The sale season is upon us! Starting with Black Friday, the last Friday in November, the season of holiday shopping starts, and there’s virtually no business that doesn’t offer discounts or promos on their products and services.
So obviously, PMU businesses shouldn’t miss out on the opportunity to increase bookings during the holiday season! Especially since January tends to be slower, so the weeks leading up to New Year are a great period to boost your income.
We’ve prepared a mini-guide through setting up the best deals on Black Friday and during the holiday season (or any time you feel like doing a promo).
Why Should I Offer PMU Promos During the Holiday Season?
It’s a well-known fact that deals and promos attract new clients – this is nothing new. But it seems that not all artists fully understand the advantages of discounting their services during the holiday season.
Discounting your services inevitably means charging less for the same amount of work you always do, but the slight dent in the price of each treatment is compensated by the increase in bookings.
The math is simple – if you charge less per treatment, but get 50% more bookings then usual, you’ll earn more than if you do nothing and keep the status quo in your schedule.
It’s also a way to raise or maintain your brand awareness – if you’re the only business not offering any special promo in the sea of businesses that are, you’re sending the message that you’re a bit out of tune with the trends.
And worse – the competition who does offer discounts will attract all the deal-seekers in your area.
So now that we’ve got you convinced that seasonal promos are a must, here’s how to set them up.
Image source: Pexels
PMU Promo Strategies for Your Salon
There are a few promo strategies you can apply to your PMU business on Black Friday or during the holiday season.
1. The Good Old Discount
This is the oldest promo known to man – lower the price of your treatment for a limited time and attract all those customers who’ve been eyeing the treatment but were scared off by the full price.
The principle is quite straightforward, but deciding exactly how much you’ll lower the price can be tricky. You want to lower the price enough to make it a good deal, but you don’t want to go too low and earn close to nothing.
We can’t give you a straight answer on how much you should discount your service, but we can help you calculate the optimal discount.
The discount will primarily depend on the normal price of the treatment. If your prices are generally higher and you earn much more than what you spend on supplies, rent, and other expenses, you have more maneuvering space.
But if you’re a relatively new artist and your prices are lower than the average in your area, you’re obviously not gonna go too low.
If you prefer presenting the discount in percentage, 20% off is the fool-proof figure that attracts customers, yet doesn’t devalue your work too much. Just make sure you’re comfortable with the final price.
But you can also present the discount through straight-up prices. Let’s take microblading as an example.
If your treatment is priced at the average $600, you can make a limited-time offer and book clients at $500 without making such a huge dent in your income, yet it’s enough to attract clients. If your normal prices are towards the lower end of the spectrum, give a lower discount – if it’s $300, make it $250.
But if your prices are even lower than that, perhaps this strategy doesn’t pay off. In that case, keep reading and discover alternatives that will.
Idea!
The first Monday after Black Friday came to be known as Cyber Monday, a day of limited-time offers for online purchases. If you have an online booking system, you can take advantage of this and offer discounts on booking made that day via the online booking system.
Image source: Pexels
2. Free Touch Ups
Alternatively, you can charge the full price for the initial treatment, and make the 1st touch up complimentary for a limited number of clients. Of course, this only works if you normally charge for the touch up separately.
Touch ups generally require much less time, energy and effort than initial treatments. You usually only need to make some smaller corrections, not go over the whole brows again, and it shouldn’t take more than 45 minutes to an hour.
So doing it for free for a limited number of clients won’t lower your income, but rather increase it, as you might get new clients.
The only downside here is psychological – if you only get paid for the first session, you might feel like you’re doing the 2nd one for nothing. Remind yourself that this isn’t true and that the increase in the number of clients you’ve booked more than compensates for the complimentary touch ups.
3. Offer Discounts on Gift Cards
The season of giving brings about gift cards. This is something not many artists generally offer, but it’s a great way to earn extra cash during the holidays.
Giving locals the opportunity to gift the treatment to their loved ones will bring all those clients who are on the fence through the door. It’s a very valuable and thoughtful gift, and it sure does make an impression.
If you go the extra mile and make the price of the treatment purchased through a gift card a bit lower for a limited time, you’ll attract more purchases.
The catch here is the fact that you need to advertise this heavily. If you think about it, it’s the receiver of the gift that’s interested in the treatment and that researches salons and thinks about it, not the person buying it.
So you need to spread the word and reach as many people as possible, so that they go, Hey, my mother or sister or whoever wants to get this treatment, what a great gift to get them!
Social media ads can be a great way to reach that audience.
If you decide to go down this road, you should pay attention to details and make the gift card as attractive as possible, so that it’s truly a gift that makes an impression.
You can find generic templates online, but hiring a designer specialized in the beauty industry and getting a customized design will make your business stand out and raise brand awareness.
Final Note – Make Sure to Highlight Your PMU Promos Are Limited-Time
PMU promos only make sense if they’re limited-time. If you run them too often or for too long, you’ll just encourage potential clients to wait for the next one and nobody will book you at full price.
So if you’re going for a Black Friday deal, make sure to state very clearly that it’s only valid that day, or possibly that weekend. If you’re running a seasonal promo, decide whether you’re going for a week-long promo or something longer than that.
If you don’t state the length of the promo very clearly, it’s possible you get inquiries expecting the discounted price even after the deal is through.
Cover image source: Pexels
