After you have signed the lease on your new salon or spa space, you need to start connecting your business to the virtual world. Check out our list of six marketing ideas a new salon or spa should do immediately to attract clients.

The best part about this list is that four of them are FREE.

Build a Website

Let us start with the first one, build a Website. This requires an investment.  I recommend hiring a professional to build it using WordPress, which is the most widely used platform. Plus, WordPress has the most plugins available.  If built correctly, your website will look great on desktop, mobile, and tablet devices. Your website developer should also use an SEO plugin to help your new website be discovered quickly by Google, Bing, and Safari. Expect to invest between $1,500 to $8,000 for a website depending on the number of pages, ecommerce, and other customized functionality.   While this may seem like a lot of money to spend upfront, a good website will attract clients to your business for years to come.

Set Up Email Accounts

Your website developer will set up and configure your email accounts.  You may want to consider having separate email addresses to manage your different departments, such as, an account for your front desk, owner, salon/spa manager, etc.

Facebook Business Page

Next, create a Facebook business page.  You can do this yourself or hire a professional. You will need a personal Facebook page to get started. Simply Google “How do I create a Facebook business page” and pick a YouTube video and follow the instructions step-by-step. The easiest way to do this is to pull up the video on a phone or tablet, while building the business page on a desktop or laptop.

Instagram Business Account

You will also want to create an Instagram business account to post photos of your work and possibly advertise. There are similar tutorial videos on YouTube to help you create an Instagram business account.  If you do not already have a personal Instagram page, you will want to create that first.

Yelp Business Listing

Creating a Yelp listing for your business allows you to create an additional source of traffic to your business.  You can think of it as an additional website for your business where you have limited control over the information. For instance, you can post photos, list salon hours, contact information, and your services. Clients will have the opportunity to post reviews of their salon or spa experience.

Google My Business Listing

Finally yet importantly, create a Google My Business listing, otherwise known as GMB.  You can Google “How do I set up a Google My Business Listing” and select a “how to” YouTube video. This should guide you on how to set it up step-by-step.  You will have the opportunity to add your salon or spa hours, physical address, photos, services, etc.  The most important reason to set this up is that Google uses verified GMB listings to generate the local “snack pack” results. If you want someone to build your listing for you, visit our GMB management page. According to one study, 33% of clicks go to the local “snack pack” results, with 40% going to the regular organic results. See example from www.ahrefs.com below

You definitely want your salon or spa listed in the “snack pack.”

Consider talking with an SEO firm that has expertise in SEO for salons such as the David Spalding Agency to help your salon or spa appear in the “snack pack” and towards the top of the organic search results.  The salons and spas at the top do not end of there by accident. There is work that goes into those results!