Jenni Gilbert No matter how excellent your products or services, or how hard and long you work, if you are not marketing your business effectively you are not going to get the return on investment you deserve.
Traditional marketing strategies, however, can be costly and time-consuming, especially for smaller businesses with low staffing levels.
A new digital marketing support platform for Australian and New Zealand salons, spas and clinics has just been launched by device technology company Spectrum Science and Beauty.
Spectrum Engage supports quality customer communications at a low fixed monthly cost by harnessing proven consumer communication techniques.
SPA+CLINIC editor Jenni Gilbert talks to Ben Skeggs, CEO of Spectrum Science and Beauty about the growing importance of digital marketing tools.
Where did the idea come from to develop Spectrum Engage?
After experiencing phenomenal results utilising a digital marketing platform for our business, we started researching to see if there was a platform designed specifically for salons, spas and clinics.
After extensive research we found that there was a gap in the market for a platform that was focused, customised, easy to use and that would achieve impressive results.
We then partnered with experts in the marketing industry, YomStar, and created a platform with a range of packages tailored to the needs of the aesthetics industry that was measurable, easy to use and really delivered desired outcomes.
What potential does it offer a salon, spa or clinic to grow their business?
When we went about designing Spectrum Engage we thought about the key outcomes they would like delivered through marketing, which are: increasing revenue, growing the database, driving new customer engagement, creating loyal customers, driving repeat business, maximising customer referrals, educating and promoting their business benefits, and understanding what their customers really think.
Utilised properly, Spectrum Engage can deliver these important business outcomes.
Would it save or reduce outlay on traditional promotional services as advertising?
It is a very effective way to promote services so can be used with existing advertising and could also help reduce costs in other forms of advertising.
The Engage platform gives aesthetics businesses the digital marketing tools normally reserved for big businesses with large budgets at a very affordable monthly investment.
Keep in mind that one new customer can pay for the monthly fee.
How much organisational/data input is required of the business that takes on Spectrum Engage?
Engage has been designed to be as seamless as possible for salons, spas and clinics so it is very easy to implement. We offer a number of different types of campaigns depending on the desired outcome for the month. These include:
- Competitions: Primarily to grow your database and attract new customers. Capture their details and gain insights so you can convert respondents into new customers.
- Rewards and Incentives: Drive new bookings, offer a discount for a quiet day or time. Choose from a range of incentives such as percentage off, buy two get one free and so forth.
- Newsletter Signup: A quick and easy way to get customers email address and basic contact inforomation so you can keep in contact with specials, discounts or new products and services.
- Registration: Got a brand new customer? Get them to complete a quick survey so you know how they want to be contacted (what works for them).
- Customer Feedback Survey: Find out what your customers really think, learn what you are doing right and where you can make improvements to make your business more successful.
- MoodMeter: Receive notifications instantly, when someone is delighted or unhappy with your business, so you can respond to individuals or groups accordingly.
You had seen this kind of model work wonders for other business – can you cite examples?
A couple of examples are as follow:
- York Jewellers had a 143 percent return on their investment within 48 hours.
- Belgravia Leisure had 400 specific sales leads, generated $16,000 in new sales and had 52 sign-ups within two weeks.
