8 Ways Salon Owners Can Avoid the Summertime Slump

Summer’s filled with long days, warm temps, and weekend getaways. It may seem like you just finished up the last few marketing tasks on your spring cleaning checklist, but our favorite season of the year is right around the corner. While your clients are hitting the beach and soaking up the sun, you may be stuck inside, scrambling to fill a wide-open appointment book at your salon. If you’re not based in a beach town, it can be a challenge to come up with salon marketing ideas that reach your clients when they’re away on vacation or to convince them to pass up time outdoors or with their family. 

Here are five marketing ideas you can implement now to ensure that you get the most out of summer: 

1. Advertise promotional offers early

The end of spring is an excellent time to start marketing your summertime specials. Busy salons can lose out on sales because so many clients wait until the last minute to get that perfect beach-blonde look or their palm tree manicure for summer vacation and family gatherings.  

A great way to coax clients into your salon is by creating an email and SMS marketing strategy that notifies your clients of any specials you’re running during the season and encourages them to book early so they don’t miss out. Mindbody’s marketing solution allows you to effortlessly create marketing campaigns to keep your clients in the loop. 

2. Promote gift cards

Your salon can earn a nice chunk of its annual revenue from gift card sales during any time of year. Pushing digital and physical gift cards during the slow summer months is a great way to have a quick win when it comes to your bottom line. Your salon can’t afford to miss out on this opportunity to generate more sales. Don’t forget to wrap gift cards nicely and promote them via email, on your social media pages, on your website, and in your salon. 

3. Win back lost clients

For the clients that visited once and never came back again you can send targeted promotions to entice them to book again at your salon. Odds are these clients have a fun vacation or family reunion coming up that they want to look the best for—or maybe they may need a fresh summer cut to combat the heat. Make sure your salon is their go-to destination with special promotions directed at them. 

4. Setup marketing campaigns

Even though we look forward to this season from a personal standpoint, from a professional perspective summer can be a scary couple of months for salon owners. By using reports from previous years, you can identify which days will likely be the slowest for your salon and you can create marketing campaigns to be automatically emailed to clients to promote that day.  

By setting up specials that are only valid at less busy times, you can proactively book clients who would have otherwise booked a primetime slot on the weekends. This also helps you make room for any new clients or those who can only make it during your busy times and may otherwise have to seek out another salon to fill their needs because they didn’t plan ahead. 

5. Share your best work

Summer is a client’s perfect chance to try something special and unique to stand out at the beach, pool, and family gatherings. Identify what styles are currently trending and use that as an opportunity to showcase your work. Snap photos of your creations and include them on your social media pages, like Instagram and Facebook, to show your clients your salon is the best place to go to look on-trend for their summer vacay. 

6. Create a summer service bundle

Getting ready for a summer getaway often means checking off a long list of self-care to-dos, like manicures, eyebrow shaping, hair appointments, and waxing. The prep can feel overwhelming, which is where your salon can step in to help. 

Curate a thoughtful bundle of the most popular pre-vacation services to make getting vacation-ready easier for your clients. Not only does this create a more seamless experience, but offering a slight discount on the bundled services can also attract both loyal clients and new ones looking to get everything done in one place. Once you’ve put together the perfect bundle, be sure to use Promoted Intro Offers in the Mindbody app to advertise these special packages to current and prospective clients.  

7. List your business on ClassPass

One of the most effective ways to fill last-minute openings and maximize your schedule is to expand your visibility—and that’s exactly where ClassPass can help. With flexible booking options, ClassPass helps increase exposure, fill slow periods, and grow your client base. By listing your business on the ClassPass app, you can tap into a large network of users actively looking to discover new salon experiences in their area. Whether you're looking to attract local clients or capture tourist traffic, ClassPass makes it easy for new clients to find and book your services.  

8. Host a summer-themed event

Hosting a seasonal event is a fun, impactful way to build stronger relationships with current clients while drawing in new faces. Create a festive, summer-inspired event and offer mini services, such as blowouts, manicures, or eyebrow shaping, product samples, and giveaways to keep attendees engaged and excited. 

It’s a perfect chance to show your clients that you appreciate them and to introduce your business to potential new clients. If your salon sells retail products, be sure to put them front and center. Summer events are ideal for showcasing your product line and driving additional revenue. 

With Mindbody’s integrated payments solution, you can easily accept purchases at the front desk or on the go, helping you manage transactions seamlessly while you focus on delivering a memorable client experience. 

Make the most of summer

While summer may bring a natural dip in appointments, it’s also a prime opportunity to think outside the box and re-energize your salon. With the right seasonal strategies in place, you can maintain momentum and turn the summer slowdown into a season of growth, connection, and new client opportunities.