11 Best Tattoo Shop Marketing Ideas In 2024

People who want to get a tattoo probably do a lot of research before finding the right tattoo artist.

While you can be confident with your talent as a freelance tattoo artist or know your parlor has great potential, you still have to put some extra work into a few advertising strategies.

Therefore, how can you take your business out there and make sure these people notice your talent? 

Let’s see some of the most effective tattoo shop marketing ideas:

1. Build Your Brand

Building a brand for yourself or the salon you own is the starting point of your business and the foundation of every marketing campaign that will follow. 

All your tattoo shop promotion ideas can be based on your brand’s identity, creating the perfect branded marketing materials.

This means you should consider making good use of your talent and uniqueness as a tattoo artist and create a brand identity around them.

This is easier than you may think. Tattoo artists are usually associated with a particular tattooing style, such as realism, traditional, watercolor, etc.; clients will specifically seek them out for that style. 

If you own a studio where various artists with different styles work together, pick a neutral and straightforward name for it.

Moreover, once you build your brand around your personality (or that of your tattoo salon), people seeking the exact thing you’re offering will want to be associated with you.

2. Proudly Promote Your Tattoo Shop

Whenever you advertise your work as an individual or as a tattoo artists team, you should include some tattoo shop promotion ideas for the salon you work for. You can do that by creating visuals like banners, flyers, business cards, or even social media posts in a design tool like Canva.

Being proud of your workplace will make the tattoo lovers trust the business you work for too.

3. Create a Professional Website

A website is a must for any respectable business. People will most probably find you on social media or through recommendations, but they should find something when they type the name of your tattoo place on Google.

You can offer relevant information on your website, such as business hours, costs of tattoos, and photos of your work. 

Besides these essential details, you should also have a testimonial section so that you can boost people’s confidence in your services.

When you’re having your website, you can write anything relevant to your audience. This means you can upload videos too, and that’s a chance to increase your online visibility as a tattoo artist.

Create a series of videos showing some behind the scenes footage, which you can also upload on YouTube. Give each of your videos a name that contains “tattoo shop” and your city’s name, and you’ll soon rank for local Google searches whenever someone from your area searches for a tattoo artist.

Your website should also include:

• A domain URL with the name of your tattoo shop or your name;
• A website design that matches your style;
• An online booking system.

The last point takes us to the next essential step of your tattoo shop marketing strategies.

4. Have an Online Booking System

An online booking system is necessary for your tattoo shop promotion ideas. 

While your clients can book a seat for themselves and see the available slots in real-time, you can focus more on your day-to-day activities. You are no more interrupting your work to answer your phone and create an appointment.

Goldie is one of the best booking apps for tattoo artists. It’s also free and has a very straightforward setup process.

The app allows you to add your tattoo salon’s name, logo, services, prices, opening times, and a picture of your choice. Also, you can collect deposits or tips from your clients, directly in the app. The best part of this app is that you can effortlessly take payments via payment link or contactless with just your iPhone, without a POS or any extra equipment required.

Download the Goldie app from AppStore or Google Play, and see how much it can ease your work. 

Once you set up the online booking profile in the app, you can activate your “Book Now” buttons on Facebook, Instagram, and Google so that clients can book an appointment with you through social media channels too.

5. Reduce Your No-show Rate

No matter how small it is, any tattoo design takes time because there’s also the preparation, deciding the right placement of the tattoo, etc. While getting inked is a huge deal for most people, some of them may still forget about their appointment.

Goldie is a great solution if you want to get rid of your no-shows. This useful appointment app sends automated text message reminders to your clients. 

ProTip: Goldie also allows you to send automated marketing messages, so it will come in handy when you want to announce to people future deals, discounts, or any change occurring in your tattoo salon.

6. Showcase Your Business on Social Media

Social media is one of the best tools for reaching out to new audiences and connecting with them on a more personal level. 

Here are some of the things to consider when showcasing your work on social media.

• Choose the right channels

You don’t need to target every social media platform. Some of them may not be relevant at all for your business. 

It’s better to focus all your efforts on those known for their visual imagery, namely Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.  

Instagram is all about artistic photos, so it’s safe to say you should post pictures of your work there and increase your follower base. An important aspect to keep in mind: don’t use filters on photos, as they will distort the tattoos’ colors.

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Facebook is the most popular social media platform at the moment, so this should be a good enough reason to be present there exhibiting your artwork. It will help you get in touch with many possible future clients.

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Pinterest is, as the platform itself says, the place to find inspiration. If someone doesn’t have a precise design in mind, they will most likely start their Pinterest research. People begin searching on Pinterest when they’re ready to take action. This is why almost 9 in 10 weekly Pinners use the platform for inspiration, followed by a purchase.

Create boards with your work to allow people to get inspired by your work and possibly reaching out to you. You can also make a board with saved pins for your inspiration that your followers can pin. 

Also, for expanding your reach and make it easier for people to save your work for their inspiration, add a Pinterest Save button to every tattoo photo on your website. In this way, your visitors can pin their favorite designs on their Pinterest boards. 

• Use hashtags

The photos showcasing your professional work deserve a short yet on-point description. On Instagram, you can back it up with relevant hashtags. 

People usually browse the pictures added under a specific hashtag, so add as many as you can to increase people’s chances of finding you.

When in doubt, use Hashtagify.

• Engage your followers with giveaways

Add a giveaway to your tattoo shop marketing strategies, and you’re very likely to increase your follower base. How to do that?

Post a picture with one of your tattoo designs and add a description explaining your giveaway. 

The rules should be simple and easy to follow, according to your goal. If you want to find out more about that, check out this complete Instagram giveaway rules guide.

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7. Offer Deals & Discounts

Once you start using Goldie, you will have a clear view of your customers, as this scheduling app has a client management system where you can store important information about your clients.

 Plus, with the marketing messages, you can reward them with exclusive deals or discounts. Decide how much you’re willing to spend on your loyal customers and send them a message directly from the app announcing them about upcoming deals.

8. Go to Tattoo Conventions

Tattoo conventions are a traditional form of marketing for all tattoo artists out there. And here’s why:

• You get in touch with other tattoo artists that can recommend your particular style to people. Word of mouth marketing is still one of the most effective marketing strategies for your tattoo shop and everything else.
• You can meet new clients and book appointments right there.
• You can book appointments beforehand and do flash tattoos right at the convention. If you have time to spare, you can do some more flash tattoos on clients that request them at the convention. 
• You get informed and keep up with all the new trends, techniques, and equipment you may not have. 
• Tattoo conventions usually have contests you or your shop can enter to show off your artistic talents. It’s a great opportunity to prove your skills to all the attendees.
• There’s a great chance publishers will be there, and they could want to feature your work in one of their publications. 

This being said, a tattoo convention is one of the best tattoo shop marketing strategies.

9. Claim a Listing on Google My Business

You can get your tattoo shop known through local SEO by adding your business information to Google Maps, Search, and other Google properties with Google My Business. 

Once you have that done, you can ask your clients to search for you on Google and leave a review. This will increase your chances of getting even more customers. If you don’t want to say this to them directly, use stickers or other forms of printed marketing materials in your tattoo shop that asks them to leave a review.

Make sure your sticker has all the places your customers can find you and leave a review or tag you in their photos.

In this way, you’re also (indirectly) asking your clients for referrals.

10. Traditional Marketing Still Works

Besides the tattoo sign outside your parlor, which can give a vintage look to your tattoo shop entrance, you can also take some actions in your community and make your name associated with important events.

For instance, you can hold a fundraiser in benefit of an essential local issue and show that you care. 

You’ll instantly make a positive impact upon your local community. And remember, news travels fast.

11. Offer Only Quality Services

Your work not only defines who you are but also what your clients prefer. They should show off with pride the art they’re carrying on their bodies.

This gives you great responsibility and an opportunity to let everyone know you’re doing a great job. 

Final Thoughts

Your talents as a tattoo artist deserve to be enhanced with a great tattoo shop marketing plan. Start working on it today and instantly increase your chances of being discovered.

Bu the way, here’s something you might like about the most inspiring gift ideas for tattoo artists. We’re all mad when it comes to gifts, right? 🙂