3 easy ways for salons and spas to acquire new customers

Whether your business is the only one on the block or competing with a few others, customer acquisition must play a major part of your overall salon and spa strategy. Adding new customers not only offsets any churn, it's also necessary for business growth.

Here are three ideas to help get new guests to book that first appointment and walk through your door. Each idea includes the easiest way... and a way to challenge yourself and perhaps reap greater rewards.

Stake your presence where prospective customers already spend a lot of time: online.

Google and other search listings
List your salon or spa on:

to cast the widest net for new customers. Once you've grabbed their attention, give them the convenience of booking online with a salon scheduling software.

Think of online booking as your virtual front desk, helping you expand your customer base 24x7. Put it on your website and offer a mobile app for those who prefer using their smartphones to book a visit.

Social media pages
U.S. adults spend an average of two hours a day on social media, so it's worth investing in your Facebook and Instagram presence. Leverage those pages to show off your salon or spa's best work and promote your latest offerings to capture new business.

‍Challenge yourself
To maximize your online presence for new guest acquisition, optimize your spa or salon for local search.

Word of mouth is a powerful driver of new business. In a 2024 Zenoti consumer survey, almost half of customers (47%) said they will choose a salon or spa based on a referral from a friend or family member.

Moreover, referrals correlate with a higher lifetime value per customer.

Consider adding a referral program to encourage current customers to recommend your salon or spa to friends and family. Reward them with gift cards, discounts on popular services, or similar incentives that will delight existing customers and deepen loyalty – all while bringing new business through your door.

Are you avoiding referral programs because they're difficult to manage? Perhaps you have previous experience with paper-based programs that are hard to track? The solution is a spa digital referral program, in which all referrals to your salon or spa and rewards are managed online and/or via app.

‍Challenge yourself
How do you know your salon referral program is working? What is the return on investment (ROI)? With a digital referral program, software does the tracking so you can adjust as you go.

If you tend to overlook gift cards as a guest acquisition strategy, here's some data that might surprise you: 24% of gift card redemptions come from first-time visitors. That's one in five guests with gift cards.

If your gift card program is languishing for the same reasons as your referral program – physical cards, hassle to manage, hard to track – it's time to refresh your strategy.

Enable gift card purchases on your website and mobile app to reach and serve as many buyers as possible. To encourage new website visitors to purchase gift cards, opt for seasonal promotions with eye-catching designs.

Today's gift is tomorrow's guest – think of gift cards as referrals with a high chance of converting into new business for your salon or spa.

Challenge yourself
Start planning for the holidays in July! Initiate a digital gift card program now to give yourself plenty of time to prepare. Through analytics reports, you can track data for gift card sales revenue, redemptions by first-time guests, and more.

Ready to boost new guest acquisition with less effort? Learn more about the capabilities with Zenoti software.