How to Make Your Hair Salon Stand Out

With competition high, and a large volume of hair salons well-established in most areas, owners, and managers of salons are always looking for ways to bring more customers through the door. The key to achieving this is simply to stand out from the rest - but turning that aspiration into a reality isn’t always easy. 

To stand out from the competition, your salon needs to have a clear unique selling point (USP). This USP needs to be clear and apparent to customers, so they can easily understand what makes you better than all the other alternatives they likely have access to in their local area. 

Focus on the customer experience

One of the most effective ways to make your hair salon stand out is to consistently provide exceptional customer experiences. This can mean putting the customer experience before the salon’s curated aesthetic, the stylists, and even your ego. 

It’s important to remember that while customers may choose to come to your salon for one of your stylists, it’s the wider experience that will keep them coming back. So if your salon is consistently improving and updating the customers' experience, you will eventually get noticed. 

Ways to improve customer experience:

• Listen to the customer and what they want 
• Share valuable advice 
• Be friendly and offer comforting drinks like tea or coffee
• Offer a loyalty program and reward repeat business 
• Go beyond the call of duty and provide complimentary treats 
• As the salon owner, be present and welcoming

Have a top-notch social media presence

In today’s society, the key to getting noticed in any industry is the maintenance of a strong social media presence.  

It’s important that your salon stands out on social media platforms both in the feed and in responses and interactions. Your salon could have the best stylists in a 100km radius, but if you aren’t showcasing that talent on social media in an Instagrammable way, then no one will know what you have to offer.  

Social media also allows you to effectively communicate key business information, including opening hours, specials, products, and services. 

The two most important social media platforms to use for hairdressers and salons are Facebook and Instagram, with Twitter come in third. To be relevant on these platforms, it’s important to post consistently with quality content that represents your brand effectively.  

One way to make your business stand out on social media is to always interact with your customers or followers. This can be simply through always responding to comments, and even liking and commenting on the customer’s profile.  

With a quality social media presence, your business can potentially gain customers that wouldn't ordinarily check out your business.  

Do more with reviews

In the same way that your social media presence speaks about your business, reviews are an excellent way to convey what your brand is all about. Reviews can speak volumes about your image, and they’ll demonstrate why you’re ahead of the competition.

If you’re already fortunate enough to have a bank of good reviews, then you should set to optimise those reviews and keep your review game strong. But if you’re lacking reviews, then you will need to start soliciting positive write-ups.  

Gathering positive reviews can be achieved through a range of methods. Try incentivising current customers with discounts for positive reviews on certain platforms, or simply ask your happy clients to spread the word. Run a competition for all those who review your business and give away styling sessions. 

With a bunch of compiled positive reviews, you can showcase your business’ quality by using them on your website, social media feeds, and email campaigns.  

Create a stylish salon aesthetic 

While we don’t suggest that you spend an excessive amount of capital on the fit-out element, creating an aesthetically-pleasing setting is still an important factor in building your brand. 

You need the design to communicate your business’s story, who you are, and what you do.  Having an image that is unique, and which sets you apart from the competition, is a visual way of reflecting your personality and conveying your business style. This can be achieved through your salon’s decor. Picking pieces that are different and unique, but still true to your personality, will create a memorable experience for your customers.  

Have an environmentally friendly salon

Another way to have your hair salon stand out is to go green. Offering a more environmentally-friendly service is not just a trendy way to operate your business. It’s also a positive and necessary movement in the business world.  

While making the change may initially seem overwhelming, there are plenty of small, incremental changes your salon can make to adopt more green business practices.

• Being more vigilant with recycling packaging
• Monitoring water use 
• Choosing sustainable products 
• Reducing paper receipts and paperwork 

Reducing paperwork has become an easy one to implement with the rise of digital technology. Using a cloud POS system that allows you to send digital receipts will reduce the need for printed ones and having the ability to send virtual appointment reminders will stop the need for paper ones.  

With so much focus on being environmentally conscientious, having a salon that puts in as much effort as possible to fall in line with this movement will certainly make your salon stand out.  

These are just a few examples of how to make your hair salon stand out from the competition. When these are effectively implemented into your business's daily practices your salon will stand out from the rest and attract more customers.