Coronavirus: Survival plan for a hairdresser during containment

The coronavirus may have closed the doors of your hair salon, beauty salon or barber shop, but you still have a lot of work on hand. There are several ways to keep in touch with your customers (and prospects), even if they can't meet you face-to-face.  

For this, and in the face of social distancing, you must prepare a "survival plan" as covid-19 spreads.  

Creative adaptation to our situation is our human strength. Thanks to the Internet, we may be socially isolated, but our power to connect and transmit our message remains intact.

So here are 8 tips that will help your salon or beauty salon move forward and deal with the pandemic.

Maintain an active presence on social networks

Your salon's customers are already on social networks, but these days they are probably logging on much more frequently to get the latest updates on the virus and most importantly, to pass the time. As your clientele navigates through the coronavirus outbreak, consider taking your presence on social networks to another level.  

Interact with positive and encouraging feedback on your clients' publications. Share with them methods for dealing with stress. Respond to comments on your publications. Challenge Instagram and offer challengers promotions on certain services.

social networking sites containment

If you're not already using the new social networks for your living room, it's time to get started.

While many institutions were busy focusing their marketing efforts on Instagram and Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok have become powerful platforms that you can leverage to set yourself apart from the competition.

TikTok, being a fun social networking application centered on short mobile videos with music overlays and visual effects based on augmented reality.  

As for Pinterest, it has a huge presence as a visual search engine. This social network has unique value propositions and can play a specific role in achieving many of your key objectives.

Broadcast your services on video

Go digital with your services to continue providing access to your customers at home. You can make yourself virtually available. Use a free tool like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Skype... to support your customers and offer remote services.

You can use social networks to share tutorials. Product recommendation videos, detailing why you like a particular product and how it can help your customers. Or a video showing how to do root touch-ups at home for customers with colored hair. You can also provide an eyebrow care workshop...and this may prevent some of the disasters you'll have to make up for when you get back on track.

To do so, you can broadcast live or publish pre-recorded videos.

Broadcast live

To reach your customers, in real time, you can broadcast live. This is a great option if you want to interact with customers in the moment.  

At first, it can be a little uncomfortable to engage with a screen, but your customers will love the opportunity to interact with you and see you. This can be done on Facebook or Instagram :

You don't need to have a professional camera to go live. Your smartphone, with the right lighting will work just fine.

Do a test run before the live show to eliminate any faults and make sure you are ready for prime time. But don't worry if you make a mistake because it can happen and it's human 🙂.

Publish pre-recorded videos

You can make these videos with any type of budget. It can be a video recorded with your iPhone (just make sure it's on a solid surface or tripod) or a professionally edited masterpiece. As long as your video is authentic, it will resonate with your audience. If you use music, make sure you have the appropriate rights to use it.  

beauty confinement video

Send e-cards

Send "We're thinking of you!" e-cards to your loyal customers. It may sound a little "old-fashioned" to you, but it's still a lot of fun.

Let your customers know that you appreciate them is a small, cost-effective act of kindness that says a lot in times of stress. So prepare a generic card to send to all your customers.  

For your best customers, write targeted messages for each of them, encouraging them to remain optimistic. A personalized touch impacts more than a generic message and shows that you really care about their well-being.

A simple e-card can go a long way in building stronger relationships with your best customers and help encourage positivity. Visit these sites and create your own e-cards:

Spread positivity and give hope

Your community, your employees, your customers, everyone faces unknown circumstances during the coronavirus outbreak. Circumstances that cause anxiety, fear and agitation. So strengthen your salon's relationship with your community by spreading positivity and making others feel better.

Think about SMS campaigns

As the effects and magnitude of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) continue to grow, the Wavy team wants to help its customers by offering half of all SMS messages.

containment campaign
coronavirus SMS campaign

Prepare for the future

It is crucial to plan for the future of your salon and be fully prepared for what is to come. Make sure you have regular and open conversations with all the stakeholders in your establishment. Discuss strategies and a plan to run your salon as usual in the future.

Take advantage of support programs

Apart from the direct health problems, it is now clear that the coronavirus will not pass without leaving in its wake economic and commercial consequences. Small businesses experiencing financial difficulties due to disruption caused by coronaviruses may be eligible for the French government's aid programme.

If you are self-employed, you will be entitled to tax-free financial aid of €1,500 for the month of March from the Solidarity Fund on condition that your turnover falls by more than 70% due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

To benefit from this assistance, you must go to your particular space on impots.gouv.fr and fill in the application form. Click here to find out the steps to follow to apply for the exceptional aid of €1500 from the Solidarity Fund for the COVID 19 health crisis.

For more information on government measures and formalities to be completed, please consult the article: Coronavirus and hairdressing salon: formalities to be completed and government measures.

Learn more about your role as a business leader with Wavy Content

The ongoing epidemic has temporarily put an end to our active, social and professional life. Nevertheless, this is no reason to give up your career or your entrepreneurial dream. So take this opportunity to learn new skills, take control of what you can undertake and learn this new business language. To develop your hair salon, beauty salon or barbershop, and to achieve your professional goals, learning new skills online is undoubtedly a constructive way to deal with today's self-isolation.

Our free business platform, Wavy Content is an excellent choice if you are looking for a very broad catalogue of tools and information needed. Wavy Content offers something for every salon manager or owner. From business development, legal and accounting to communication, marketing and salon productivity, Wavy Content allows you to choose the topics that interest you, rather than committing to a strict course outline, making this educational platform extremely flexible and user-friendly.  

Turn containment into an opportunity! For more ideas, don't hesitate to consult the "20 days challenge" calendar that Wavy has prepared for you in order to accompany you in this difficult period.

challenge wavy 20 days

Your industry has never faced a challenge of this magnitude before, and we know how much anxiety and uncertainty you face. Our role is to help you survive and thrive in good times and bad. We will rise to the challenge with you and provide you with what you need to weather the storm. 💙

Written by
Farah
Interested in beauty and hairstyling, I am Content Manager at Wavy. I am delighted to be able to share my discoveries in this sector with you today.

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