You may be thinking pumpkin, but it’s time to start thinking mistletoe. Holidays and spa holiday menus are upon us, the busiest time of the year. Having a strategy is the best way to maximize sales and potential growth for your business after December. If you haven’t made plans to update your holiday menu and gift options, it’s not too late. Here, I’ll give an overview of the best holiday promotions and menu updates and ways to promote them to help you have the best, most profitable season yet.
Stock in gift items
Now is the time to order and plan your holiday gift presentations. In addition to gift cards, luxury gift sets and affordable stocking stuffers, a great gift idea is skin care startup collections specifically for skin concerns to help anyone on your list get on the right schedule for the New Year.
Skin care programs aren’t just for aging skin. These are a great gift option for every demographic and budget. In fact, 63 percent of millennial consumers in the United States took their skin care routine seriously and 57% of Generation Z .
To help your customers create excellent wellness and skin care habits this holiday season, display holiday gift sets prominently in your spa or salon’s reception and retail areas. Designate a special area or table and decorate with a holiday theme, stacking the fun, festive boxes high up for grab and go. Think outside the box and create displays in other areas of your business, such as treatment rooms and makeup and hair stations, if you provide these services.
Update your menu
Be sure to create a holiday menu with express treatments and masks that customers can enjoy without a large time commitment. All skin types can benefit from the hydration and restoration of a massaged seaweed facial, while seasonal dryness can be addressed with a more intensive facial for dry, environmentally compromised skin. For a dramatic transformation, provide gentle peels combined with massages that create amazing results without downtime, and upgrade your rejuvenating facial with high-tech devices that take results to the next level. The focus is again on the body with holiday dresses, so provide full-body treatments that help skin look slimmer and firmer quickly.
Promote
Create a promotional program that you will fully publicize on your website across all social media platforms. Drive customers to the spa or salon by creating mini-events where customers can enjoy express treatments, cocktails and shop for themselves and gifts. When marketing to existing and new customers, remember that service begins before the customer ever opens the door to your spa or salon when you reach them in the virtual space. These can indeed become a way to show the excellence of your services even before the customer comes. Make sure your messaging conveys your dedication to providing the highest level of attention to detail, meeting customer needs this busy time of year and helping get them in the holiday spirit.
Don’t think this is only done through email and Instagram. Texts created or SMS are becoming more accepted and even expected by a younger clientele. Studies show that SMS are opened by 98% compared to 22% for emailsby 45% versus 6% response rate and with a response time of 90 seconds versus 90 minutes. Furthermore, 77% of consumers are willing to receive text messages via their phones, 49% want to be notified via this method about sales and offers, and 54% want to receive reminders, such as upcoming appointments or items left in their shopping carts—and Automated reminders reduce no-shows by 48.
Helping customers give to themselves
Holiday events should also be a way to help customers enjoy and improve themselves, not just provide purchases for others. Always include skin analysis stations so customers can find the right starter kit for their own skin concerns to drive your growth into the new year. You can also incorporate the kit recommendation into your skin care collection and product recommendations as part of your overall treatment protocols. Always start a service with a skin analysis and consultation by asking the client about their skin care concerns. Perform the correct treatment that addresses these concerns, and then always end the treatment with a tip and product recommendation that clients can use at home to maintain their skin between appointments.
Track results
One of the advantages of web app and social media is that they provide instant daily metrics to track results. First, track costs, then compare costs to your return on investment (ROI). It is imperative that you maintain the details of each customer’s transactions, such as the services and products they regularly purchase, their comments and interaction on social media, and the impact your marketing campaign has had on their purchasing habits. It will help you modify and update future programs.
For detailed information on seasonal events and promotions, as well as step-by-step tips for generating business growth now and throughout the year, check out my book, Success At Your Fingertips: How to Succeed in the Skin Care Business. For a full day seminar on empowerment methods to create success and a winning marketing strategy to grow your business, please attend Empowerment Day, an educational, inspirational and celebratory event at the beautiful EnVue Hotel overlooking the Manhattan skyline on December 4, 2022 in Weehawken, NJ. Hope to see you there, and here’s to a happy, profitable holiday season and New Year!
