Worldwide Salon Marketing

Alpha Women are shopping again – what are you doing to get their attention?

by Peter Doman on Wednesday, April 18th, 2012 at 2:29 pm

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Articles that discuss what social groups spending patterns is a very interesting read for a salon marketer. An interesting article came across my desk this morning, talking about what the future holds, and the indicators that companies use to gauge consumer spending.

The article, from Marketwatch talks about how the “alpha women” have had enough of the “tightening purse strings” lifestyle and want to spend. These are the women that set the trends for others to follow.

The article states “The survey findings signal that relief might be in sight for retailers and marketers since women, the world’s great mega niche, influence more than 85 percent of all products and services sold in the U.S — including 60 percent of automobile and 40 percent of stock purchases.”

These women are LOOKING for somewhere to spend their money. Not next week. Not tomorrow. They are looking  NOW! And if you want to be one of the places where they can be seen to go, then you had better act soon.

It is your duty as a salon marketer to make they spend their money with you! YOU just have to give them the reason.

This figure could most certainly be reproduced time and again for each country, not just the US.

53% of these alpha women say they are planning holidays in the next 12 months, and the same group has stated that their financial status has steadied in the last 12 months. Their spending patterns are starting to change and as salon marketers, we need to be aware of this and take full advantage of it. Where the “alpha women” go, the others will follow.

Given that this trend information is usually 6 months to 2 years ahead of its time ( think back to when the housing prices went through the roof in the US, and then 6 months to 2 years later it followed through to the rest of the world, ) then you will see that there is an opportunity for you to take advantage of the future changes and make sure that your salon is ahead of the rest of the industry. Your salon marketing is how you will stay ahead of your competition, and prosper when the others are trying to get new clients in.

You should be marketing your salon more heavily now than ever before, as the competition has thinned out and all the deadwood salons and spas have been shut down. You have the rare opportunity to be the only one in the local paper as everyone is cutting back on costs. It is a clear landscape now that you should be setting your salon up as the only one to go to, no matter what your services are. This current time demands that you set your salon up for success in the future. If you market your salon THE RIGHT WAY, and set yourself up as the “go to” salon in the quiet times, it means that you will reap the rewards for the salon marketing in the future. From what the previously mentioned article states, around 6 months to 2 years is the expected wait time.

Your competitors are cutting back on salon marketing as they see it as an expense that has to be cut to keep the doors open. The savvy salon marketer will see it for what it really is – A ONCE in every 15 to 20 year golden opportunity to set your business  as the place to go. You can market the salon or spa so that when ( and it will happen ) another salon or spa opens around the corner, you already have the marketing systems and strategies behind you to fend off their attack.

This ties in the fact that mothers day is just around the corner, and the “Alpha’s” know what they want.

“Alphas have a clear preference for gifting on Mother’s Day, and all special occasions, “They want family and friends to plan a special way to celebrate the day (41 percent),” added Perro-Jarvis. “She would ideally include a significant gift that she wouldn’t get for herself — like a technology splurge or something sparkly.”

As I said before, THEY ARE LOOKING FOR SOMEWHERE TO SPEND THEIR MONEY!!!

A post by Peter Doman An interesting sense of humor, coupled with "in the trenches" business education. Peter is the Senior Coach at Worldwide Salon Marketing that specializes in direct response marketing consulting