SpaBoom Blog » Creating Customers

Webinar Presentation Available: Market the Love for Valentine's Day!

Andrea Feucht — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:10:17 +0000

Valentine's Day is almost here and the holiday is a natural fit for spas and salons. Boost your first quarter revenue by catching up on the amazing webinar by Janell from this Wednesday!

She showed easy marketing strategies that generate gift certificate revenue and effectively promote your brand this Valentine's Day – you can't miss this, and you have just one more business day to take advantage of our pre-holiday signup deal, too!

Watch the Video: Market the Love for Valentine's Day – Webinar

Download and follow along with our presentation [PDF]

Facebook Sweepstakes in Minutes

Andrea Feucht — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:23:23 +0000

If you've heard of our amazing Facebook Sweepstakes capabilities but have been hesitant to try it out, we've made it even easier.

First, we have a one-page guide to success for your first (or fortieth!) Sweepstakes using our experience with small businesses all over the country:

Facebook Success Guide

Included on that guide there is a perfectly summarized video you can watch in under 3 minutes that shows you the simple process of setting up a Sweepstakes.

Now, get going and grow your Likes!

6 Degrees of Separation – Not Anymore…

Janell Loving — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:27:08 +0000

We have all recently realized just how close we are to Kevin Bacon, but did you know that now, thanks to Facebook, you might be able to reach him in just over 4 Facebook friends? Whew, good to know and just in time for the remake of Footloose!

Marking the distance between ourselves and others is a very human characteristic. One of the best ways for spas and salons to connect the distance between the business and consumers is by utilizing social media as a networking advantage.

The rise of social networks has reduced the number of degrees of separation between any two people, Facebook researchers say. It's now possible to move from one person to another anywhere on the planet in an average of 4.74 friend-to-friend steps. When considering even the most distant Facebook user in the Siberian tundra or the Peruvian rain forest, a friend of your friend probably knows a friend of their friend, The New York Times (tiered subscription model)

With the holidays upon us one of the quickest and fastest tools to build buzz and generate interest in your Spa /Salon’s holiday gifts is through social media, specifically Facebook.

Facebook is the quickest and most expedient way to share information about your services and holiday gift solutions with a much larger audience now more than ever before. Think about this example – I send my best friend in New Hampshire a gift certificate for her birthday, she posts it on Facebook; her sister-in-law who lives in Spain, sees the post, and buys a spa package gift certificate for the two of them to use while she is visiting over Christmas. What could be better than free advertising, a returning client and the purchase of a larger Christmas package gift certificate? Facebook makes the connection that easy.

You may not like the idea of Facebook, or use it personally, but don’t you want to reach those potential spa and salon goers who are talking about their next purchase, hair cut or service treatment? And who knows, maybe Kevin Bacon will stop in!

What Your Clients Want — Sweepstakes with a Chance

Andrea Feucht — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:52:46 +0000

I received an email today from Amazon, inviting me to enter their sweepstakes on Facebook to win a Kindle. Over four weeks, they are giving out 4 Kindles plus 3 to the friends of the winners.

So, I can go to Facebook and Like Amazon, then enter the sweepstakes. Guess how many people Like Amazon right now? ~~1,686,315~~ (Scratch that. Since starting this post they are now at 1,689,515.) Now, that might not be nearly the same number as those that have entered the contest, but really, what kind of odds does that represent? That's about a 1-in-fuggedaboutit odds. I might as well buy a lottery ticket. (Or just buy a Kindle. Perhaps that's the real hook.)

However, YOU can give your clients what they deserve — both the amazing gift of YOUR services, and a real actual chance to win. If you have a few hundred Likes, or even a few dozen, or a few thousand, the clients that enter your sweepstakes using the BoomTime Sweepstakes feature, they can count on having a fighting chance on seeing some gift certificate joy.

Now, that's something to get excited about.

Feel free to tout this very sentiment when you promote your Sweepstakes – use my words all you want. I won't mind.

Don't Fake it on Facebook

Stephany Toman — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 20:49:14 +0000

Or maybe we should just say, "Let the real you shine through!"

More and more businesses are hiring out their social media management, often with mediocre or just plain dismal results.

Why doesn't hiring a 'pro' for this work?

Your social media audience, particularly your Facebook friends, want your thoughts, your expertise, your style, your viewpoint out there, not some canned copy that's being used repeatedly and which means, well, certainly less than what you have to say.

SpaBoom takes all the pain out of keeping it real out on Facebook-your posts are created automatically, and reflect exactly what you are featuring and promoting at any given time, so it's always all about your newest news.

3 Social Media Blunders To Learn From, on OpenForum.com, elaborates in Blunder 2:

You can't outsource your online self. It’s not genuine. There will be a disconnect between your company and your customers.

So put the "real" you out there or you may find your following shrinks, rather than expands like you'd like.

It'll be time well spent.

Are You Not Answering the Facebook Phone?

Andrea Feucht — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:01:26 +0000

Imagine if you installed a phone in your place of business and invited people to get in touch with you that way. Your phone number is easily found on the internet and anyone could call. And then… you pick up the phone about one in every 20 times it rings. Crazy, right?

This is what a new survey found on Facebook business pages – 95% of posts to business Facebook Pages go completely unanswered. Wow.

Some industries are better than others (telecommunications companies tended to be at the top and they're still just 25%!). Overall, it's pretty bleak. Luckily, it is not hard to fix.

There are clearly easy ways to build your customer relationships, and social media is one of the easiest. But you DO have to pay attention. Set up a notification so that you receive a text or an email when someone posts to your Wall. If the sheer volume would overwhelm your SMS plan, you might have other issues in managing your business. A couple per day or week isn't going to put much dent in your phone usage or even your free time.

Even when someone just posts a "thank you!", or a "I love this spa!" — give them feedback. Acknowledge and thank them for reaching out. For actual questions or concerns, handle those as needed. Address posts as soon as possible — by the end of the business day is best. Keep a good track record and your clients will be singing your praises — even more than they already do.

Webinar Downloads: Execute Holiday Campaigns for 2011

Andrea Feucht — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:06:28 +0000

Did you know there is less than a month until holiday shopping begins in earnest? Last month we gave you strategies on how to perfect your holiday marketing campaign. First, watch our webinar from last month and get caught up, then check in on our latest webinar – how to put it all together.

Yesterday, Janell and Dena took the tips to the next level – how to maximize and follow through on your online holiday marketing campaigns. We used the word "execute" for a reason – you will be the killer present under the tree for your clients this holiday season – just make sure they know it and keep coming back to everything that you offer.

If you could not be with us, just view and download our webinar files on your own schedule — but do it soon!

Watch the Video: Execute Your 2011 Holiday Campaigns

Download and follow along with our presentation [PDF]

Yelp Rating Increases bottom Line, Unless You Groupon

Spa Kat — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:41:34 +0000

Harvard Business School has released a new study finding that increasing your Yelp rating one star can boost revenue by 5-9% annually. The study also revealed that this was true for independent businesses in particular because consumer reviews have increasingly become substitutes for the supposed reliability and constancy of the chains. Consumers increasingly use review websites to determine the quality of your business long before they ever walk in your door.

In addition, the Harvard study also revealed that Yelp provides more comprehensive reviews than comparable sites. The researchers used government data, tracking revenue of Seattle restaurants between 2003 and 2009. They found that Zagat and the Seattle Times each had reviews for only 5% of all local Seattle restaurants while Yelp’s consumer rating penetration was 69% for the same geographical area.

But, doing a Groupon actually has the opposite effect, a recent study has shown that it can actually diminish your Yelp rating. This is just one more reason not to do a Groupon.

Daily deals site Groupon could be the big loser from the study: computer scientists found recently that businesses tend to see their Yelp rankings decrease after offering a Groupon deal, according to the Technology Review. –Bianca Bosker, One Star Bump on Yelp Leads to Big Revenue Boost, Study Finds

Key Takeaways For Your Business:

Your Yelp rating has a big impact on your bottom line.
Maintaining healthy consumer reviews has never been more important.
Groupon can reduce your Yelp rating and have a negative impact on your business.
If Yelp has a strong standing in a market, it will swing revenue away from chains and toward independent restaurants.

Webinar Downloads: Ignite Your 2011 Holiday Revenue

Andrea Feucht — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:54:29 +0000

It's the end of September. NOW is the time to perfect your holiday marketing campaign. It might seem soon, but trust us, your clients shop earlier every single year and having your strategy in place as soon as possible will get YOU in front of their shopping list before many of your local competition. Our webinar this week is exactly what you need.

Janell and Dena were rockin' and rollin' on Wednesday, taking a holiday-hungry audience through tips to leverage your online holiday marketing campaigns, resulting in growth potential for the coming year and increased revenue for your salon/spa this holiday season.

If you could not join in for the engaging presentation, just view and download our webinar files on your own schedule — but do it soon!

Watch the Video: Ignite Your Holiday Revenue for 2011

Download and follow along with our presentation [PDF]

Joy of Spa News: Embracing the Changing Seasons (Ready for you to customize)

Stephany Toman — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 16:00:22 +0000

The Joy of Spa News: Embracing the Changing Seasons edition is now ready for you to customize. It is complete as is, but you are always welcome to make it yours by playing with the introduction, which follows:

How quickly the heat of summer wanes and Fall's cool breezes arrive. As the seasons shift, we should take time to assess, and to embrace what we've been given. We're rich beyond measure, but often become too wrapped up in the day-to-day to fully appreciate our gifts. Stop, breathe deeply, and look around you. We'll bet you'll be overwhelmed in a most amazing way by what life has brought you. Happy Fall from Team Joy!

This edition will launch over a three day period, October 2nd-4th, unless you've opted to change the date it goes out. Be sure to make any changes prior to that date! (And be sure to send yourself a test email after making any edits, and remember that Events that encompass the date on which your email is sent will be included in the email as well.)

Note: The new articles that accompany this edition of the Joy of Spa News will appear magically before it goes out to your clients, even if you can't see them in their entirety when you send yourself a test email. No worries, they'll be in place! We promise!

We highly recommend creating Fall events and relaxing, soothing, service packages to accompany this edition of Joy of Spa News. Helping people choose a great spa gift package for the occasion provides them a perfect gift solution while increasing the average amount of the gift certificates — a win win!

Remember, the Joy of Spa News is branded with your spa's logo and when your client clicks to read more, the website is branded with your logo, too!

Not yet signed up to send a beautiful, branded newsletter to your clients on a regular basis? Now is your time to get onboard! Go to Setup, Basics to put Joy of Spa to work for your spa!

Yelp CEO: Groupon Model Unsustainable

Spa Kat — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 21:47:17 +0000

First there was word that Facebook was eliminating their daily deals program and then this week we heard from Greg Sterling that Yelp plans to chop their deals sales force in half. Anyone else hear the bottom dropping out of this absolutely unsustainable segment?

We've also heard consistently from certain categories of businesses (very popular ones I'm afraid) that daily deals are uneconomic for them, which does raise questions around the sustainability of "50% off" daily deals for these types of businesses. –Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO Yelp, Yelp Web Blog

The economics of Groupon and other Daily Deal clone offers are absolutely out of whack, falling way short of providing long term value for most businesses. They have clearly over promised new customer acquisition generated by the trumped-up lure of deeply discounted coupons. Most businesses just can't recoup the deal's cost in new business generated from the promotions.

Most analysts and observers agree: the current deep discounting so appealing to consumers, with “50 percent margins” to deal vendors, is unsustainable. Many people, including me, also believe that more “balance” and merchant-friendly policies will inevitably come about. Indeed it’s already happening as some deals programs begin to focus more on loyalty than new customer acquisition. –Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO Yelp, Yelp Web Blog

What's the best way to use deals in your marketing mix? Run them yourself with BoomTime Deals, they produce more long term clients by selling intelligently discounted deals to a targeted demographic.

Webinar Downloads Available for Creating Strategic Promotions

Andrea Feucht — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 18:13:02 +0000

Janell does it again, walking you and a whole webinar audience through the tricky waters of creating strategic promotions. She showed which type of promotions will deliver more sales versus which develop new clients or even which are better at increasing brand exposure.

The magical three (group deals, daily deals, featured specials) made for a fantastic learning session and we hope you enjoyed it.

If you could not join in to take part in the discussion, just view and download our webinar files and catch up on your own schedule – and then hop to it by creating your own amazing promotions.

Watch the Video: Three Strategic Promotion Tools

Download and follow along with our presentation [PDF]

The Joy of Spa News: The Art of a Cool Summer (Ready for you to tweak!)

Stephany Toman — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 19:46:03 +0000

The Joy of Spa News: The Art of a Cool Summer edition is now ready for you to customize. It is complete as is, but you are always welcome to make it yours by playing with the introduction.

Joy of Spa News: The Art of a Cool Summer will launch over a three day period, August 7th-9th, unless you've opted to change the date it goes out. Be sure to make any changes prior to that date! (And be sure to send yourself a test email after making any edits, and remember that Events that encompass the date on which your email is sent will be included in the email as well.)

Note: The new articles that accompany this edition of the Joy of Spa News will appear magically before it goes out to your clients, even if you can't see them in their entirety when you send yourself a test email. No worries, they'll be in place! We promise!

We highly recommend creating Summer events and cooling, soothing, service packages to accompany this edition of Joy of Spa News. Helping people choose a great spa gift package for the occasion provides them a perfect gift solution while increasing the average amount of the gift certificates — a win win!

Remember, the Joy of Spa News is branded with your spa's logo and when your client clicks to read more, the website is branded with your logo, too!

Not yet signed up to send a beautiful, branded newsletter to your clients on a regular basis? Now is your time to get onboard! Go to Setup, Basics to put Joy of Spa to work for your spa!

3 Success Stories of Promotions with Results: Webinar Downloads Available

Andrea Feucht — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 15:31:05 +0000

You might have missed your chance to take in the webinar about secrets that helped local spas and salons execute successful online promotions and drive more sales than they ever imagined.

Seth and Janell used three wildly successful promotions as examples – what made them blockbusters and how you can easily implement similar programs in your spa or salon.

If you missed all the fun, just view and download our webinar files and catch up on your own schedule.

Watch the Video: Three Successful Promotions with Big Results

Download and follow along with our presentation [PDF]

Double Your Summer — Free Webinar

Spa Kat — Thu, 12 May 2011 19:15:33 +0000

Now is your chance to take full advantage of all the marketing features in your arsenal to build repeat clientele and make sales sizzle, even in the lull of summer.

Join us as we reveal how to leverage promotional opportunities with a marketing strategy designed to keep your spa busy and double your sales this summer.

Double Your Summer — Free Webinar

Reserve your Webinar Seat Now!

Title: Double your Summer — Free Webinar
Date: Wednesday, May 25th , 2011
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EDT

Yelp reviews, sometimes a little perspective is just the ticket

Stephany Toman — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:26:07 +0000

The spa industry is not alone in spending tons of time worrying about what clients are saying about their spa experiences on the Web. A bad review can cause a lot of concern, the need for a 'fix', and the hope that a happier client will then go back out and review how well their issue was addressed.

Sometimes a little humor is in order when it comes to reviews, though, as the reviewer may not always be on target or even providing relevant feedback. Derek Brown's blog post, A Field Guide to Yelp's Unhappy, Unhelpful Eaters on TheAtlantic.com puts it into perspective.

…I turned to Yelp reviews of well-regarded places that I've been. While looking through those reviews, I noticed a flock of reviews lacking rigor, ethics, and discretion. They completely missed the mark. Are these reviews what people are basing their dining decisions on?

We hope you enjoy!

(UPDATED) Face and Body Spa Conference, Chicago — March 12-14

Spa Kat — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:50:29 +0000

UPDATE: If you'd like a copy of the presentation Seth used on Saturday, you're in the right place: Roll Your Own Groupon-Style Deal [PDF]

Please join our very own Seth Gardenswartz, a featured speaker at the upcoming Face and Body Midwest Spa Conference and Expo in Chicago at McCormick Place West, March 12-14, 2011.

Seth will identify key strategies to optimize the economics of a group deal and create a true win-win for spas.

Roll Your Own Groupon
Seth Gardenswartz, SpaBoom
Saturday, March 12 2:45–3:45pm

Group discount deals are raging, so get full access to the secrets that will make them successful for your spa and keep new customers coming back. Learn how to leverage the power of group buying to build your client base, increase revenue all while enhancing your spa's services and increasing your social media reach.

We hope to see you there!

Salon Marketing Supercharged: Webinar Downloads

Andrea Feucht — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 23:31:02 +0000

If you attended our webinar today on salon marketing, thank you! Salons need smart marketing solutions and best practices for fashioning an exclusive mix of services, building a loyal client base, growing product sales and staying on top of the latest online marketing trends.

If you couldn't make it, we have some great news – you can relive the magic by viewing our slideshow or watching the video of the webinar that we recorded live. You won't hear the Q & A at the end, but feel free to call us and one of our amazing folks like Janell or Seth will A any Q you can come up with.

Watch the Video: Supercharged Salon Marketing

Download and follow along with our presentation [PDF]

Be My Valentine: Signup Card With Phone & Address

Andrea Feucht — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 23:17:44 +0000

You asked, we listened – we've added a new Signup card design to your list of Collateral in Marketing. By the time you read this post, it will already be there – head over to your Marketing Tab and click Collateral to see all available designs. If it's not there, just click on "Update Collateral" on the left and you'll get a fresh download of our default pieces.

We added your spa's name to the sub-header, as well as your name, phone number, website, and address at the bottom!

The new name of the card, so you can spot it, is "Be My Valentine Signup with Phone/Addr". We've left the old one, just in case you'd like to use it anyway.

Have a wonderful Valentine week and keep promoting yourselves!

Webinar Content: Addicted to Love

Andrea Feucht — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 17:19:32 +0000

Thanks to all who attended our Addicted to Love webinar on Wednesday the 19th by the vivacious Janell Loving and Seth "let's talk about sexy yield management" Gardenswartz. Valentine's Day is fast approaching and you have time to make this one memorable for both your clients and your bottom line.

Love makes people spend over $17 billion each year for Valentines Day. Watch Seth and Janell share techniques to help your spa get its share. We will give you a comprehensive plan to satisfy the unrequited revenue needs of your spa and help people achieve relationship bliss.

Watch the Video: Addicted to Love

Download and follow along with our presentation [PDF]