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In this whirl of social media, flashy online ads, and influencer campaigns, it’s tempting to focus all your marketing efforts on the newest, brightest things.
But let’s not forget a tried-and-true classic – salon email marketing.
Yes, it’s one of the oldest tricks in the digital book, but it remains an incredibly effective marketing strategy for staying in touch with clients, boosting engagement, and turning them into regular customers.
If you’re ready to explore the power of email, you’re in the right place.
In this article, we’ll dive into the benefits of salon email marketing, share best practices for creating content that gets opened, and provide seven ready-to-use email templates to kickstart your campaigns.
Let’s get started!
Why use email marketing for a salon?
Before we delve into crafting those perfect emails and explore our templates, let’s unpack exactly why email marketing is a powerful tool for salon business owners.
Direct and personalized communication
Think of email as your digital doorway for one-on-one conversations with clients. Unlike social media where posts might get lost in the noise due to complicated and ever-changing algorithms, you own your email list.
This gives you direct control over your messaging and you decide what you send and who you communicate with.
You even have the opportunity to personalize your messages based on specific client interests, purchase history, or even upcoming birthdays.
This level of attention builds stronger relationships and makes your clients feel like VIPs, which keeps them loyal and coming back for more.
Cost-efficiency
OK, so there may be other direct and personalized communication methods out there, but they don’t have what email has: great cost efficiency.
With a minimal investment, email allows you to get a massive return on investment (ROI). We’re talking an average of $36 for every $1 spent.
In fact, email consistently delivers one of the highest ROI across all channels. That makes it a super accessible and efficient strategy for salon owners, from solo stylists to huge hair salons and beauty businesses.
Better client retention
Say you’ve got a client who loves your salon, but life gets busy, and they start to forget about you. No worries – email marketing can help here as well.
By keeping your clients engaged and loyal through regular – or even better, automated – email updates and personalized content, you can make sure your salon stays top of mind.
Whether it’s a monthly newsletter showcasing your latest services or a birthday message with a special discount, engaging email content can make all the difference.
Ultimately, this can lead to clients booking appointments more frequently and staying loyal to your salon for years to come.
Offering promotions and special offers
What’s an even better way to make sure you get more appointments booked than by offering promotions and special offers?
Email campaigns are the perfect way to effectively promote these offers directly to your clients. Imagine your client opening their inbox to find a newsletter showcasing a limited-time discount on their favorite service or, even better, introducing them to a new treatment they didn’t even know they needed – until now.
By using email to share these promotions, you can drive bookings and encourage clients to try new services, all while keeping them excited about your salon.
Building and segmenting your email list
Before you can send perfectly crafted email marketing campaigns to clients, you need an audience!
First, it’s essential to obtain explicit permission before adding anyone to your list. This isn’t just good practice, it’s the law in many regions. And even after you get permission, make sure you have an unsubscribe link in your emails and respect clients who don’t want to receive any messages.
To get new subscribers, you want to simplify the sign-up process. Place forms on your salon website, and social media, and have your front house staff ask clients whether they’d like to receive promotional emails.
For an added incentive, you need to let clients know that you offer something valuable in exchange for signing up for your monthly newsletter. It can be anything from:
- Exclusive first looks at new services
- Discounts or gift cards
- Helpful content like haircare tips
How to segment your email list
Once you have a sizable list, it’s time to segment it. This means dividing clients into smaller groups based on shared characteristics like:
- Client preferences (services booked, products bought)
- Frequency of visits (regular vs. occasional visitors)
- Demographics (age, location, gender)
Many email marketing tools like Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign offer basic segmentation features, but using a separate system means you’re missing out on powerful targeting capabilities.
How so?
Well, salon management software like Pabau with a diverse marketing toolkit offers a significant advantage by allowing you to segment your audience by
- the salon services most often used
- spending habits
- booking behavior
Because your client data is readily accessible within Pabau, you can create highly personalized campaigns directly within the software. This eliminates the need to export or combine data from separate systems, saving you time and effort.
Best practices for effective salon email marketing
Once you’ve segmented your email list, it’s time to send out those emails.
But hold on, you can’t just send any old email. The right email marketing strategy and approach can make the difference between a successful campaign and one that falls flat.
Let’s go over six best practices to ensure your emails land in inboxes and drive results.
Craft engaging subject lines
Your email subject line is the first impression your message makes. It’s the difference between an email being opened and instantly deleted.
To make sure your subject line shines, here are a few tips:
- Keep it short
- Personalize when possible and include the client’s name
- Have a human sender name to look authentic
- Ask a question and use impactful words and numbers
- Create a sense of urgency
Design eye-catching emails
Once your client opens the email, you want to keep them engaged.
Visually appealing design creates a positive experience and encourages them to take action, so make sure you follow these tips:
- Use plenty of white space, concise headings, and short paragraphs with clean fonts for easy reading
- Have high-quality images and videos to elevate your email’s look and feel
- Use prominent calls to action like “Book Now” or “Learn More” that stand out visually
- Most emails are read on mobile devices so ensure your design looks great on small screens
You don’t have to be a designer to do this, just create visuals with free tools like Canva, or leverage any email design features available in your salon software.
Create valuable content for your audience
As for the content itself, your emails should offer something your clients find interesting, useful, or enticing.
Here are a few ideas:
- Seasonal tips and product recommendations
- Exclusive offers like loyalty and referral programs, introducing new treatments and products, and any other offers to give clients a reason to visit
- News and salon announcements that let clients know more about your business
Take advantage of holidays and life events
Holidays and special occasions offer a perfect opportunity to connect with clients and boost bookings. Plan your content calendar around key events like the following:
- Major holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day – these are great for themed promotions and gift certificate offers
- Client milestones like birthdays and other special days are prime time to show appreciation and offer personalized offers
- Partner with other businesses or participate in community happenings to raise awareness and tie into your email campaigns
We’ll go into more detail about specific templates for these special occasions in one of the sections below.
Personalize and automate
Personalization and automation make your marketing efforts both more effective and efficient.
Start by including client names in subject lines and body text for a personal touch, and use the segments you created earlier to send relevant content like wellness or beauty tips or targeted offers.
Then, save yourself time by automating things like birthday greetings, welcome emails, and appointment reminders.
Using Pabau’s automation features this is extremely easy.
Want to send birthday emails?
Just create an automation that runs every day and checks for clients whose birthdays are today and automatically sends them an email. It’s that easy.
Creating other custom rules is just as effortless, requiring only a one-time setup. After that, the system takes care of everything for you automatically.
Want to learn more about streamlining your salon’s marketing? Explore our marketing features.
Track and analyze your campaigns
Once you send out your emails, your work doesn’t stop there. By continuously tracking key email marketing metrics, you’ll gain insights into what’s working and what’s not, allowing you to refine your campaigns for maximum impact.
Pay attention to:
- Open rates: How many people are actually opening your emails?
- Click-through rates: Are recipients clicking on your links and CTAs?
- Client behavior: What specific links are recipients clicking on?
- Conversion rates: How many email clicks lead to bookings or purchases?
Armed with this data, you can adjust subject lines, content, offers, and even send times to steadily improve your email marketing results.
Email templates and ideas for salons
OK, we’ve covered the best practices – now let’s see some email marketing ideas.
In the next sections, we’ll show you seven salon email templates, each designed with a specific goal in mind, from welcoming email newsletter subscribers to encouraging repeat for existing clients.
Feel free to use these templates and personalize them to match your salon’s voice and specific offerings.
1. Welcome email
A warm welcome sets the stage for a long-lasting client relationship. So, in the first message new clients get when they sign up for a salon business email list you should introduce your salon business and your services, and show appreciation to the client to help them feel valued.
Here’s what such an email can look like:
- We’re so excited to have you here! Here at [Salon name], we’re passionate about helping you look and feel your best. Feel free to browse our treatments, meet our team, and book your first appointment online. ✨
As a thank you for joining us, here’s a [discount or small gift offer] on your first visit. We can’t wait to meet you!
2. Promotional email
Promotional emails are your chance to showcase exciting offers, new services, or limited-time deals – generating buzz and enticing clients to book.
While these emails will vary depending on the promotion, here’s a simple template:
- We’re excited to announce [description of your offer or service]! 📣 Experience the results yourself – don’t miss out and claim this limited-time offer! [Book Now button]
As a note, always try to include a clear call to action (CTA). The purpose of promotional emails is to guide the client towards a desired action, so get them to act with CTA buttons like “Book Online,” “Learn More” etc.
3. Appointment reminder email
Next up are appointment reminders, which are crucial for reducing no-shows and ensuring a smooth schedule. These emails give clients a gentle nudge and offer the convenience of easily confirming or rescheduling a booking if needed.
Appointment reminder email template:
- Just a friendly reminder about your upcoming appointment on [date] at [time] for [service]. We look forward to seeing you!
Can’t make it? No problem! Click below to reschedule or cancel your appointment.
[Reschedule & Cancel buttons]
4. Birthday/anniversary email
Celebrating birthdays or client anniversaries with your salon is fantastic for building client loyalty and making them feel special. By sending emails for these milestones, your salon can become a part of the clients’ personal celebrations.
Here are two templates you can use:
- Hi [Client name]. We wanted to wish you the happiest of birthdays! 🎉 To celebrate, enjoy [discount or special offer] on your next visit to [Salon name]. We hope your day is as amazing as you are!
- It’s been [number] years since you first visited our salon, and we’re so grateful to have you as a client. Thank you for being a part of our [Salon name] family!
Although it’s optional, including a discount or special promotion adds a treat to the celebratory message and entices the client to use their gift by making an appointment.
5. Feedback request email
Feedback emails are crucial for gathering client insights, improving your services, and showing you care about their experience.
It’s worth noting that you need to adjust the timing of these messages depending on the salon treatment.
Got a client that just had Botox? Get that feedback request out quickly, while their results are fresh in mind. But for treatments with longer healing periods, it’s wise to wait a bit before asking for their thoughts.
So, at the right time, you can send follow-up emails like the following one:
- Thank you for your recent visit to [Salon name]. We’re always striving to provide the best possible experience. Would you mind taking a few minutes to share your feedback in a short survey? [Link to survey]
As with the other emails, you can offer a small thank you, like a discount on their next visit, for completing the survey.
6. Seasonal offer email
These emails tap into the shared experiences and emotions associated with the changing seasons, making them naturally relatable. Use them to promote seasonally relevant services and products.
Here’s an example of a template you can use to drive more business in summer:
- Summer is here, and it’s time to refresh your look! ☀️ 🏖️ We’re offering special [season-themed] services and products to help you look and feel your best. Get ready to shine all season long. Book Now – these offers won’t last long!
As a tip, make sure you introduce the season’s theme and add vibrant images to your email that reflect the season’s atmosphere. Also, emphasize the limited nature of the offer — a tip relevant for most marketing emails, but especially important for seasonal offers.
7. Re-engagement email
Finally, we have re-engagement emails, designed to win back clients who haven’t visited in a while. They offer a gentle reminder of your salon and can entice them to return.
Template:
- We haven’t seen you in a while and wanted to check in! We’ve missed having you at [Salon name]. To welcome you back, enjoy [special discount or offer] on your next visit.
Ready to book your next session?
In these emails, you want to offer a special incentive to encourage clients to book another appointment. You may also highlight any new services or products since their last visit that they might be interested in.
Streamline your email marketing efforts with Pabau
Hopefully, this blog has highlighted the value of salon email marketing and given you a solid foundation for launching your own campaigns.
To maximize your marketing efforts, consider an all-in-one system like Pabau.
Our email marketing features let you choose from pre-built templates or easily design beautiful custom campaigns and salon newsletters directly within the software.
Since all your client and lead data will already be in Pabau, you get a level of granularity you won’t find in separate email tools.
Want to target clients who’ve no-showed recently or those who consistently spend over a certain amount? With Pabau, you can easily create detailed segments based on factors like these, empowering you to send truly personalized campaigns.
For the most impact, our Marketing Plus upgrade unlocks unlimited email campaigns, premium templates, and advanced automation for things like changing sender addresses and nurturing clients on autopilot.
But, email marketing is just the beginning! Explore Pabau’s extensive marketing features list to discover even more ways to attract and retain clients.
