Father’s Day marketing ideas for salons and

spas
June can be a patchy month in salon with the summer holiday season in full
swing.

Step in Father’s Day (Sunday 16th June 2019).

Recent research by Ebay revealed that 1 in 6 of us will choose more

metrosexual presents for our dads with hair and grooming gift sets, razors,
beard oil, aftershave and skincare products coming second only to alcohol.

While Father’s Day is not a match for Mother’s Day commercially, it’s still a
handy hook to hang some profitable salon marketing on, given UK consumers
spent around £467m on gifts for dad in 2015.
 *retail research agency Conlumino.
In this blog I’m looking at the Father’s Day promotional ideas and tips I’ll be
using with our hair salon and beauty spa clients. Marketing food for thought I
hope…
How to have the Daddy of all Father’s Day
promotions
Simple: Start planning your marketing campaigns early.

Although buying for Father’s Day tends to be last minute, you want to squeeze
the most from this hair and beauty marketing opportunity. And the early bird
catches the worm.

So I suggest you aim for a Father’s Week, not just a Day. Better still, start
your marketing in mid May.
 *Google internal data

1. Mum’s the word for Father’s Day

First, back to salon marketing basics.

Your target audience.

It’s Father’s Day so presumably it’s guys you need to target with your spa or
salon marketing…

Nope.
Women are the main buyers of Father’s Day gifts. They are your target
promotional audience. Gear your salon marketing activities towards them and
their needs. You’ll get a far better take-up and higher profits.
Decide on the promotional messages and look that will appeal to this target
female audience. How do you want to portray your salon business for Father’s
Day? Now carry this theme consistently across all your online and offline
salon marketing channels.

Father’s Day for barbers and male-only grooming specialists

Targeting women can be tricky for barbers and male-only grooming specialists
as fewer women will be following you online or coming into your salon or
barbershop. Facebook advertising can help here as it lets you target your
advertisement by gender, age and geographical area.

2. Salon social media marketing ideas for Father’s

Day
Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest are significantly more popular with women
than men. These social platforms are the perfect place to promote your salon
Father’s Day gifts and offers to a targeted local female audience.

Why not run a Father’s Day Facebook contest throughout June, with a male-
orientated prize?

Constant ‘sell, sell, sell’ messages on social are off-putting and often counter-
productive. Instead, give your salon social media ‘Dad-Appeal’ with:
 Men’s wellbeing tips for the summer hols.
 “How to” grooming guides for guys.
 Take photos/videos to create your own step-by-step guides.
 Anti-ageing tips for dads.
 Dispel some male grooming myths.
 Tips on manscaping, facial scrubs or pedicures…

3. ‘Buddy up’ for Father’s Day

Share the hard work on social and boost your local brand awareness. Looking
to make new local business buddy for piggy-back marketing campaigns?
Jump onto Twitter. I love Twitter for business-to-business networking (B2B).
It’s hard to beat it for opening up conversations with like-minded local
companies.

It doesn’t just have to be your salon, clinic or spa giving the advice and tips:
Let’s say you’ve partnered with a local personal trainer for your online
Facebook contest. This is a brilliant business opportunity for some cross-
promotion:

 They could provide tips on getting that holiday 6-pack, nutritional advice or
step-by-step guides on exercises for your salon social media and website.
 You return the compliment and post holiday hair care advice, shaving tips
or ‘how to’ grooming guides on their social media. You’re positioning your
salon or spa as a trusted expert and to a whole new audience.
 Don’t just stop there. Buddy up for some dad-friendly offers and
campaigns and stand out from the local crowd.
 #SalonMarketing Tip: To harness the full power of online marketing, post
these ideas, tips and offers across all your online marketing
channels: your salon website, Pinterest, e-newsletter, YouTube, Facebook
and Instagram. Post and use this material everywhere consistently.

4. Make it easy to buy Father’s Day gifts

from your business
Dads are notoriously tricky to buy presents for.

Another pair of socks anyone?

While mums are notoriously time-pressed, convenience-focused shoppers.

So make it easy for mums to buy from your salon or spa. Here’s how:
 Solve busy mums’ problems by clearly labelling products/services as great
Father’s Day gifts. Use your imagination (so they don’t have to use theirs) to
put gift combos together:
 Package retail products into a male grooming travel kit.
 A ‘get Dad beach-perfect package’with pedicure, waxing and manicure
(it’ll be the school holidays before we know it).
 A stress-busting massage teamed with a pampering facial.
 For pocket-money size budgets pop a basket of inexpensive retail gifts for
dads on your salon reception desk.
 Make it even easier to buy from you by offering a complimentary gift
wrapping service to save on-the-go mums precious time and hassle. Keep
Father’s Day gift tags in salon for ultimate ease and added customer
service.
 As I mentioned in my Mother’s Day marketing blog, gift cards and hair or
beauty packages can seem a boring present for your special daddy if
you’re only 6 years old. Make them more appealing to little ones by
including a small tangible gift that can be wrapped and given with the gift
card.

Target the high spenders

Google reports, ‘Shopper age is another factor in the spending stakes.
Fathers with ‘kids’ aged 25-34 will have the most spent on them, while the 18-
24 year olds are the next highest-spending group.’

This age group spend their life on social and are likely to be tempted by
‘giving an experience.’ Capture their imagination with dad-themed pamper
packages, spa days and gift cards.

5. Add some salon marketing bounce to your

Father’s Day promotions
If you’re a regular reader of my salon marketing blog you’ll know what I’m
talking about. And I love these offers.

‘Bounce back’ marketing promotions do what they say on the tin. They
encourage repeat business and loyalty by offering an incentive to encourage
the client to return to your hair or beauty business.
After all, you don’t want to see dad just the once. Your marketing aim is to turn
him into a loyal salon or spa client.
Try my easy-to-use instant online salon calculator to work out how much your
salon or spa is losing when first visit clients don’t return.

Add a bounce-back offer to your Father’s Day gift packages or cards to tempt
people back in July/August. Target your quiet days of the week, with selected
stylists or beauty therapists so you don’t give your profit away.

Here are some ‘bounce back’ marketing examples for Father’s Day. They all
bolt-on to the original promotion so the client gets an offer plus one of these:
 x% off your next pedicure/manicure service in August.
 50% extra free: Book a 60 minute massage and get 30 minutes extra free.
 Complimentary hot towel, cut-throat shave when you book a haircut and
finish in August.
Wondering whether to offer salon or spa discounts and deals for Father’s
Day? Try this blog for some detailed practical ideas.

6. More salon social media marketing tips for

Father’s Day
 Keep it light-hearted. Engage your target audience by posing questions
and using retro and/or humorous imagery (and in case you were
wondering, pictures of funny cats are not what I have in mind). Some
ideas:
 Create a #hashtag for classic movie and TV dads.
 Share photos of guys’ retro hair and fashion imagery you love.
 Ask followers for their first memories of dad or why he inspires them.
 Men have an emotional and tender side which is often overlooked
when marketing. Play to it.
 Drive traffic to your salon website pages with email marketing. Remember
your target audience is searching for inspiring and different Father’s Day
gifts.

7. In-salon hair and beauty marketing ideas for

Father’s Day
 Your hair or beauty salon is free advertising space. Don’t waste it. Have
eye-catching graphics in the windows and on the walls plus strut-cards
around the salon. And don’t forget to pop promotional graphics in your
washrooms.
 Create prominent Father’s Day retail displays – you’ll find some useful
salon retailing ideas
 Educate your team fully to encourage them to start conversations with
clients around Father’s Day. Find my tips and ideas for improving client
consultations here.
 Promote your hair or beauty salon Gift Cards. Perfect for the woman who
wants to (discreetly) sharpen up her man’s looks.
Gift cards are popular with men too: Almost half of dads (46%) say that time
with their family for Father’s Day is one of the things they’d want most! For
those who are looking for a gift below is an idea of the most popular items on
Dad’s wish list:

1. Gift Cards (37%)

2. Clothing (26%)
3. Large Electronics (25%)
4. New Gadgets (23%)
Want to sell more salon gift cards? This blog is brimming with hands-on ideas
you can use for Father’s Day.

8. Tips for advertising your hair or beauty

business for Father’s Day

Offline salon advertising:

Advertising your salon or spa in the local press can be expensive, and works
best if it’s part of an ongoing campaign and is supported by editorial. So I
personally wouldn’t recommend a one-off media advert just for Father’s Day.

You’ll find my practical tips on salon advertising in this article – if you’re

thinking of placing any it’s worth a read before you contact your local media.

Online salon advertising:

If you’re running a salon Facebook competition with a local partner and
suitably juicy prize, then some Facebook advertising is worth investing in.

First, maximise the coverage your salon business gets on your partner’s
Facebook. It’s likely that only a small percentage of Likes overlap so you have
a fresh local audience to market to. And it’s free.

If you decide to invest in Facebook advertising then select your target

audience carefully in Ads Manager:
 Include all your Likes (only 5-10% of your Likes will get the post
organically in their feed).
 Then set a daily or campaign budget. You can always increase it later so
be cautious to start with.
 Next choose your location and radius. If you’re in a small town then a 4-5
mile radius is probably fine, but in a large city you need to be much tighter.
 Think about age and gender – remember your key audience is wives and
partners for Father’s Day.
And finally measure the results carefully to see whether you’re getting the
right results and a good Return On Investment (ROI).

Salon marketing to men doesn’t stop at Father’s

Day
Survey after survey shows the male grooming market is expanding. There is a
huge, and increasing, demand from men asking for hair and beauty
treatments. It’s not just women buying treats for men for Father’s Day.

Grab your slice of this highly profitable hair & beauty cake…
 *Sally Services Beautiful Britain Survey 2017
Across the board, prices for men’s treatments are higher than last year they
were this time last year showing the strength of the male grooming market.

And once a client, men tend to be more loyal than women. Capitalise on this
by ensuring your salon is giving the right marketing signals to men.
Particularly with beauty services, men are often shy to call and ask whether a
salon offers male grooming services. Make it easy for them with a clear guys’
section on your salon website and an obvious price guide for men.