Text Marketing for Spas & Salons

Back to All Guides | More Industry Guides

Introduction

At SimpleTexting, we’ve helped thousands of spa and salon business owners text their clients. Along the way, we’ve learned a thing or two about spa and salon text message marketing.

We wanted to condense all of the knowledge we’ve gained from our experience into a digestible guide that takes you from texting novice to pro in no time. This guide will cover:

1. The Benefits of Text Message Marketing for Spas and Salon
2. The Difference Between Promotional and Transactional Messages
3. Template Spa and Beauty Salon Text Messages
4. How to Get Started With Text Marketing for Spas and Salons

The Benefits of Text Message Marketing for Spas and Salons

SMS is best known for having 98% open rates which makes it an incredibly effective marketing channel.

But people don’t just open texts: the average click-through rate on text messages is 36%, and the conversion rate of SMS hovers around 45%. 

In comparison, spa and salon emails have an open rate of 21%. Plus, the average response time for a text message is 90 seconds—compared to 90 minutes for email. 

We’re not saying you shouldn’t send emails. But if you’re not also sending text messages, you’re missing out.

There’s no need to take our word for it, though. We have tons of reviews from spas and salons on third-party review sites like Capterra and G2 Crowd that reference texting’s high ROI.

👉 You can read more about the advantages of text marketing here.

The Difference Between Promotional and Transactional Messages

The salons that use SimpleTexting send text messages that fall into two broad categories: transactional and promotional. Here’s why it’s essential to understand the differences between the two types of mobile messaging.

Transactional Spa and Beauty Salon Messages

Transactional text messages allow you to improve your salon’s customer experience by facilitating a booking that a customer has already agreed on. Here are some examples of transactional SMS:

• Booking confirmations
• Appointment reminders
• Review requests
• Thank you messages
• No-show rebooking

Transactional texts like text appointment reminders can have a significant impact on your business. Let’s say your salon has eight no shows a week: if your average revenue per customer is $46, that’s $288 per week. 

That translates to $1,152 a month, which ends up costing $14,688 per year. If you can reduce that by 40%, you’ve saved your business close to $4,500.

The best part is that sending these texts could cost you as little as $225 a year.

Salon and Spa SMS Marketing Campaigns

These are messages sent to fill space in the appointment book, shift the products you stock in-store, or simply raise awareness about your business.

Promotional text messages are a powerful addition to your marketing strategy–but before you import a list of contacts, you need express written consent to text your customers. 

We differentiate between promotional and transactional SMS because different rules apply to both types of text messages. (You can learn more about that here.)

The good news is that it’s easy for clients to subscribe to receive your SMS marketing campaign. We’ll get to that below (if you’re feeling impatient, then click here).

Most salon and spa promotion messages aim to:

• Connect quickly with clients
• Increase bookings
• Fill empty spaces in your calendar
• Raise brand awareness
• Improve event attendance

Template Spa and Beauty Parlour SMS Messages

If you’re excited about texting your clients, but don’t know what to say, then take a look at these templates.

Transactional Spa and Salon SMS Templates

Here are some examples of the types of transactional SMS you can send with SimpleTexting.

Appointment Reminders

55% of consumers prefer SMS for confirming appointments vs. 35% of consumers who prefer email for those notifications. (You can read more about sending text reminders here.)

Collect Reviews

You can text out surveys after a salon appointment or spa service to collect customer feedback. 

Communicate With Staff

No matter the need, SimpleTexting will keep all your internal communications organized and professional.

Share Forms

Text forms before an appointment for clients to either print and sign, or provide an e-signature to save time and ensure appointments start on schedule.

Create a Contactless Check-In Experience

As a result of COVID-19, the last thing you want is a group of customers waiting in a room together. Texting can help you maintain social distancing with an easy-to-manage waitlist.

SMS Marketing Templates

Here are some useful SMS marketing templates you can use to keep customers coming back.

Exclusive Coupons and Discounts

Promotional texts that offer discounts and other offers are among the most popular ways salons and spas use text marketing. 

Promote Events

Offering open houses, product launch parties, or procedure demos is a great way to capture current and prospective client attention. Promote these events with a text blast.

Provide Beauty Tips

Position yourself as an industry expert by texting weekly or monthly beauty and wellness tips.

Create a Rewards Program

Customer loyalty is everything for spas and salons. Help your clients feel valued with texts on their birthday or rewards for a certain number of consecutive services.

How to Get Started With Text Marketing for Spas and Salons

We’ve covered the benefits and even provided you with some inspiration–but maybe you’re still not sure exactly how to text. 

Getting started is simple, and we’ve created some comprehensive videos and guides to walk you through it all. But at a glance here, are the basics of getting started with spa texts.

1. Text-Enable Your Number

Your clients are probably already familiar with your phone number, and our customer service team can text-enable your existing 10-digit landline. You still receive calls as usual but can send and receive messages from our SimpleTexting dashboard or mobile app.

We can also set you up with a text-enabled local or toll-free number. The latter is great if you want to send text blasts and message one-on-one with clients.

This article covers how to pick the right number for your SMS marketing efforts.

2. Gather Subscribers

The next, and arguably most important, step to getting started revolves around gathering subscribers. 

If you already have a list of phone numbers of people who have given your spa or salon permission to text them, you can upload it directly into your SimpleTexting dashboard. 

However, texting any numbers that you have not obtained express written consent to text is illegal and strictly against SimpleTexting’s anti-spam policy.

If you’re like many others, you’re starting from scratch when it comes to building your contacts. We’ve written a guide on how to collect phone numbers for you to work through if you’re unsure where to begin. The main takeaway: stay visible!

Most of our salon and spa customs create an SMS keyword–a word or phrase that customers can text to subscribe to your messages–and advertise it everywhere. Here’s how it works.

Here are just a few places you could promote your keyword:

• A window display or table tents at your storefront
• Stickers with your keyword and number on salon mirrors
• Collect business cards in a fishbowl near the register 
• Advertise it as a way to sign up for special discounts or to enter an SMS sweepstakes
• Pin your keywords or phone number to social media profiles

💡SimpleTexting Tip: Before you get started, we recommend reading this quick overview of how to make any advertisements with your keyword compliant.

3. Start Sending Messages

Once you start gathering subscribers, you’ll want to begin communicating with them. Here’s how easy it is to send an SMS marketing campaign. (You check out all our features on our features page.)

If you’re ready to give text marketing a try, we encourage you to sign up for a free 14-day trial account. You’ll get 50 messages, plus you can create a keyword. And yes, it’s free. No credit card, no contract, just free.

When you’re ready to upgrade to a paid account, just change your billing plan from the dashboard. Simple!