3 reasons why the hair and beauty industry needs SMS

02Nov2017

Using the latest stats and real-life case studies, I reveal why SMS marketing is an absolute must for the hair and beauty industry.

According to The State of SMS, 37.2 million people have opted in to receive SMS communications, yet the channel is only being used at 38% capacity. In other words, there’s a huge opportunity (and acceptance) for businesses in the hair and beauty sector to send more communications via SMS to customers.

So, what’s stopping you?

Perhaps you’re completely new to SMS marketing? Or maybe you’re unaware of how easy it is to use and the opportunities it presents?

Well, allow me to cut to the chase and offer you three compelling reasons why you need to start sending SMS online today.

Give appointment ‘no-shows’ the chop

There’s nothing more frustrating than a customer making a booking and failing to show. Appointment ‘no-shows’ cost your salon money and waste valuable resource.

Sending a simple text message alert a day before your customer’s appointment can instantly diminish this problem. In fact, The State of SMS reveals that 64% of customers find appointment reminders useful.

Scottish hairdressers, Montgomery Hair, were experiencing a lot of ‘no-shows’ from the customers who either booked weeks in advance or entered the details into their phone incorrectly.

However, after using an SMS template and scheduling a series of automated texts, they saw some remarkable results. The superior 98% open rate of SMS ensured that almost all their customers would see the text, thus reducing the chance of any appointment ‘no-shows’.

Within 4 days, they had already recouped £112.00 in what would have been lost appointments. The small cost of SMS paired with the average price of a cut and blow-dry treatment means that they only need to save one appointment in a month for the service to pay for itself.

Generate more beautiful bookings

When you’re not trying to minimise the number of appointment ‘no-shows’, it’s vital to keep generating more custom.

Using SMS vouchers, you can send promotional and targeted offers to your customers. Whether it’s 25% off a blow-dry during off-peak hours or an exclusive discount on spa treatments, you can create personalised vouchers and send them directly to your target customers’ phones.

And with an average 32% response rate, there’s a huge chance that you’ll generate a considerable amount of business out of it too.

Or if you have a time-sensitive offer you want to send for some quick wins, a promotional text campaign can also work extremely well. Especially when you consider that 90% of SMS marketing messages are read within the first three minutes.

Hush Beauty Spa recently benefited from promotional SMS, when they sent a series of 2 for 1 promotions and special offers to their mobile list. They spent £41 on their SMS marketing campaign and generated 85 bookings. You can read more about this here.

Be a cut above the rest

With so many options for customers to choose from, the hair and beauty industry faces an uphill challenge to turn them into loyal ones. However, there is a solution.

If you’re slightly more expensive than your competitor, don’t worry. The key to transforming fickle customers largely boils down to customer service. While you could give your customer a perfect experience in-store, the real damage is done afterwards.

A simple text offering them a discount off their next treatment a day later could not only financially benefit you, but also give your customer the impression that you’re always thinking about them. Implementing SMS surveys is also a highly effective way to improve brand loyalty and gather important feedback in the meantime. Ask your customers how impressed they were with their treatment, how you can improve their experience, and whether they’d recommend your business to a friend. If a customer sees that you’re actively trying to improve your business, the chances are that they’ll want to come back and witness it for themselves.

Or if you really want to stand out from your competition, mobile loyalty cards are another way of enticing customers to return. You can then make them feel valued by rewarding them after they’ve received a certain amount of treatments.