Marketing Communications

Social Media and Alternative Strategies

Social Media

For Artisan Beauty Studio, the best types of social media marketing would be those that appeal to targeted consumer through use of pictures, video, promotional marketing. Since we want our customers to picture their perfect wedding day, the use of images is most important to appeal to their desires as they plan for their big day. For these reasons, the three types of social media marketing we will utilize are YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. YouTube is important to use as we could give consumers a peak into what to expect on their trips, as well as video transformations of the brides or wedding party from before and after they come in so that consumers can see what they are getting from our experience. The use of Instagram will be to create and upload amazing pictures of the studio, service offerings, and final results. Facebook will be utilized to reach out to more customers, share our other forms of social media marketing, and to offer promotions and special events to our followers.

Social media can be an efficient and cost-saving tool for small businesses to utilize in order to reach more customers than they could through word-of-mouth or community events. Additionally, Artisan Beauty Studio could offer giveaways once a month or a few times a year to their followers. All of this would lead to increased public attention and the ability for the studio to begin to collect customer data for market analysis and the use of cold-calling during the less busy times of the year where stylists can take more appointments that do not involve huge wedding parties or brides on their big day. Building relationships this way ensures that the Artisan Beauty Salon is the business that people think of when they begin to search for a salon for their bigger events.

Alternative Forms of Media

For alternative forms of media, Artisan Beauty Studio will offer classes and plan monthly events that operate outside of normal business hours that women can use as a location for a night out with their friends, family, or even their significant other. Classes would bring value because we could teach young women how to do simple make-up or hair care ideas, getting them excited about trying new things and being in the studio with friends and other women in the community. These classes could include hair techniques, make-up tutoring, and couple’s massages. Additionally, we should plan monthly events to bring more people in the store by offering discounts or prizes throughout the day to customers that follow a theme or are coming in for a specific product that we are marketing. An example of this would be a mom and daughter day, couple’s day, or wedding month specials. By offering different ways for people to earn discounts, they are more likely to come in and bring friends and family with them which will result in a larger reach and bigger customer pool.

Customer loyalty is incredibly important to the long-term success of a company, and many companies today are using loyalty incentive programs to keep their customers coming back in order to earn points, rewards, and free items. Keeping customers loyal results in easier sales and more growth in revenue as returning customers are more likely to spend more money (Hyken, 2017). In many cases, a loyalty program is just another marketing program for the company to use (Hyken, 2017). As for incentive plans that we will offer at Artisan Beauty Studio, we have a specific plan to implement in which customers can refer their families and friends to receive discounts on their next visit. For example, if one woman refers her best friend to the studio, the woman that referred her best friend would receive a certain percentage off of her next visit, regardless of the purchase. Additionally, a loyalty program for returning customers could include the ability to earn $5 off their next visit or a free glass of wine upon their next visit.

Since it is a beauty studio, we find that we will have more success if we focus majorly on social media and other marketing tools like events and classes for the general public’s use. The reason that this will prove to be more successful is that there is no guarantee than many women will utilize the studio outside of wedding needs. If women are focused on using the Studio mainly for their wedding needs, we would hope we do not see the same women over and over again. Of course, loyalty programs could focus women to the classes or events that we will begin to offer but most specifically we should look to send promotions and discounts out through social media accounts while showing off great images of the studio and the work that we are capable of doing.

Personal Selling Strategy and Sales Promotion

Personal Selling

Since the Artisan Beauty Studio is focused on wedding work, our personal selling strategy must happen before a customer even comes in the store in many cases. For this reason, we will create a website that allows potential customers to enter their phone, email, or text information for us to follow-up with through the use of database-generated networking and cold calls to build up the customer base. Following up with a potential customer is a great way to address their questions and concerns in order to convince them to use a product or service (Jerpi, 2018). If a potential client is looking at their options for a studio to take care of his/her wedding needs, it is important to collect their information and to get in contact with them as soon as possible. Making a client feel secure in their choice requires a high level of personal relationship, considering that the studio would be so involved on the big day. For this reason, following up is the best option because it requires shared information and a strong communication from both parties.

Another great way for the company to utilize personal selling as a benefit is to get out in the community, especially during community ‘ladies nights’ in order to meet with and engage more with the women in the community that are more likely to be looking for a salon either for themselves, their friends, or family. Additionally, the employees on staff should be willing to utilize their own social media accounts and personal connections to bring more people in by engaging amongst the target demographic of younger to mid-aged woman in the process of engagement or seeking steps towards marriage. Creating relationships would be the best marketing tool in this business, as women are more likely to want a personal relationship with the company that is going to be so involved in the event leading up to the wedding or other major event.

Sales Promotions

Coupons are a marketing tool that is attention-grabbing in nature, as consumers who like a product will feel an increased need to make a purchase if they believe they are going to be able to save money in the process of their purchase. Additionally, coupons help to advertise new products, like the free class listed above, which will spark the interest of consumers to try the class out while it is free or to purchase additional products in order to win the free class coupon. After initially getting the customers interested in trying the salon, it is up to the company to be able to continue to build loyalty amongst their consumers and generate more traffic. Making it simple for consumers to find and use the coupons in also important, as the business should make is a mission to save the customers as much money as possible. Saving the customer money can lead to stronger loyalty to the brand and it will be more likely that the customer will talk about the salon and refer the company in a positive way, building a stronger and more recognizable brand.

Preventing a Negative Brand Image

In a beauty salon that focuses majorly on wedding events, it is important to maintain the brand amongst the communities that provide business. If there is no support from the community, the company will be less likely to be able to maintain long-term relationships and will result in having to reach farther for business. Of course, mistakes can happen to anyone at any time, and a company must be willing and ready to face any potential conflicts that arise. Due to weddings typically being a one-day event, it is important to get it right the first time, but mistakes can happen even with the most perfect planning. The stylist could be running behind, or the make-up artist may have made one too many mistakes that cost precious time off of the day and placed stress on the customer. Too many of these mistakes can be detrimental to the business and must be handled quickly and smartly to keep valuable relationships from turning after a poor result or experience. While mistakes do happen, it is important to own up to these mistakes and to come up with a way to right the situation before too many rumors and negative reviews can truly make an impact.

In order to prevent a negative brand image, the Artisan Beauty Salon will create a plan that allows mistakes to be handled in the best way possible. If someone is unhappy with their service, the salon will quickly take to their social media accounts to address the rumors, own up to mistakes, and to apologize both publically and privately to the individuals affected. Apologizing publicly is the first step in the damage control plan that we will implement. Next, we will attempt to deflate the situation in order to limit the scope of the problem, which tends to make the mistake sound more human and less like a company purposefully behaving in a way that negatively affects their consumers (Constable, 2016). The last step is to offer reconciliation in the form of the monetary value lost by the consumer affected. This could include offering a full refund, offering a full spa day on the house, or discussing with the consumer what their expectations are for how Artisan Beauty Salon will be able to fix the problem. Owning up to mistakes helps the company to be more ethical and relatable for many consumers who will agree that mistakes do happen.

References

Constable, K. (2016). 3 damage-control strategies to keep a setback from becoming a disaster. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/280357

Fontinelle, A. (2011). Why do companies print coupons? Investopedia. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0911/why-do-companies-print-coupons.aspx

Hyken, S. (2017). The best loyalty programs go beyond rewards. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/shephyken/2017/03/25/the-best-loyalty-programs-go-beyond-rewards/#9dfdde625039

Jerpi, L. (2018). Marketing strategies for personal selling. Chron. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/marketing-strategies-personal-selling-46563.html