Social consciousness is changing the way consumers spend their money. In a 2010 worldwide survey, nearly 50% of consumers said they were more likely to buy and remain loyal to companies with charity programs1. Consumers want their dollars to go toward causes they believe in, and beauty manufacturers have been significant players in using charitable donations to encourage interest and sales to their products. Can you drive that sort of impact in your salon? Sure you can, but it has to be in your salon business culture.
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Some Points To Consider
A culture of charitable giving requires a strategy of giving. Treat it with the same care you would build your salon marketing plan: with monthly initiatives, action plans, and clear goals.
Related | Building A Great Salon And Spa Culture: Ideas & Resources
Do You Give To One Or Many Charities?
Devoting your efforts towards one charity alone can allow you to have a clear marketing focus, but after time, customers can become blind to your efforts. On the other hand, if you choose to change up your charity at set intervals, fresh new marketing can keep some clients excited enough to give, but you run the risk of confusing others.
How Will You Involve Your Staff?
Friendly in-salon competitions can be a great way to motivate your staff and raise awareness for a cause.
How Will Charity Involvement Motivate Sales?
Donating per purchase can be a great way to bring attention to a new product or service launch. Giving a portion of retail or service sales at regular intervals can help strengthen your salon brand.
Will You Support Local Or National Charities?
The benefits of supporting local charities are that some of your clientele could be personally involved with the charity. With local charities, developing a personal report becomes more feasible, opening up opportunities for events that can showcase your staff’s skills while raising awareness. National charities have increased name recognition and more resources available to help make planning and marketing to your clients simpler.
How Will You Promote Your Initiative?
Make sure your customers know you are supporting a cause. Send email blasts, in-salon signage, educate your staff so they can talk intelligently about the charity with their guests. Most importantly, make sure you choose a cause that aligns with your business values. If you believe in what you are supporting everything else will fall into place.
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3 Easy & Unique Ways To Incorporate Charity Into Your Salon Business Culture
- Hotel Stays: Collect mini toiletry bottles from your guests’ hotel stays. Hold a team building event with your staff to create angel bags or give to your local homeless shelters. Incentivise the donation by putting it toward a percentage off a new product or service that you are launching. Go a step further by inviting clients to come to an angel bag stuffing party and use photos for your social media or even a press release.
- Old Linens: Repurpose your old linens. When it’s time to replace your stained or slightly frayed towels, Animal shelters and inner-city school art classes would love to find a new use for you. Try a beach towel drop-off as part of an end of summer post-sun sales event.
- Partnering Up: Partner with a local charity at your next launch party, have them come out to talk about their mission and mingle with guests. Ask your vendor to help support by donating to a raffle with some of the new products. Great ideas for events include a fashion show, mother-daughter DIY spa treatments, a night of education, or a wine and fine lines party. Don’t forget your selfie station.
There’s always a period shortly prior and after the holidays that makes it hard not to notice new opportunities to give to charity. After all, bell-ringers with red coin buckets are so ingrained into the holiday landscape that it’s hard to imagine Christmas without them. With so many beauty businesses already taking up collections of toys or other goods at the holidays, what if you built your business culture around charitable giving year-round?
Thanks for reading! #LetsGrow
Got a question for Katt? Get in touch at info@grafinskin.com! Got feedback? Let us know either in the comments below or tweet us @ThePhorestWord! (Pssst! We’re on Instagram too!)
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Katt Philipps is a licensed esthetician, master makeup artist, beauty business coach, and the Owner of Gräfin Skin + Beauty and Petalandherb.com in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. Katt has appeared on CNN, the BBC, Forbes Magazine, and Phorest FM episode 91.
