The pandemic caused a lot of businesses to close to prevent the spread of the virus. Some businesses never recovered and closed permanently. But others continued to operate and even reopened after the authorities lifted the shelter-at-home orders.
The beauty industry was initially shocked by the lockdowns, but beauty manufacturers shifted to producing cleaning agents and hand sanitizers. Salons also provided free beauty services to medical personnel. With the gradual reopening of the economy, it may be time for these businesses to start thinking about expanding and take advantage of the need of people looking to have their hair done or get a facial after a year of staying at home.
Here are some tips beauty-related businesses can consider when they are planning to grow during a pandemic.
Build Lasting Relationships
The first thing that a beauty business should do is to build lasting relationships with its customers. The business should not treat customers as simple statistics that bring in money every month. Instead, the business should see customers as people with whom they can build a long relationship.
But the relationships the business builds should not be limited to the customers. The business owner should also work with his employees and treat them as part of the family. But this may be a challenging proposition for business owners who are focused mainly on the customers. Due to this, they can take courses to change their management style to treat their employees as people with whom they can build relationships.
The concept of putting people first in a business allows business owners to have loyal customers and employees. They can also help build the business and thrive even in the middle of a crisis.
Focus on Promoting Loyalty
When business owners work on their relationships with their customers, they are promoting loyalty among them. Once they have the loyalty of their existing customers, the business can start working on attracting new customers through its brand and the services it offers.
One good way to entice new customers to return is to ensure the services the business offers to meet the needs of its customers. It should also reflect the business advertisements to ensure the customers are not disappointed when they come in to have their hair or nails done.
The business can also start building a relationship with new customers in the same way it built its relationship with its existing customers. It can try to connect with them through engaging and direct communication. The business can communicate with its customers through its social media channels or email. The important thing here is the connection and engagement with the customers.
Use Social Media Effectively
The market has opened up a bit due to the closure of many businesses across the country. But business owners should not be complacent and should continue to focus on their customer base to expand. With this, the business should use social media to connect with its customers.
Ever since people started staying at home, they relied mainly on the internet for their daily activities. They shopped online, worked online, and even watched movies online. While people started to go out of their homes after the authorities lifted the restrictions, they still went to the internet for most of their needs.
Considering this, the business can focus on connecting with its customers through its social media account. It can post engaging content that will attract the attention of its customers. Additionally, business owners should also make sure to engage their customers if they interact through social media.
Another way for a business to use social media is paid ads. Paid ads allow the beauty business to reach out to potential customers interested in the services it offers. Moreover, it can encourage its existing customers to share their posts with their family and friends to increase its presence online.
Provide Engaging Promotions
When businesses want to leverage social media for their expansion, they should create engaging content that piques the interest of their customers. The engaging posts can be offers that go straight to the point. The offers or promotions should provide value to its customers so that they will be encouraged to take advantage of the offer.
People spend around three hours a day on social media these days. Therefore, businesses have a lot of time to connect with their audience using engaging promotions that urge them to take action. They can start by promoting a product or service, providing an offer, and urging them to take action.
Expanding a beauty business can be challenging during a pandemic. But if business owners know what to do, they can easily increase their market even in the middle of a health crisis.