salon gift cards

Salon Gift Cards: 

Should They be the Go-To Promo This Year?


Let’s just go ahead and face it—some of us lost some serious revenue in 2020.

Don’t get us wrong, we’re very on board with 2021 optimism (and we’ve always been on board with triumph in the face of adversity, too), so we’re not trying to harsh anyone’s mellow or anything. But we’re also very into being upfront and realistic about business goals, and unfortunately, the challenges of last year left a lot of our businesses wanting—especially in the revenue department.

So, we’re willing to bet that if there was a solution out there that could help you bridge that gap in 2021, you’d probably be all for it.

That’s why we’re talkin’ gift cards.

We know this topic might seem tired, but hear us out, salon gift card promotions—when done right—can help you reap serious cash benefits all year long. How can you make this happen? With a little bit of work and a whole lot of marketing gusto.

Seriously, salon gift cards aren’t just a one-and-done situation if you do them correctly—if you make the right moves, you can see year-long benefits that’ll boost even your slowest months.

We’re making a pretty hard argument in favor of gift card strategies—whether you’re already on board or you’re still back-and-forth on this whole gift card thing, we encourage you to keep reading.

We’re about to dive into some serious salon gift card benefits, explain why a well-strategized promotion could mean a huge boost in business, and we’ll even drop some of our fave ideas for gift card campaigns, too.


Why Salon Gift Cards Are a Must

Most beauticians, cosmetologists, and frankly, business owners of any kind, view gift cards as a handy little tool to keep in stock, but not one that necessarily makes a huge difference in their revenue.

If you’re on that train, that’s OK—we’re just here to bring out some potential that you might have overlooked. If you’re into an increase in your revenue, we’ve got a feeling you’ll be into our gift card argument.

So, why exactly are gift cards a must for your business?

  • Gift cards are specific to your salon, shop, or spa, then someone with a gift card is going to come to you no matter what—that’s guaranteed business. If they end up never coming to you, you already made the sale—no harm done, right?
  • When someone buys a salon gift card from you and gives it to someone else, they open up the door for a brand new customer to come into your shop. Did you know it’s cheaper to retain customers than chase down new ones? This new customer is just walkin’ into your shop without any effort—that’s a continuous opportunity right there.
  • Gift cards can be sold anytime and be redeemable by your restrictions—want to put a deadline on it to speed up some of your slower months? Do it—your gift card terms are up to you!
  • Gift cards help lock in your current clients if you do it right. For example, if you offer gift cards for $60 that pay for $80 of service, you can ensure your regular clients will buy up a bunch of those gift cards to use in the future.
  • Overall, gift cards can improve your cash flow. They’re a pretty low-budget way to amp up your marketing and they have a super strong ROI. They make it easy to generate revenue in advance of providing services, products, or both.
  • Gift cards make it easy to collect and analyze data—especially if you’re linking gift cards with online registrations, check-ins, and surveys. These tools can help you better understand how to serve your clients and give them what they’re after.

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Salon Gift Card Promo Ideas We Love

We truly believe that the best gift card promo ideas come from brilliant specialists like you, so we won’t take up too much space here. But if you’re having a hard time getting those initial creative juices flowing, we’ve compiled a teeny list of here of some starter ideas to get you going.

  • Valentine’s Day Gift Card Promotion—This works with any ol’ holiday, of course, but V-Day is next on our list. Create a killer Valentine’s Day promotion that centers around giving the gift of true love—a trip to your shop, salon, or spa.
  • The SEVEN Method We freakin’ love this inspo from the SEVEN team in Bellevue, Washington. The team sold $70K in gift cards in a single day with their strategy: offer a gift card on Black Friday for $70 that offers $100 in hair services. They sold the cards on an in-person-only basis and with a 10-card-per-person limit. They treated the cards like cash (no refund if their customers lost it) and racked up thousands upon thousands of dollars in revenue overnight.

Loving our ideas, inspo, and industry gossip? We’re so glad to hear it—that’s basically why we get up in the morning.

When it comes to you and your career in cosmetology, we always want to ensure we’re doing everything possible to help you out, lend a hand, and give you everything you need to be a badass in your field.

That’s why we’ve made it easier than ever for you to keep up with us and our latest and greatest advice.

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