would ever get comfortable using online booking technology. That was just a few years ago! Now it’s a standard for most salons and spas, with lots of owners saying they wish they’d started it sooner.
That’s the case with automated text and email marketing, too.
Why am I so confident in saying that? Because the data is in, and the ROI for salons and spas using these campaigns is substantial.
Also, once business owners start using these systems, they agree that not only are they easier to implement than they anticipated — but they even reduce manual work among team members.
The Proof Is in the Performance
Boulevard pulled client data from the past six months and crunched the numbers. Compared to businesses without automated text and email marketing, salons and spas following best practices in text and email campaigns have seen:
- 25% more clients per service provider per month;
- 39% more completed appointments per service provider per month;
- 17% higher median ticket values;
- 5% higher appointment completion rate; and
- 5% higher customer retention rate.
What are best practices? Here's a big one: Leveraging both platforms with consistency.
Businesses using both automated text and email campaigns book more appointments and unlock more revenue than those who only use one platform or the other.
Consistency does not mean spamming clients with a flood of texts and emails. Among businesses working with Boulevard, the top-performing salons and spas (in the 90+ percentile) send about one message every 6.5 weeks — not what most people would consider exactly intrusive.
The Key is Working Smarter (Not Harder)
Here are the other best practices for getting great ROI from automated text and email campaigns.
- Be concise. Keep all communications short and simple. Especially texts.
- Be creative. Get to the point, but keep it light and fun. (This is where AI-assisted copywriting comes in handy.)
- Be selective. Don’t overdo it. Remember, top-performing businesses send one communication about every 6-7 weeks.
- Be strategic. Campaigns created for a specific purpose, such as filling slow days or reminding clients to book, do better than campaigns that lack clarity of focus.
- Be personal. Your messages should feel specifically intended for the recipient.
The main takeaway is this: Automated text and email campaigns really are not difficult to implement, and the growth and profitability they generate are very much worth the effort.
That’s a muscle we can all benefit from exercising!
Jozlyn Miller is the Senior Education Manager for Boulevard. Her experience includes more than 13 years working in the luxury spa and beauty industry in roles ranging from front-desk coordinator to spa operations manager.
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