Copywriting 101 for Salon Owners
Your services are great, your salon is sparkling and the reviews are glowing - yet you’re still looking for more clients to walk through your salon door. You might be doing everything right but when it comes to selling to your clients, there’s one thing missing. You’re not paying enough attention to the words you’re saying, and the story they’re telling. In this blog, we’re diving into the world of copywriting for salons and why you need to lead with storytelling, when it comes to selling your salon services and getting more clients.
What is copywriting
Copywriting is any form of content that you create, in a written (or even spoken) form, that is designed to reach your target audience and sell your products/services. You could be writing out the words of your website, or you could be writing a sales script for your team. It could be a social media post created on the fly, or a blog post you’ve spent hours researching and refining. Your content could be promotional, sharing your latest services or salon memberships, or it could be a piece of educational content sent to your email community.
Regardless of the format, copywriting is the process of writing content that has one distinct purpose – to make you more money. But not all copywriting is created equal. There is both an art and a science to promoting your salon through the spoken and written word. And hopefully by the end of this blog post, you’ll have a few extra tools in your belt to help you craft compelling sales copy that helps do the selling for you.
Why your copywriting isn’t selling (as much as you’d like)
As experts in skin, hair and beauty, it’s easy for you to swirl into your spiel about the products, ingredients and technologies you use that will help all your clients dreams come true (well at least the ones you can help with!). Sometimes knowing too much can be a copywriters-curse. Jargon-filled sentences, selling features over benefits and focusing too much on yourself/your salon are all common potholes you might easily miss along the journey to writing your client-winning content. However, by identifying these early, you’ll be able to swerve around them with grace and style, ensuring your copy is on point every time.
Your talking in too many technical terms
A lot of beauty experts and salon owners love to share all of the technical terms and the science behind every product or new piece of technology – because that’s what they love and know is important. This is a great sign of a great beauty therapist, however, it’s not always what your client needs. Too many technical terms, or too much industry jargon can leave your potential clients confused. And if you confuse…you lose. The focus. The client. The sale.
Being an expert, you know what all those technical terms mean, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that your customers will be able to understand them or fully comprehend how it will help them. It can be intimidating and confusing for a reader and may make them overwhelmed before they even try out your service. Instead, try explaining the concept in simple terms – and write in a way that puts things in the perspective of what your client is currently experiencing. Sure, your LED Light Therapy machine is great at zapping away bacteria, but what does this mean for them?
So next time you’re writing about your LED machine, instead of talking about all the technical features, and all the possibilities it can help with, keep your message simple and with a singular focus.
You could try saying something like:
LED Light Therapy = Less breakouts, without breaking the bank.
Or
Acne got you feeling blue? Blue light LED therapy helps kill bacteria, and reduces oil production.
You’re selling the features, instead of the benefits
We hate to tell you. But your client doesn’t really care what brand of machine or product technique you’re using. They only care about what your machine or technique can do to change their life, look, or fix their problem.
As the experts in your field, it is obviously important that you understand the technical aspects of your equipment, products and treatment. But for your clients, it's only important that you can clearly and concisely communicate what’s possible for them and how to achieve it. Any complex details regarding the process, products and treatment must be explained to them in everyday language. As a guide, most copywriters try to write in language that could be easily understood by a seventh-grader. Talking to clients in this way builds immediate trust and will exponentially help you and your team facilitate consultations and sales effectively. If you can plainly explain to a client how you can help solve their skin or hair issue in a way that gets them what they want, why would they have any reason to say “NO”? The answer is – they wouldn’t.
Remember that your clients didn’t come to you to learn everything you know about skin care or hair care – they’ve come to you for results. You can still educate your client as to why your tools and products are the bees-knees, but it needs to be framed in such a way that they understand why you’ve chosen these products and particular salon equipment – in order to deliver them the ultimate results.
When talking about your products or technologies used in your salon, you could say:
Not all LED Light Therapy machines are created equal. Sure, having an at-home LED face mask is great for doing some extra #selfcaresunday skincare to feel a little extra glowy. But many DIY LED masks do little more than shine light on your face.
Our in-clinic LED Light Therapy machines have been clinically proven and tested, to ensure each colour wavelength hits exactly where it’s meant to – targeting your specific skin concerns.
You’re getting lost in the demographics – not focusing on the psychographics of your ideal customers
In order to write marketing materials that do the selling for you, you need to connect with your potential clients and speak to their beliefs, needs, wants and desires. When setting up your salon, you likely spent time identifying who your ideal customers were – you know where they live, what age they are, what income they have, how many children, heck, you’ve probably got it down to what car they drive (these are called your demographics).
None of this really matters though, if you can’t speak to what they believe about themselves, what they believe is possible for them, and what they believe they deserve.
Instead, we need to focus on the psychographics. By knowing these, you can write website copy, social media posts and eMail newsletters that connect to their specific needs, wants, dreams and fears.
Here are some questions you can brainstorm about your dream clients, to help you get to know them.
What do they believe about themselves and their skin?
What are they battling with?
What drives them?
How do you help them on their quest?
How can we better understand their journey?
What are their blind spots?
What do they need for their journey?
How to weave stories into your copywriting, to book more clients and sell more products
When it comes to selling your products and services through your beauty, hair or skin salon website, there is one thing that will help you communicate, connect and outshine the competition. What is it? Using stories.
Storytelling is the most successful way to sell. Plus, it feels so much better than selling.
When someone can place themselves inside the story you’re telling, you don’t have to sell to them. They sell themselves on your products and services.
When it comes to writing that makes you money, we need to shift the focus from us as the experts. For example, salon owners often write about themselves and their team – what they’ve done, their expertise, their results, their products and their service. Instead, you need to focus on what your audience is capable of; it’s about their journey, not yours.
In order to do this, we need to understand the real desire behind the desired result. We’re not selling the product; we’re not selling the features, we’re not even selling the benefits really. We’re selling the transformation; the feeling, the emotion and the value that comes from achieving the desired results.
Your clients are coming to you for a solution to their problem. If we only tell them about the solution, what it does and how it works, we run the risk of alienating them, and they are lost forever.
When it comes to writing that makes you money, we take these principles of storytelling to help us get into the mind of the customer, and for every piece of content you create, you need to ask:
When did it begin?
What is the backstory of their experience?What's the plot?
What’s happened in their life that has gotten them this far? What have they tried, what has failed?Where is it going?
What is the process going to be like for them? What are the common roadblocks/hurdles? What results can be achieved?Who is a part of it? Who are the characters? Are there any ‘enemies’?
The products, the services, the team members, the expertise – the guide.Why do they care?
The emotional benefits of finally fixing the problem, and doing it with you.
A story is an experience. The story gives an experience. You can tell someone about something and have them experience it through the story. The story is a way of communicating what happened or could have happened in a creative way.
Crafting effective copy isn’t easy, and it takes time and practice to become proficient at it. However, if you follow the tips laid out here – emphasising and sharing stories in your copywriting, whilst focusing on the transformation possible rather than features and technical jargon – you will be able to reach more clients, book more appointments and sell more products. By weaving engaging stories that capture attention through your copy you’ll avoid confusing website visitors with too much information or cold sales pitches. Copywriting isn’t rocket science — you don’t have to reinvent the wheel or say anything especially revolutionary. At the end of the day, effective copywriting requires research, experimentation, creativity and understanding – but if done correctly, you won’t be disappointed with the results! Ready to take your copywriting to the next level? Grab our Free copywriting guide for Salon Owners.
