Though word of mouth remains a significant way to acquire new customers for businesses of all kinds, modern businesses require more. Today we’ll explore how salon owners specifically can harness Yelp and other contemporary advertising methods to drive customer acquisition. Still, these lessons can be applied to other business types as well.
Always remember that any business marketing strategy must involve multiple customer acquisition streams. Which marketing venues you use will depend on the needs of your specific business, but these might include supermarket advertising and billboard advertising on top of online, social-media-based advertising.
If you’re in supermarkets, you might want to research Cartvertising, so you’re sure to reach customers the entire time they’re shopping. That said, let’s get into how you, as a salon owner or marketing coordinator, can best use Yelp to grow your business.
Using Yelp to Grow Your Business
Yelp is extremely important for all kinds of businesses, but mainly service and product-oriented, consumer-facing businesses like salons, restaurants, or dry cleaners. People use the app and website to source user-generated content informing them on every aspect of these businesses. How is the service? Is the product good? Is the product consistent? Users also rate businesses on a five-star scale. Negative reviews on Yelp can impact your business in a significant way. You might know Yelp as a user, but here are some tips for using it as a salon or other business owner or marketer.1. Claim your Yelp listing
The first step to effectively utilize Yelp as a salon or other business owner is to create or claim your page. Whether or not you’re on Yelp, your business probably already is. The platform usually creates listings for every business in an area automatically to ensure their users keep using the platform and don’t go elsewhere to find information. This will always happen if users search for an unlisted business frequently. Before you create a new listing for your business, see if Yelp has already done so. There will be a button near the top of the page that will allow you to claim the business as the owner. After a quick verification process, you’ll have complete control over the page and will be able to update it with relevant new information as needed. Crucially, you’ll also be able to respond to both negative and positive customer reviews.2. Keep your Yelp profile updated
Salons and other small businesses need to keep the information customers need to know as up-to-date as possible on all online platforms. If your hours are listed wrong, and a customer shows up expecting to find your salon open, but it’s not, the chances that they’ll return will drop. Here’s a list of some of the information you’ll want to keep up-to-date on your Yelp page.- Business name
- Address
- Hours
- Phone Number
- Website
- Payment methods (are you cash only?)
- Parking availability
- Wi-fi (do you have it or not)
- Service pricing
By Eric Shafer
By IndoorMedia Marketing