A guide to SMS marketing in the beauty industry

Are you using text messages to reach your clients? If you don’t – explain yourself immediately, young lady or sir! On a more serious note – some business owners are afraid of using this channel to promote their services, as they think it seems too pushy and “salesy”. However, if done right, SMS marketing is an extremely powerful strategy that will help you solve numerous problems you face regularly in the salon, all while ensuring customer loyalty and appreciation. Let’s take a closer look at all the benefits, perfect use case scenarios and mistakes you should avoid making.

Why should you use SMS marketing in the beauty industry?

Let’s begin with the perks. What makes SMS marketing so great?

• It’s universal. Currently, there are around 2.7 billion smartphone users worldwide – and the number is still increasing.
• It will be seen. If you receive a text message, you usually rush to see who wrote to you and the message contents, unlike the countless emails you receive throughout the day. An SMS immediately catches your attention.
• It’s intimate. Unlike emails or social media posts, text messages seem very personal and confidential. You can address the receiver in a very appealing, friendly way.
• It’s customisable. You can personalise your messages so that they fit different target groups perfectly.
• It’s multifunctional. You can use SMS marketing for numerous things – from simple advertising to appointment reminders (more on that later)
• It reaches the right audience. With the right tool (more on that later) you can launch your latest offers to a specific group of clients
• It’s affordable. Text messages don’t cost you an arm and a leg – a smart SMS campaign can be much cheaper than Facebook paid advertising.

What is SMS marketing perfect for?

This promotion medium truly shines when it comes to the number of possibilities.

• Appointment reminders. Statistics don’t lie – from our experience, salon owners that send appointment reminders through Booksy reduce no-shows by up to 70%. It’s a huge benefit, especially since no-shows cause such significant losses in your budget.
• Special promotions. This is where the real fun starts – if you use advanced software such as Booksy, you can group your clients, depending on a chosen characteristic, and target them with tailored offers. Planning on offering a huge discount for your most loyal VIPs? A gift bag as an addition to any treatment for busy moms on Mother’s Day? A special offer for prom queens to-be? Nothing better than getting deals you can actually relate to!
• Events & contests. You can easily remind your clients about ongoing prize draws and happenings in your salon. They can overlook a social media post… but they won’t overlook a text message.
• Birthday wishes. There’s nothing better than getting a heartwarming message from your favourite salon on your special day… and nothing more tempting than receiving a dedicated discount inviting you for a birthday pampering along with it.
• Empty slots. Like every business in the industry, you experience cancellations from time to time. In order to fill these spots in an instant, send text notifications to all of your clients, informing them of the latest free slot.
• Loyalty program updates. If you are running a loyalty program, you can also send regular updates on the number of points your customers have gathered. Create a “treatment of the week” offer (which might be for a less popular service), and provide a significant amount of points for clients who book it. Make sure to also update customers on what prizes are available to them.

Do’s and don’ts of SMS marketing

As you can see, this type of marketing can really do wonders for your salon. However, you have to learn a few things before you send your first text messages.

Don’t: Do it manually

Do: Use smart software

Is it possible to run SMS marketing campaigns manually? Yes! If you have twelve arms and as many smartphones, or just five clients in total. A reasonable SMS marketing is manageable only if you can automatise it. Fortunately, there is a whole section in Booksy dedicated to this medium of promotion. With the Message Blast feature, you can take advantage of a wide range of ready-to-go campaigns or write your own custom message, choose the target group and launch it with just a few clicks!

Don’t: Send whatever

Do: Make your messages attractive

Text messages seem like a very laid-back, casual way of communicating with clients. However, all the standards of business communication etiquette apply here as well – so make sure your messages are well-written and adjusted to your business style. Make them sound tempting if they are offers, and very polite yet clear if they are reminders.

Don’t: Send messages to everyone

Do: Target the right audience

The more services you offer, the wider your target group is – this is why you should send different offers to different people. If you offer both postnatal stretches marks treatments and massage for athletes, don’t send the discounts on the first one to all of your clients – all those manly bodybuilders will quickly get tired of your messages. SMS marketing is very intimate, as stated earlier, and therefore has to be personalised – if a client gets something on their private cell phone and it doesn’t even relate to them, they get really annoyed, and understandably so.

Don’t: Spam

Do: Respect the receiver

Last but not least – use SMS in moderation. Too much of a good thing can easily turn customer loyalty into customer annoyance. Be careful, especially if you target different groups with different campaigns – if a customer is simultaneously in a few different groups, they can get far too many messages at once. Be conscious and empathic with your campaigns – you don’t like getting too many notifications as well, do you?

SMS marketing in the beauty industry is truly a powerful tool – a little bit of creativity and good software can absolutely turn your SMS marketing campaigns into a client magnet. Pair up with Booksy and start running marketing activities that bring you an actual profit!