Creative Ways Spa, Salon, and Wellness Businesses Are Approaching Life in the COVID Landscape
Coronavirus may have closed your doors, but it doesn’t mean your business is closed. From marketing campaigns to online video, there are ways to keep your customers (and prospects) engaged with you, even if they can’t meet with you face-to-face.
Need an idea? Pick one from this list!
- Set up prepaid memberships
Beauty memberships are growing in popularity, and now is the time to set them up. Create a membership in your software and promote it to your customers—offer a discount to people who purchase while you’re closed. (Pro tip: Using memberships boosts your recurring revenue and gets your customers coming back on a regular basis.)
- Teach bootcamps
Bootcamps aren’t just for fitness! Your customers and clients can always improve their self-care skills, so teach them your tricks. Nail salon Olive & June is offering a manicure bootcamp to its customers to keep customers engaged, but also to drive retail sales when the salon is closed.
- Fill the gaps with video
No one knows how long the beauty industry will be impacted by coronavirus, so you'll have customers whose highlights will grow out, brows will become untamed, and gel polish needs to be cared for. Teach them how to take care of themselves during the transition period with video. (Pro tip: Here’s a guide on how to get started.)
This goes for businesses in the wellness world, too. The Nashville Center for Alternative Therapy (NCAT) recently launched donation-based videos to help fund their massage therapists while the business is closed. “Offering our energy doesn’t have to be in person,” NCAT founder Romana Reid said. “If we can come with ways to communicate that and create more feelings of love and meditation, I think that’s going to quell a lot of fear.”
- Sell a spa in a box
Your customers are likely stuck at home and need a little self-care. Use your retail items and create a spa package for them—think about candles, lotions, masks, and essential oils. Take what makes your spa unique and sell it to your customers. It’ll keep you top of mind for them and give them a little bit of serenity in this crazy time (and give your business some additional revenue).
- Develop local relationships
You aren’t alone in this—your neighboring businesses may be feeling the strain, too. But you can help each other by cross-promoting on your social channels or targeting shared customers through businesses that remain open. Food for thought: partner with a restaurant on a co-promotion for a coupon on a retail purchase at your business with every takeout order.
- Do a review campaign
Your tried and true customers want to help you right now, and getting more reviews is a great way to engage them and strengthen your brand all at the same time. Longevity Wellness in Charleston, SC, is encouraging its customers to do just that—and in exchange, the customers get a discount on their next service. "We’re hoping that if we provide information to get through this time, they’ll give us the positive feedback," Alana Long, founder of Longevity Wellness said. (Worried about negative reviews? We’ve got a guide for that.)
Check out our Marketing Suite Playbook for an easy way to get more reviews.
- Heal from a distance
While you may prefer to be in the same room with your customers, there may be opportunities to heal through video or phone calls. Can you do distance Reiki healings or offer self-massage tips? Can you coach through a video chat? Denver Sports Recovery in Colorado is posting stretching videos on their Instagram account, and NCAT’s practitioners are offering video services. “Our gifts aren’t just touch,” Reid said. “Human connection is going to help us heal and get this.”
- Automate reminders (and serenity)
There’s a good chance you have regular customers who come in like clockwork, and there are a few that you may not be able to see on time; build an automated email to reach out to those customers to tell them what to do or not to do. You know your customers better than anyone—so you can build emails to check in with them when they need you the most. An example? Send an email to everyone who may need a root touchup reminding them not to use boxed dye.
Doing something unique or creative to reach your customers? Send us an email—we'll be adding to this list as ideas come in.
