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7 Simple Yet Effective Valentine’s Day Marketing Ideas for Salons And Spas

7 Simple Yet Effective Valentine’s Day Marketing Ideas for Salons And Spas

This post has been updated on January 11, 2022.


Over 3.3 million results appear when you search for ‘Valentine’s day marketing ideas for salons and spas’ on Google.

Search trend for Valentine's day marketing ideas for salons and spas

So how is our idea-list different? 

1) No need to drop everything that you’re doing to try these ideas.

Making extra money during Valentine’s sounds tempting, but that’s not the only thing you gotta do! Running a salon or a spa is a busy business and as much as you might want to put in all you have to pull off a marketing campaign – let’s face it: Sometimes, you gotta do your daily grind first!

And we get that! 

That’s why our ideas are curated keeping in mind that they can be easily planned and executed – both by big teams and solopreneurs.

2) These ideas will help you meet your goals – not hamper them!

No random try-outs for campaigns without goal setting anymore!

All marketing ideas we propose are categorized under the business goal that you want to achieve this year (get more customers, increase brand loyalty, etc.).You can choose to implement the ideas and strategies based on what you want to achieve this year, quarter, or month!

3) Most importantly: They are designed to be planned under a day!

All ideas are simple, effective, and are designed to ensure that you’re less focused on planning and more on execution. Unlike lucrative marketing campaigns that can overwhelm your team, these ideas are fun and easy. 

Just spend a day planning ahead, and keep improvising what’s working for you.

Bonus: Ready-to-use templates to get you started right away.


Ready to start hustling? 

  1. Why invest in Valentine’s Day marketing?
  2. The scope: Who can be your target audience?
  3. 7 Valentine’s Day Marketing ideas to make more money for your salon/spa

Why invest in Valentine’s day marketing?

Here’s why you shouldn’t miss this party:


1) Your services can be the perfect gift  

The gifting behavior for Valentine’s day has shifted. 

People are not planning grand gestures or thinking of gifting expensive holidays anymore. And that’s despite V-Day falling right after the weekend (thus creating a sort of Valentine’s Weekend). 

Instead, they are more interested in ‘gifting an experience’. And that is where your salon/ spa can come to save the day! Think Spa days, makeovers, massages, hair treatments, etc. With the increasing focus on mental and physical well-being, gift-givers are now choosing these options for their loved ones.

By marketing your salon or spa services as gifts during the Valentine month (or for any other gift-giving festival for that matter), you can easily hack your way up to increased money! 


2) The sales potential is huge! 

Despite its romantic roots, 14th February is not just about couples anymore. Young people are doing it differently. 

Many aren’t officially celebrating but will still mark the event in some way. They plan to treat themselves to something special or spend some quality time with other single friends. 

Some even give each other “Anti-Valentine’s Day” gifts.

This means that a big chunk of your existing and potential customers will be looking to spend their money buying experiences for themselves or their loved ones – in one way or the other. 


3) It’s perfectly placed to help boost revenue in the slow season 

The aftermath of the Christmas rush and the long wait for the summer sun can be very damaging for your salon or spa. Eventually, January, February, and March end up being the “sloth” months in your calendar. 

But, the love-gods not only help your customers express their affection but also give you an opportunity to stabilize your profits during slow months with this V-day rush!

With people looking to glam up for Valentine’s Day parties, to those looking to celebrate the day pampering themselves at your salon or spa, your action steps should be to drive appointment bookings while taking all Covid-19 precautions and increase retail sales with Valentine’s day promotions that your customers will “love”!


The scope: Who can be your target audience?

Before you put on your work pants, it is crucial to understand what target audience are you actually catering to. All your salon and spa marketing ideas are going to be affected by who you want to cater to.

Your themes, gift cards, hamper ideas – everything is going to change with your target audience.

So, here’s a list of potential demographics that you might want to sell to. 

Pick one or pick them all – but make sure to map them to your customer list and decide which ones work best for your salon or spa business! 


1) Men

68% of men are expected to spend money on gifts for their loved ones compared to 59% of women. 

Plus: Men are, almost without any exception, “last-minute” shoppers when it comes to gifts.

It would not be a surprise if one of your Valentine’s special goodie bags grabs their attention from the window of your salon. When you want to market your services, it is a necessity to push through the last- minute and help the men be the best beings for their loved ones.


2) All the single ladies (Galentine’s day)

Join the Galentine’s day buzz!

On February 13, Galentine’s Day, a nonofficial holiday, is celebrated as a day for “ladies celebrating ladies”. You can be a part of the BFF club by offering services like group mani-pedis, day spa packages, blow-out combos, etc.

Even if not for their BFFs, 15% of women who aren’t really celebrating this day are looking for self-care (+ 13% of men as well!). Your Valentine’s day marketing strategies should definitely include special discounts for them as well! A “single” American on average is ready to spend $235.56 on themselves. Looks like ‘me-time’ is the new ‘date-night’!

Happy single ladies all dressed up to celebrate Galentine's day.

3) Families and Friends

Who else other than the ‘special someone’ is expected to be showered with gifts: Friends and Families.

Americans are planning to spend an average of $76 on their kids, $73 on other family members, and $51 on friends. 

Don’t get caught up with couples when dealing with clients on Valentine’s Day and focus on families too!


4) Couples  

Duh! 

More than half of the population celebrates Valentine’s Day with their significant other. 

They are the main focus of Valentine’s day, make sure you have some couple-oriented services as well!

Consumer statistics for Valentine's day

A note of caution: Don’t try to do it all at once!

If you own a small spa/ salon with just two employees, maybe it’s best to stick to just singles, or couples. While, if you are a salon/ spa-owner with 10+ employees, you can maybe serve all the above-mentioned categories. 

Keep in mind the time and resources that you want to invest in Valentine’s Day marketing and proceed accordingly.


7 Valentine’s Day Marketing ideas to make more money for your salon/ spa

What is your business goal for 2022?

(Don’t worry if you don’t have one! Just think about what would you consider a decent professional success by the end of this year? That pretty picture you have in your head – Yes, I’m talking about that!)

If you are just starting out, maybe you want to expand your client list? Or, if you’re already overbooked through the week, you might want to make more money by upselling to existing clients. 

Any marketing campaign that you start should help you achieve these goals and not throw you off the track (February is too early for that anyway!). 

Start by choosing a goal and try out ideas related to it, or pick an idea randomly. Just make sure they help you reach your goals for 2022!

Goal: Get more customers through the door

Goal: Make more upsells and cross-sells 

Goal: Increase brand loyalty 


Goal: Get more customers through the door

V-day is one of the best occasions to increase footfall in your salon or spa. Here are a few Valentine’s Day salon/ spa promotion ideas to help you achieve this:

Idea 1: Valentine’s day discounts to attract new clients

I know…I know…The salon/spa community is divided on whether offering discounts is a good move or not! They attract new clients, and revive old ones, but come at the cost of your precious profits. 

But, a quick search around your neighborhood (physically or on Google) will tell you that most of your local competitors are offering deals for Valentine’s day.  

That’s because it’s one of those times of the year when people are expecting and actively looking for deals with their favorite businesses, stores, and brands. 

So, if you want to tempt your competitor’s clients to come to try out your services or rekindle the romance with your ex-customers (your salon software can help you easily identify these), discounts are the way to go!

Smart Valentine’s Day Discount Ideas for your Salon/Spa Business: 
  • Run a “first love” campaign where you send discount coupons to your highest spending and most loyal clients in your email marketing campaigns to thank them for being there for you for years.
  • Promote Valentine’s day discounts on social media or add offers in your Google My Business Listing. This way you’re targeting more new customers to your salon.
  • Run happy hours to convert slow hours into booked time slots: Convert your slow hours into “Happy hours” with luring discounted service pricing.
Do it in seconds!

Use salon scheduling software, to create and push Valentine’s day discounts in a few simple clicks. After that, just sit back and see your appointment calendar fill up – no hassles, simple bookings, and payments. 

Sidenote: Appointy users, if you are reading this, creating discounts and offers is a matter of minutes for you. Here’s how.

Pro-tip for promoting your discounts

Use emails and SMS blasts to let your customers know you are offering discounts.

Get our FREE SMS templates to promote your Valentine’s week special offers to your customers. Just leave your email address below:

And here are a few email templates to get you started!

Click to download email marketing templates for Valentine's Day for free.

Idea 2: Sell Packages and Service Combos

One of the best Valentine’s Day salon specials is selling packages and service combos. These are a smart way to put forward your diverse service menu. People are more likely to try out a few services they wouldn’t otherwise if they come in a package deal.

  • For single ladies: Offer self-care packages! Or, create service combos that females can take with their friends (like group mani-pedis, steam baths, etc.). You can also give these packages interesting names.
  • For men: Quick pre-Valentine’s day grooming packages that include hot towel shave, haircut, blow-dry, etc. Or, offer all-inclusive packages with spray tans, shellac nails, and make-up and promote them as gifts men must purchase for the special women in their lives.
  • For couples: 2 customers are better than just 1. Offering a  spa treatment at a discounted rate can be an ideal Valentine gift! So, make it for two and create a couple of spa services. You can also pair up retail products with your services, like couple haircuts, his/her shampoo and conditioner, or his/her grooming products.
How to make it interesting?
  • Run “buy 1 get 1” on couple sessions. Give the couple some private time during their spa where they can talk and live the moment. Put some candles and make the ambiance romantic.
  • You can conduct cute games like “Who’s more likely to”, “Chinese Twister”, board games like crossword, etc., or ask men to do a makeup challenge on their significant others.
How to create salon/ spa packages? 
  • Your salon software can easily help you with creating packages. If you’re already using Appointy to grow and manage your salon you can reach out to our Customer Success Team and they’ll help you set up these packages.

Idea 3: Give out Scratch cards to people who come on that day

They are the ultimate attention grabber!

Scratch cards are cute surprises and get a lot of attention. In fact, many beauty brands like L’oreal Professional give scratch cards when they are launching a new line of cosmetics for people to try them out before.

Try this out during Valentine’s day and your customers might enjoy getting freebies like this.

Here’s how to do this:
  • Give some scratch cards to customers that come in during Valentine’s week. The gifts can be anything from your spa membership to retail products like shampoos and soaps.
  • When customers start winning, the irresistible urge to scratch and win more will automatically lure other customers in and promote your incentive.
  • You can ask local brands to send you some scratch cards or you can get them made for yourself
  • Note: To make sure you’re not giving it away, keep a bill amount limit on which they get the scratch card.

Idea 4: Offer free makeup sessions

Offer free hair and makeup demos to people coming in during the week. You can also do it right outside your salon for some extra V-Day promotion.

Once customers have a taste of how beautiful they look after your demos, they are likely to get excited about getting something done or visiting you to get ready for their Valentine’s Day parties.

You can also keep 1-2 hours of makeup classes for your customers so that they can learn how they can dress up for the big day.


Goal: Make more upsells and cross-sells

This is a great time for you to grab the opportunity to grow your February sales by incorporating the following Valentine’s Day sale ideas:

Idea 5: Sell Valentine’s day gift hampers

Moving onto the next Valentine’s Day promo idea – Gift hampers. These are the best medium to upsell your products, especially when you have a good number of male clientele because they tend to do a lot of last-minute shopping.

Valentine's day gift hampers.
HOW, HOW, HOW?
  • Make handmade hampers that you can sell on your front desk starting Valentine’s week. Ask your staff to promote and upsell. 
  • If you have a good number of male clients, then you can make cute “For her” hampers with body butter, lotions, lipsticks, etc. Men don’t really like shopping and if they can buy a gift coming back from their weekly shave, they’d be really grateful.
  • For families, create a display of lip glosses, hair accessories, or other items that would make good Valentine gifts for parents to give their teen and tween daughters.
  • Make a “For him” gift hamper for women to gift. This will probably sell a lot because men are really hard to buy for. Add grooming kits, a gift card for future use (you never know what they’d like, gift them services instead of something they’ll use).
  • Pack customized hampers. Add champagne, retail products that have been on the shelf for long, promotional pieces from your partners like chocolates, perfumes, lipsticks, nail polishes, etc.
  • Negotiate with your suppliers/distributors to give you some free samples that you can add to the goody bags.
The cherry on top:

Use your salon software or spa software to add these gift hampers as retail sale items so that you can constantly track their sales performance and keep a check on their inventory.

Here’s how to add a new add-on using Appointy


Idea 6: Sell more gift cards

Fact time! 61% of gift card holders spend more than the total value of the gift card.

Whether it’s the person who buys it or who redeems it, gift cards lead both to spend more.

Then why miss out on this treasure?

How to start selling and promoting gift cards?
  • Design and sell Valentine’s Day-specific gift cards using your salon software. You can design these with multiple themes; for single ladies, couples,  family members, etc. with quirky quotes and graphics. Customers can also redeem the gift certificates gifted to them through the same portal.
  • Run Facebook Ads to promote. Send a reminder in your newsletter, by text, or add a banner on your website, in-salon, and across your social media channels.
  • Start gift card sales from the first week of Feb, then extend the validity till March/ April first week and quieter days to make the most of your lean period and boost sales. Just to make it extra special, you can reward clients who are referring new clients to you using the gift card. A free haircut or a head massage maybe.
  • Strike a conversation and then recommend people to buy.

Here’s how to design theme-specific gift cards using Appointy

Get absolutely FREE gift certificate templates to gear up your Valentine’s week salon/ spa promotions and get more people to visit your salon or spa. Just leave your email address and click on the button to download:

Valentine's day gift certificate template to sell in your salon and spa.

Goal: Increase brand loyalty

Loyal customers are the backbone of a salon or spa business. Boost customer loyalty and retention with our final Valentine’s marketing idea:

Idea 7: Turn happy customers into brand advocates

Shower your customers with a little love and show them that you care.

Why is this important?

People are 90% more likely to trust and buy from a brand recommended by a friend.

Your existing clients can be the best brand advocates for your business. If you manage to impress them, they will recommend your salon/spa to friends and family and bring in more customers for you.

And the best part: You have to put in absolutely no additional effort or money. Just do what you do best and get new customers for free.

Appreciating existing customers through a card on Valentine’s.
How to turn happy customers into brand advocates?
  • Offer freebies, service upgrades, or just give them a shoutout for being your customers.
  • Tell them the best part about serving them. Be personal and take out time to do that at least for your most valuable clients. You can send a message, email, handwritten note, or just chat with them. Maybe send some flowers for your female clients as well?
  • Create Valentine’s Day Email Marketing Campaigns for your existing customers to bring them back in. Invite them for the 14th Feb party. Slip in a promotional product, a gift card, goody bags to thank them when they are in the salon, or surprise them with “love notes” for the entire week.

Conclusion

That was a big list, wasn’t it?

We know, but in execution, it’s still a day’s work. Promise!

Just so that you don’t get lost in making To-do’s, we went the extra mile for you and made this Valentine’s Day checklist calendar to help you stay organized.

Download, edit, or take a print – but fill-it out once, and power through Valentine’s week this year!

Valentine's Day checklist calendar preview.
Important note: Do NOT get overwhelmed by this! It looks scary, but is actually pretty simple!

Now that you have all the right tools, you can start executing! 

Valentine’s week is just a few days away and it’s the perfect time to get started with the campaign for your salon or spa. 

Take a few hours out this Sunday and chalk out your To-do list for the week so that you can make this year’s Valentine’s day something to remember. 

Make sure you hit the iron while it’s still hot and let your customers fall in love with your services. 

We really hope we were able to calm your 14th February mind fog to some extent with our extensive guide on Valentine’s day marketing ideas. Let us know what are your trusted ways of making the best out of the crazy love frenzy holiday in the comments below.  

Oh, and happy Valentine’s week to you! One last Valentine-day hack…


About Appointy

We at Appointy, help business owners grow and run their businesses with our online scheduling software. This blog was a part of our ‘Manage your Business’ category, where we provide expert tips, and resources, or simply talk about the challenges that small and medium businesses face every day. 

If you have any thoughts on this blog or would like to chat about your business struggles and achievements, let us know in the comments below. 

We love a good talk!