I have a theory that those who are successful in business are the people who seek gaps. Not copy or one-up anybody else but find opportunities nobody is taking advantage of.
One of the best examples? Small Business Saturday.
Small Business Saturday hits on the Saturday after Thanksgiving every year. Started by American Express in 2010, Small Business Saturday is a movement that celebrates local business owners and drives consumers to shop small.
This is a phenomenal opportunity, so you can’t half-ass it. You’ve got to go all the way in to make the most of this amazing day celebrating small businesses like you.
Today, I want to share my winning Small Business Saturday strategy to help you take advantage of this huge marketing opportunity. Plus, head to www.thrivingstylisttribe.com/SBS to get the PDF workbook that goes with this post.
Why Stylists Fail at Small Business Saturday
We, as small business owners, (which you are if you’re a hairstylist or salon owner) feel like we’re competing with Ulta, Target, and Amazon for retail sales. A day like Small Business Saturday feels like a major gift, right?
Your wheels probably started to spin when you saw Small Business Saturday. Maybe you celebrated before and want to do an awesome retail sale or 20% off blow-dries with a blow-dry bar and snacks to make it a party this year.
That is ridiculous. It’s forced marketing, aka “hope and pray” marketing. You hope and pray your promotion is good enough to drive a consumer to take an action that they wouldn’t normally.
It’s a big ask for a mother to go out of her way on a Saturday to get 15% off shampoo and eat a cupcake with you. That mom has a thousand other places to be on Black Friday weekend. She’s still recovering from Thanksgiving and maybe even out of town. Yet you’re banking on the fact that your retail sale and cookie platter is good enough to get people to go out of their way to come into your shop.
If you’ve tried to do Small Business Saturday like that before, it was dead, right? Or maybe you sold 15 extra bottles of shampoo, which let’s be real, you would’ve sold those 15 bottles anyway. Maybe not on that Saturday, but likely those people would’ve bought shampoo on a different day. And if you didn’t do anything special to retain those new people as guests, it’s a lost opportunity and a ton of work for little payout.
How to Make Small Business Saturday Work for You
If that method doesn’t work, how do we maximize the Small Business Saturday opportunity?
Turn it around so it’s not about ourselves.
It’s not about everybody celebrating you as a small business owner; it’s you celebrating other small business owners in the community.
Go connect with other small businesses in your area. Put your name out there, make a big splash, do something different. Use this as an opportunity to market yourself to people who wouldn’t otherwise know you exist.
Before clients end up in our chair, they go through the hair stylist marketing funnel, which looks like this:
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Awareness
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Interest
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Desire
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Clients in chair
What’s important to know is all of those levels can fail if the top of the funnel (awareness) isn’t constantly filled. Most people find awareness a challenging level to fill in their marketing funnel because it takes effort.
We have to take advantage of opportunities like Small Business Saturday to fill that bad boy up when the opportunity presents itself.
How to Rock Small Business Saturday as a Stylist
One of the best awareness techniques to fill the top of your funnel is local community marketing and small business networking.
But approaching strangers is awkward. Nobody likes talking to people they don’t know. Nobody wins when you walk up to a stranger and say, “Hi, you don’t know me, but I love your hair, come see me.”
Remember, when we ask a guest to try us out, we’re asking them to cheat on their existing stylist. You’re saying you’re better than that person, and they should give you a chance to show it, so you have to pull out all the stops.
These two Small Business Saturday marketing ideas make it super easy to get in front of people, not feel awkward, and make you look like a superstar.
For the solopreneur
If you want to connect with a small business owner who does it on her own, put together something juicy, like an amazing gift basket. It might include a full-size shampoo, conditioner, maybe a travel-size styling aid, a little bag of cookies, and definitely a generous gift certificate.
When you walk in with the basket, introduce yourself as a local stylist and small business owner who wanted to thank her for being a part of the community, you’ll make her day. Plus, she’s going to tell 15 people what you did, and that makes you look like a gangster.
If you want to build a clientele, be special, go for the wow factor, and give them something to talk about. She’s going to share that basket on her Instagram story, she will tell her girlfriends about you, and she will definitely book the appointment.
For the bigger small business
What if you work in an area that doesn’t have as many independent businesses, but maybe a community coffee shop? One where when you walk in the door, they don’t even ask you what you want, just start making your almond milk latte. Let’s give back to them.
In this case, we can’t do a full-sized shampoo and conditioner for everybody. Still, there are other ways we can celebrate them, like a giant gift basket filled with goodies for everybody.
You can certainly do food, but if you’re giving back to a coffee shop friend, the last thing they want is cookies and bagels. Instead, stock up on sample packets, minis, and travel sizes, or a lot of different industry-related things.
Put a couple samples, some chocolates and travel size products in a small cellophane bag (check out Target or a local craft store), tie a bow at the top, attach a gift card or put one inside. If you don’t want to spend money on gift cards, just use cardboard.
If you’re gifting to 20 coffee employees, you don’t have to go as big, but give them a physical goodie and a gift certificate incentive.
Can you imagine the impact that something like that would have versus what you’ve likely done before? “15% off our retail line today, come on down.”
Crickets.
There’s no wow factor in that versus if you choose five to 10 strategic businesses to surprise this Small Business Saturday. Now you’re making an impact with people who may not have even known you existed before. They are highly likely to come in and send you new guests right now.
The hardest part of marketing for a stylist is getting the butts in the chair. Once you do, we use the hair stylist hourglass to retain, sustain, get referrals. If your hourglass is working, using an awareness technique like these will fill your chair and help you will retain clients seamlessly.
You don’t have to use these ways to maximize Small Business Saturday, but I hope that your wheels are turning about how you can get out in your local community and celebrate other small businesses instead of waiting and hoping somebody comes in to celebrate you.
Don’t forget to download your workbook that’s going to help you to plan this out!
