The next wave: Using trends and fads to promote your business

Staying on top of the latest hair and beauty trends tells your customers you’ve got your finger firmly on the pulse - you know what’s in vogue, and they can trust your expertise. But with so many sources of news and information, and so many fads and crazes that can change with the wind, how do you keep up?

Here are our top trend tips that’ll help you inspire clients to try something new or different, and tailor your services to take the opportunities they give you.

Stay seasonally aware

Seasonal trends are big in beauty and wellness, and they’re easier to predict because certain times of year are always associated with some types of treatment. Taking the chance to remind your clients about the products and services you offer just when they might need them can be a great way to get bookings pouring in.

For example, you can almost guarantee a summer surge in treatments like waxing, tanning and pedicures - while winters are likely to see more clients look for deep moisturisation treatments to protect skin from cold winds and dry heating.

Let’s not forget wedding season, peaking in spring/summer and bringing with it higher demand for spa packages and hair and beauty treatments.  

This makes seasonal marketing essential to your business, so always ensure you’re raising awareness of your most popular services and treatments at key times.

Be an industry inspiration

When it comes to trends in fashion, beauty and wellness, there are many things that can spike demand. Whether it’s celebrities and influencers on social media, or fashion houses launching their latest collections, it all helps to inspire your clients with new ideas for how they want to look and feel. 

For inspiration you should keep a watchful eye on social and consumer media, TV and film, and trade news outlets. This way you’ll always be able to spot what’s hot – remember knowledge is power, so it’s useful to be aware of styles and trends that could work their way into your salon.

These can quickly become the things that your clients request the most, so get ahead of the curve. Use your experience and know-how to anticipate which trends are most likely to drive demand, then prepare to meet this demand by creating and providing the services your clients want. 

It’s always good to feature popular products and services in your marketing campaigns to attract existing and new clients using Fresha’s marketing tools. Don’t forget to promote them on your website and across your socials!

Being able to give your clients new ideas, innovative treatments, and up-to-the-minute hair and beauty services that reflect the world they live in gives you the perfect platform to launch marketing campaigns. So armed with this knowledge, here’s how to create a simple marketing plan to promote relevant treatments as the seasons change.

Keep special days, weeks and months in mind

Trends aren’t just dependent on the weather - the calendar is full of events to take inspiration from. From holidays and celebrations like Mother’s and Father’s Day to awareness periods like Mental Health Week, these are ready-made opportunities to market to your clients.

Take note of any dates you think will be relevant to your clients or your industry - for example:

• World beard day is an opportunity for barbers to inspire beard-care treatments
• Sleeptember could be ripe for a marketing campaign promoting treatments and products that aid sleep
• Hallowe’en make-up tutorials are eye-catching and fun, and perfect for social media too
• Back care awareness week is an ideal time to market massage therapy

Note any stand-out dates down in your own calendar and create a marketing plan ahead of time to take advantage. Remember, you can use Fresha’s marketing tools to help promote your business when these events roll around. 

By organising blast campaigns with marketing emails and text messages, you can make sure you reach your clients with promotions they want to take advantage of. You can even set up automated birthday notifications, to clients an exclusive offer for their special day using Fresha’s auto campaign feature.

Scan the headlines  

As you might expect, people’s spending habits can depend on the economy’s health. It won’t be a shock that during good times people like to splurge more, and during tough times they can be more reluctant to splash out.

But – and it’s a big but – that doesn’t mean self-care needs to take the back seat, thanks to something known as the ‘Lipstick Effect’. This is an interesting phenomenon that often takes place in periods of downturn, and essentially means that people will still want to indulge in luxury products and services - but they will be more drawn to the inexpensive side of the spectrum. 

2022 is proving to be a tough year for many, financially speaking. So even if your clients can’t quite afford that luxury holiday, a pampering experience at a salon or spa could offer a much needed remedy - and that’s where you come in. 

Be aware of advances in tech 

Technology is playing an increasingly important role in many industries, and beauty and wellness is no exception. New trends can come in all shapes and sizes, so it’s important to stay on top of anything that could strike a chord with your clients.

This could mean new tools and equipment that revolutionise treatments, scientific advances in certain products, or software that helps you run your business. 

Our appointment scheduling software is 100% subscription-free, and helps drive new business into your salon. With Fresha, clients book appointments directly with your business through our app or website.

We’re always looking for ways to improve our platform. It’s our goal to make day-to-day salon and spa management easier by managing your calendar, creating an ecommerce store, and sending notifications and marketing messages to drive engagement, bookings and sales.

Visit www.fresha.com/for-business for more information on how Fresha can help you and your business.

Promote your business and keep it on trend with Fresha today!