All hard-working beauticians and estheticians who offer exceptional services deserve a loyal clientele. But no matter how good your wax, tan or facial, it’s all too common for customers to come to your salon once, and never come again.
While this may be frustrating, it’s important to realize that this often isn’t a reflection on your skills. Although customers may love your service, their lives get in the way and they forget where they booked their last wax. So next time, they end up calling a beautician who happens to pop up on their social media, who’s located a little closer, who their friend recommended, or who falls higher on their search engine results.
Lots of these factors are out of your control. Or, you’d need to counteract them by investing in paid advertising. If this is a route you want to take, check out our fool-proof guide to marketing – How To Grow Your Beauty Business Through Marketing.
However, you might be looking for ways to build customer loyalty on a tighter budget. And this is where salon loyalty programs come in!
Loyalty apps are an inexpensive and time efficient way to grow customer loyalty. In turn, you’ll enjoy time with your clients more, build brand reputation, get more referrals and reviews, and ultimately, boost revenue.
At Artemis, we’ve partnered with over 2000 beauty businesses, giving them the technology, tools and know-how they need to achieve financial success most of them never thought possible.
We’ve seen how customer loyalty are a key ingredient for business success. So here, we explain what loyalty programs are and how salon loyalty apps can help your business thrive. Then, we’ll tell you the things you should consider before spending money on any salon loyalty apps.
Finally, we’ll take you through five of the best salon loyalty apps. So you understand which salon loyalty apps will seamlessly fit into your clients’ lives, as well as your business processes.
Without delay, let’s talk about what salon loyalty apps are, and why you should use salon loyalty apps in your business at all.
What is a salon loyalty app?
Salon loyalty apps are apps (for iOS or Android) which make running a loyalty programme easy. They let you choose how you want to reward customers, keep tabs on your clients’ visits, points, discounts and rewards, and then run analytics on which strategies are most successful.
Often, loyalty program apps come as part of a broader salon management software package, making them fit seamlessly into your marketing, payment and point of sales systems. Alternatively, many stand-alone loyalty apps are easy to integrate with existing business processes.
What are the benefits for a salon loyalty program?
So, you know what salon loyalty apps are. But what are the benefits of salon loyalty apps? And what makes salon loyalty apps better than a manual loyalty system?
Increase loyal customer base
The demand for salon loyalty apps among salon users is high. 58% of customers say they’d like it if their salon offered a loyalty programme. While 25% would come back to pay the full price of a service they were first awarded as a “treat”. Therefore, the best salon loyalty apps will increase the number of new and returning customers to your business.
Higher job satisfaction
Without a doubt, building relationships with clients is one of the most rewarding parts of a job in beauty. But to build a strong relationship, you need clients to come back again and again. With salon loyalty apps, you give them a reason to return, so you spend more time with customers you love, and get so much more out of your job!
Happy customers
As a beautician or esthetician, you love making people feel happier through beauty and wellness. With salon loyalty apps, not only do clients benefit from your services, they get money and rewards too. This extra special treatment will mean they leave your practice feeling happier than ever.
More referrals and reviews
Since returning customers are more familiar with your brand and have it on their mind more often, they’re much more likely to make referrals and reviews. Therefore, since salon loyalty apps boost loyal customer numbers, they’ll increase your referral and review figures too. So you create a real buzz around your business.
Easier upselling
When clients are familiar with you, they trust you more. They see that you want to help them with their wellness and beauty, and not just sell them gimmicks and wring their wallets dry!
For this reason, by boosting customer loyalty, loyalty programs will help you sell additional products and services. Which means more quality treatments for your clients, and more revenue your salon business.
Lower marketing costs
Let’s face it, most of us invest in marketing to attract new customers. Not returning ones. For this reason, if you use one of the best salon loyalty apps to build your customer base, you can cut your marketing costs elsewhere.
More engagement
Certainly, loyal customers will engage more with your brand. Not only will they stop by your physical practice more, and talk about you with their friends, they’ll also follow, like, share and reply on your socials. So, to create a brand with personality and social standing, it’s worth using salon loyalty apps.
Increased revenue
So, what’s the upshot of all these benefits? Without a doubt, salon loyalty apps boost your bottom line. Not only do they increase customer numbers, but also they increase loyal customer numbers. And loyal customers spend an average of two-thirds more than first-timers. Indeed, businesses who use Phorest’s loyalty scheme (Phorest is one of the best salon loyalty apps on the market) enjoy a 30% rise in clients average spend and a 21% boost in revenue.
It must be remembered that most businesses spend less than 5% of their annual budgets on their customer rewards/membership programs. Therefore, you stand to gain a healthy ROI on salon loyalty program apps.
What to consider when choosing a loyalty app?
Now that you’re clear on the benefits of loyalty apps, you might be feeling ready to try one out. Before you jump in, there are some important factors to consider.
Firstly, think about your clients. Which platforms do they use – smartphones, desktop, or do they still prefer doing many things manually? If a good proportion of your clients don’t have smartphones, consider running a paper, card or email based loyalty scheme alongside loyalty apps.
Secondly, pick a goal for your loyalty apps. Do you want to onboard a certain number of new clients each, or sell a certain number of services? A defined goal will help you decide how much time, headspace and money to invest in promoting loyalty apps.
Then, set a budget. All good business starts with keeping spending in line with your income. Therefore, only consider loyalty apps that align with your budget.
In addition, choose the kind of loyalty scheme or rewards program you’d like to set up. Whether it’s a punch card, point system or a subscription service, make sure you’re generous. Give your customers a good reason to return.
Clients aren’t going to use an app unless they know about it. Therefore, you must promote your loyalty apps. You can do this when people book, after treatments, and on socials. And if you already have amanagement app, use that to direct clients to any loyalty apps too.
Finally, make sure you track the results of your loyalty scheme. Most salon loyalty apps will collate the numbers for you. But it’s your job to check the results and adjust your incentives accordingly.
Consider running two different schemes, or giving two different kinds of rewards. Then you can see which one brings in customers and makes profit.
Our top 4 loyalty apps to keep bring clients back!
Now, let’s turn to look at four of the top salon loyalty apps on the market, and how they’ll get customers coming back month after month, so your business thrives.
The first of our recommended salon loyalty apps is Selyo, designed exclusively for loyalty card systems.
Both you and your customers download the Seylo app. Then the app uses sonic technology to tally a clients’ loyalty stamps whenever they come in for a service. So there’s no need for manual stamps or temperamental QR codes.
Because the app is set up as a digital loyalty card only, it’s much more streamlined than other salon loyalty apps. Plus, it’s very good value.
If you know that an online loyalty card is the right option for your business, then Selyo is one of the strongest salon loyalty apps out there.
Loyalo is one of the best points-based salon loyalty apps out there. Customers download the app, scan a QR code, and get points for each visit or purchase they make. The app keeps data on your clients purchases and points, so you can track how cost effective the loyalty scheme is.
Loyalo is distinctive in its simple setup, and clear, minimalist style, for both business owners and loyal clients. So if you’re after salon loyalty apps that are straightforward, and don’t want to be bogged down by bells and whistles, Loyalo is the app for you!
The first of our suggested salon loyalty apps that boasts environmental credentials, Phorest is a purpose-driven all-in-one app that empowers self-care providers. Plus,they plant a tree for every practice they onboard.
Built with your bottom line in mind, its limit setting means you’ll always make 14 times the price of a ‘treat’ from a client before they can use their points to purchase it. No surprise, then, that businesses on Phorest’s loyalty rewards scheme enjoy a 30% rise in average client spend and a 21% boost in revenue.
In addition, the app is an all-in-one system that helps you manage your beauty business, hassle-free. So, if you’re after beauty salon loyalty apps that do it all, and help the planet while they’re at it, Phorest is the app for you.
Finally, there’s Zenoti. This is an all-in-one business management software that’s designed for the fitness, wellness and beauty industry.
Not only is Zenoti one of the best salon loyalty apps, it gives your customers an exceptional experience, unifies your brand, and automates many elements of your business.
Further, Zenoti is one of the most flexible of the salon loyalty apps. It lets you choose what to reward – be that purchases, visits or reviews. And it lets you choose how to reward them too – with points, free services or reductions.
The app is easy for clients to use, and tracks the most effective reward schemes.
Therefore, if you’re looking for slick, professional market-leading salon loyalty apps that do it all, Zenoti is just the ticket.
Conclusion
We’ve seen how salon loyalty apps have the power to enhance your clients’ experience, and supercharge your revenue. Plus, we’ve explored some of the best salon loyalty apps out there, so you can choose the best one for your business.
It must be remembered that salon loyalty apps are effective ways to grow. But they’re not the only ways! Find out about some of the best salon appointment booking app here. Or, if you want to grow your revenue without heading to the app store, this guide to winning high value clients is right up your street.