How to Build Clientele as an Esthetician: Effective Strategies

Learning how to build clientele as an esthetician is key to successfully running a beauty salon. After you've figured out how to start a salon, the next stage is to find the right strategies that will bring clients to your business. Here, we'll look at different ways of how to build a client base from scratch.

Key Points:

• Stand out visually: If your business pops out visually, people will be curious to come in and ask about your services. Make sure you pick a location that has a good amount of foot traffic in an area that can afford your services’ price range.
• Leverage the power of SEO: Make sure your page is ranking at the top of online search results so that it’s easy for both new and repeat clients to find you.
• Don’t be afraid to try different strategies: Give each of your strategies four to five months to see if it works. Circle back after that timeframe to see if it worked, or you want to take a different approach.

10 Ways Esthetician Can Build Their Clientele

Ready to build your clientele? Here are 10 ways to get more people to flock to your business:

• Create a Website That’s Attractive and Professional: Your online presence is how most people are going to find you. Make sure to include sections with all your services and calls to action (CTAs) on each page to make it easy for potential clients to book an appointment. You might consider taking out a beauty salon loan as a possible option to cover website and advertising expenses for your salon.
• Claim Your Online Business Listings: Creating trust is a big part of building a solid client base as an esthetician. By opening profiles on Google, Apple Maps, Yelp, Facebook, and Yellow Pages, other people can leave feedback of their experience with your services and help build your credibility as a business online.
• Showcase Your Work in an Online Portfolio: An eye-catching portfolio not only shows what you do best, but can also inspire new and repeat customers to try something different. 
• Network with People in Your Local Community: The more people know you, the more they will spread the word about your business. Networking in your community is a great way to build up clientele locally.
• Collaborate with Others in the Beauty Industry: Whether it’s influencers or a new product brand, collaborating increases your reach as a business.
• Deliver an Unforgettable Client Experience: The fastest way to build a positive reputation is by ensuring the people that are coming in to your business enjoy their time there.
• Build Your Credibility Through Online Reviews: Everyone looks at what others have to say about a business they’re interested in using. Make sure your reviews are positive to help spread good things about your business online.
• Offer Creative and Memorable Promotions: This is especially important for customers to keep coming back to your business. Think outside the box to create truly memorable promotions people will actually want to use.
• Reward the Loyalty of Your Clients: Discounts, 2-for-1 deals, and loyalty cards are a great way to get one-time customers to turn into repeat customers.
• Build Client Retention: Humans are creatures of habit, and we prefer to go back to a business if we know it’s good and in our area. Follow up with clients to earn repeat business by offering them discounts, telling them about a new service, or any relevant updates that will get them to book with you again.

5 Steps to Building Your Clientele as an Esthetician

It’s easy to feel lost when you don’t know where to begin. By following these easy steps you can start booking more clients little by little.

• Define Your Goal: What exactly is it you want to achieve? Is it a number of clients per month or hit a monthly income goal? Think about what it is that you want to aim for to better understand which direction to move in.
• Create a Plan: Divide your goal into small, attainable benchmarks that you can slowly but surely achieve. Starting off with a goal of reaching 100 clients a week is not practical and could quickly frustrate you. Instead, aim for 5 and increase your goal over time. Strategize online and plan ahead as to what is the best course to achieve your goal. 
• Evaluate Your Progress: As management thinker, Peter Drucker once said “You can't manage what you can't measure.” This means you won't know whether your strategy is effective unless you are able to monitor your progress in numbers. Tools like spreadsheets or KPI tracking software are useful to get a deep understanding of how you’re doing. Here are five key performance indicators (KPIs) to help you track your progress:
  • Revenue growth
  • Revenue per client
  • Profit margin
  • Client retention rate
  • Customer satisfaction
• Make Adjustments: Your first approach won’t always necessarily be the most successful. Give your first idea a try and if it isn’t bringing you the results you want make adjustments to your plan and give the new plan four to five months to see if it works.
• Be Persistent: Nothing worth creating is made overnight. Keep working at building your clientele as an esthetician, and over time with the right strategies you’ll achieve your goal.

Marketing Tips to Help Estheticians Build Their Clientele

Marketing is one of the key pieces of the puzzle that will help you build clientele as an esthetician. Here are a few ways to leverage the power of salon marketing:

• Define Your Target Market: You must understand your clients in order for your company to flourish. Knowing your clients will help you identify who is ready to pay for your services in your area. This is a much more efficient and cost-effective method of reaching out to clients and growing your business.
• Create a Brand Identity: Brand identity is critical in distinguishing your company from other competitors. By having a brand identity that stands out, you will make yourself more memorable to both new and repeat clients, ultimately growing your clientele with much more ease.
• Know What Makes You Unique: Your unique selling proposition (UVP) shows to consumers why the choice you offer is best for their needs. When it is integrated into the customer experience, it assures clients they’re making a decision and, in time, they will share these same value props with potential clients from their connections.
• Have a Clear Mission: Mission statements offer an ideal picture for the future of the business and guides its development. Employees are encouraged by mission statements to consider how their actions will influence future business growth and a positive work culture.
• Employ Local SEO Strategies: Local SEO increases the exposure of your company in your area and establishes you as an expert. Clients near you can find you when you leverage local keyword targeting, localized content and backlinks, local business listings, favorable reviews, as well as social media with local hashtags.
• Advertise on Social Media: Once you know who your target audience is, you can pick 1-2 platforms to target your marketing efforts through social media. Depending on your client base’s age group, pick whether you want to have your strongest presence on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok to expand your reach.
• Incentivize Referrals: Everyone loves a good discount, especially when they’ve shared helpful information with friends and family. Offer incentives when current clients refer new customers to your business.
• Build an Email List: Having an email list enables you to convey news and discounts about your business to your clients, subscribers, and prospects. It’ll help remind them to get an appointment with you more often.

Pricing Strategies for Estheticians to Attract and Retain Clients

While everyone should set their own prices depending on their target audience and location, here are a few ways to attract new customers:

• Introductory pricing: Offer a special price for the first appointment to get your clients excited about your business.
• Bundle services: Give clients a discounted price for getting two or more services that often go hand in hand, like mani/pedi or a haircut and blowout. 
• Loyalty programs: Keep clients coming back for more with a loyalty program. Offer them a loyalty card where they get a sticker or stamp every time they come in and get a discount or freebie once the card is full.
• Adjust pricing according to demand: Think of raising your prices near important holidays like 4th of July or Christmas, when you know you’ll be fully booked.
• Competitive pricing: Take a look at the competition in your area. What are their price ranges? Based on competitor research, adjust your prices so that they aren’t too high or too low.

Maximizing Your Esthetician Skills: Build Your Clientele Through Specializations

What’s a market need that nobody else in your area is addressing? By going above and beyond and really digging into what people need but aren’t finding in your area, you could become known for that exclusive service that nobody else is offering.

Final Word

There are numerous effective methods to get customers as an esthetician, such as rewarding your clients with discounts or requesting they write favorable online reviews. A/B test different strategies to find what suits your business best. Whatever method you use to bring in clients, keep in mind that client retention is critical to the success of your business. To keep clients coming back again and again, make sure to provide an exceptional client experience at every appointment.