Marketing: an investment, not a cost!

“It takes money to make money.”

Brands like L’Oréal invest up to 24% of their annual revenue back into marketing to continue to grow.

Keeping control of business costs is important. However in order to make money, we need to invest money.

Simple question: would you rather spend £0 and make £20 OR spend £50 and make £2000?

99% of owners would choose the latter but why is it that when surveyed only 33% of owners invest in growing their business through marketing?

If sales are down and business is quiet, companies do not stop marketing. They do the opposite: they increase spend to increase business

Marketing: investment NOT cost

At Slick, we sent over 20 MILLION marketing messages for our salons since 2017

On average each message generates £3.50 of bookings

That means £1 spent on marketing equals £50 of new bookings!

Compare this to Facebook Ads: £1 spent with Facebook ads generates £5-10 of bookings!

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Use our calculator to see how what your marketing budget will make

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Your 3-step plan to a full diary

1. Set a budget.

Typically aim to spend at least 1.5% of your monthly earnings on marketing to grow the business. I.e if your business takes £5,000 in the till then you should aim to spend £75 a month on marketing to your clients. Tip: keep this money in a separate bank account so you can track spend.

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2. Be smart. Use your system data

Rimmel and L’Oréal don’t spend money on just anyone! They only spend marketing money on clients that haven’t bought for a while or to launch new products. Your business is the same.

Use your budget to:

• Tell clients about a new service
• Remind clients who haven’t visited for a while to book back in
• Send targeted offers to add on extra services / staff member

Your system does this for you- all you need to do is write your message!

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3. Marketing does not equal discount.

We hear this all the time: “I don’t want to offer any discount”!

Good! Discount doesn’t equal marketing. Often clients just need a nudge, like the Rimmel advert, to spend their money!

Try these messages on for size:

“We miss you! We notice you haven’t been to see us for a while! Book in today at [salon name] for some TLC!  [insert booking link and phone] x”

“We still some slots left for June if you fancy some self care from [salon name]!  [insert booking link and phone] x”

“WE'VE MISSED YOU. And we're guessing your hair has missed us! Book your appointment at [insert booking link]”

If you want to grow your business then book a free 1-2-1 session with your Slick Business Coach here

Rob Smith is the Co-founder at Slick and former Head of Marketing at brands such as L’Oréal and Philips‍