How to Increase Online Bookings in your Salon Business

According to statistics, around 55% of small business owners increased their sales once they started taking online bookings. Also, 90% of clients prefer to book online instead of calling or texting for an appointment. 

Now, it is more important than ever to increase daily productivity for appointment-based business owners.

Taking appointments via an online booking link is critical to boosting sales and having more clients coming into your salon.

Letting your clients book online via your personalized booking link means having a virtual assistant 24/7. There’s no better way to have your schedule constantly booked than by automating your tasks, and you can do so by creating a performant online booking system for your small business. 

There’s no secret ingredient to booking more appointments, but there are some easy steps that can help you boost your online booking page and get more clients into your salon. Here they are:

1. Choose a booking software that allows you to create an online booking page

With a simple search in your phone’s app store, you’ll see that there are hundreds of booking apps, from free to very expensive ones. Well, setting up all your business information in an appointment scheduling app requires a lot of time and attention, and you don’t want to pay for an app that will not fit your business. 

Many scheduling apps out there have generalist features to fit all industries that work with appointments. But, in reality, when choosing your booking app, I’d highly recommend you go for an app with a straight niche because it will come with all the features you need in your salon business. 

Some of the features that will help you maximize your productivity and increase sales are the ability to create an online booking page or automated text message reminders for clients.

Also, when choosing a salon booking app, you should check if it offers you financial reports, so you can see what are your best periods of the year and which clients bring you the most income.

Last but not least, marketing messages are a must if you want to inform all your clients at once about special deals or important information.

2. Spread the word about your online booking page 

Setting up your online booking page isn’t enough. You have to make it clear to your clients that you’re accepting appointments online, and the best way to do so is by implementing a marketing strategy for your salon business. An important step to add to your promotional plan is to add your booking link everywhere you can and even to send it directly to your clients. 

If you’ve just started accepting online appointment bookings, one of the best ways to tell your clients about it is by adding your booking link in your Instagram BIO description and announcing it publicly on your story. 

Also, you can send a bulk message to all your clients via Goldie and inform them that you’re now accepting online bookings. They will be more than happy to hear from you, and they will always have your booking link at hand in their message archive. 

3. Encourage your clients to book online 

Another step that will increase the volume of your online bookings is to encourage clients to book with a sense of urgency. When people see that you have just a few time slots available or fully booked, they feel the need to get an appointment immediately. 

As the fear of missing out on something is more significant since social media is so present in our lives, people are most likely to take immediate action. So, make sure that you often post your available time slots on your Instagram or Facebook story and let your clients and potential clients know about it. 

4. Ask your clients to promote your booking page link

You already know that word of mouth works best when promoting a business or a service, and that works just fantastic in the online world too. 

You can ask some of your clients (the ones with more followers) to share their results after a session with you and attach your online booking link to the post. In return for their favor, you can offer them a free service for the next appointment or a discount they can use in your salon. 

5. Take advantage of your website

One of the most practical ways to increase online bookings in your salon is by taking advantage of what your website can do for you. You may say that it is expensive or difficult to get and maintain a website, but in reality, it is not that expensive, and it is a must. 

Potential clients will be arriving at your website via various pages linking to you or via keywords you use in your website texts. It is essential to provide information like services you make, your location, contact details, and maybe even a portfolio so that people can see before and after photos from your salon. 

After you have a professional-looking website, create a strong call-to-action on your homepage, encouraging people to book an appointment. The best way to do it is to create a “Book now” button linked to your booking page.

6. Share business cards with your online booking page

Another practical way to increase online bookings is to provide business cards. Of course, we already know that social media does the most significant part of your promotional job, but offering business cards to clients coming into your salon is an excellent opportunity for in-person networking. 

You can create your business cards using a design tool like Canva or even purchase them from Zazzle.

Make sure your salon business cards contain essential information, like phone number, address, and your online booking URL. After you provide them, hand them to your clients personally and encourage them to book an appointment online for the next session. 

7. Reward clients who book online

Before actually starting to book appointments online, your clients have to understand the advantages of doing it. They need to be aware that it is cheaper and faster to book appointments via a link than a phone call and more practical for you as a salon professional. 

In exchange, you can reward them with a discount in your salon. This way, they will be most likely to book all their appointments with you via the online booking link, and probably they will recommend to their friends to do the same. 

Remember that whether you offer a small discount or a freebie, it is absolutely worth it, as you’ll increase your sales by encouraging them to book online. 

8. Send text reminders and prevent no-shows

According to recent research, clients missing their appointments cost the hairdressing industry, not less than 1.2 million pounds every year. So with this in mind, I guess you’d better start using a text reminder app and let clients know when their appointments are coming. 

Goldie is the appointment reminder app that can help you considerably reduce missed appointments and increase client engagement. You can free download it from the App Store or Google Play and put an end to your salon no-shows.

Grow your salon business like a pro

Using an appointment scheduling app can considerably increase the online bookings in your hair salon. However, to achieve the best results, you should follow all the steps that I’ve mentioned above. 

Download and start using a scheduling app for salon professionals, partner with Reserve with Google, promote your online booking link on social media, and permanently communicate with your clients. 

If you have any other solutions to boost sales by increasing online bookings, you can share them with us in the comments section below.