5 Salon Marketing Ideas for Attracting Millennials

5 Keys to Attracting Millennials as Salon Clients

Millennials are just coming into their peak years when it comes to purchasing power, and Millennial moms make the most buying decisions of all. We’ll break down a new Huddle whitepaper report that talks five business marketing trends for attracting Millennial moms into actionable salon marketing ideas.

1. Simplify

It’s ok to be direct with Millennials. Millennial moms, in particular, value their time and view it as a precious, limited resource. One in four say they would pay $50 a month to have a manager-assistant and one in five say they’d pay as much as $150. If you can save them time and solve their problems, they want to know!

• Avoid talking obscure features or benefits, focus on only the main points
• Don’t sell, tell and trust them to make a decision
• Keep offers, programs, coupons, memberships and all your inducements simple

2. Evoke

You’ve probably heard some version of the claim that buying decisions are made based on emotion and justified with logic. Experts say that decision making may be as much as 90 percent subconscious, based on emotion (Huddle). Perhaps this is why social media posts with emotional value get the most shares, and those that evoke positive emotional responses get the most shares of all (coschedule.com).

• 25% – Awe
• 17% – Laughter
• 15% – Amusement
• 14% – Joy
• 6% – Anger
• 6% – Empathy
• 2% – Surprise
• 1% – Sadness

Specifically, when your marketing evokes joy, interest, anticipation and trust (Bufferapp Blog) it’s at its most engaging and most shareable.

3. Care

More than any preceding generation, attracting Millennials to your salon requires more than great styling and products. Nine out of ten Millennial moms say they would choose one brand over another based on values (social responsibility, give-back programs, causes, charities, etc.)  AdWeek reported that 70 percent of Millennials are willing to spend more to support brands that support causes they care about.

4. Tailor

Millennials are less influenced by advertising and traditional brand marketing than preceding generations. In fact, only 1 percent – one out of a hundred – say that a compelling ad would inspire brand trust (Forbes.com).

They don’t want to be sold, they don’t have to belong and they don’t feel a need to keep up with the Joneses, and nearly half don’t feel like advertising is representative of them. Salon marketing can’t be a one-size-fits-all proposition across generations, or even within it. It’s incumbent upon you to build strong relationships with your clients and tailor your marketing based on in-depth buyer personas rather than sweeping generalizations.

Punch cards are so 10 years ago! It’s worth noting that salons who do this first – empower clients to put together their own loyalty incentives and rewards or customize their own offers not only have the ability to win over more Millennials, they also differentiate their salons in a way likely to garner word of mouth.

5. Listen

Salon marketing can’t be a one-way communication if attracting Millennials is a priority. According to the same Forbes article cited above, more than 60 percent of Millennials say that if brands engage with them on social media they’re more likely to become a loyal customer and more than 40 percent want to co-create products with companies.

Everything from your new client offers to VIP memberships and loyalty programs give you an opportunity to co-create the salon experience for your Millennial clients, and they will be more than happy to tell you what they want if only you’ll ask – and listen.

Why Attracting Millennials – Moms or Not – is Vital for your Salon Business

No one knows better than a hairdresser that client needs change over time. That’s precisely why the salon marketing ideas that bring in Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y, Millennials and other age groups need to change, too.

Developing a salon strategy for attracting Millennials is important for many reasons; the most basic of those being sheer purchasing power. According to Forbes.com, U.S. Millennials number about 80 million, or about one quarter of the nation’s population, and spend about $200 billion each year. They’re also making buying decisions for their households and children, and have influential power over the buying decisions of older generations. In fact, AdWeek suggests their total spending power to be as much as $2.45 trillion.

And specifically, if your salon succeeds in attracting Millennials, you may also be able to increase retail sales – something which you already know increases profit margins and the profitability of your salon exponentially. Millennials aged 18-34 are twice as likely to be “heavy buyers of cosmetics” according to a TABS Analytics’ November 2015 survey (infographic right).  In an article written for business finance client DB Squared, I outline six marketing ideas that can help salon owners turn cosmetics into a profit center.

3 Tips for Attracting Millennials Straight from the Salon Marketing Desk

1. Brand authenticity trumps clever and compelling.
2. Doing good and doing business go hand in hand.
3. Empower clients to create their own personalized programs and offers.

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