How to Build a Stellar Cosmetology Brand Part Two: Marketing Essentials

The right marketing can take your business from successful to stellar.

The first article of this four-part series spoke about establishing your brand identity and building your website. Once your website is up, you need to build your brand identity, using both content and conventional marketing tools. Remember, the bottom line is to get customers to your door.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is much more than posting a series of promotional articles. In fact, content marketing is a variation to ad-driven marketing. This is not a new technique, but it has grown over the years, paralleling the growth of digital mediums.

A Brief Look Into the Past

One of the first instances of content marketing involved the emergence of Jello. Initially, few people knew what it was and why they would buy it. The manufacturer added value for users with articles on how to make Jello fun for the whole family. It caught on and soon Jello was a household name. John Deere tractors is another example. The company started posting articles, largely in newspapers of the day, on good cultivation practices for farmers. In a short amount of time, they were seen as an authority on best practices when it came to planting crops. This led to equipment sales, and today, John Deere equipment is used around the world.

How Content Marketing Works Today

In today’s digital age, information is highly prized. Searching has evolved so that finding reputable sources is relatively easy for anyone with a smartphone or a computer. What is not easy is showing up at the top of a search result page. The companies that excel at this are those who provide informative content. Using the innovative, new styling concepts you learn about while attending continuing education cosmetology school helps when crafting this content.

Advertising has changed over the years. Advertising using a website allows interaction between customers and business owners, a positive step toward bringing in new clients.

How It Works

Well-written, informative content on a company’s website establishes that company as an authority in the field. For instance, a company that sells running shows posts articles that offer information that runners would find interesting and relevant to their needs. In time, when a runner has a question about the different types of running shoes, they will turn to the most authoritative source they know. With a few well-placed conventional ads on the page for running shoes, the reader will convert and become a customer.

Why This Works

The average buyer is bombarded by thousands of ads across different mediums every day. While product recognition is always a good thing, overload can lessen the impact. Using informative content to enhance the buyer’s perception of a company’s products works in tandem with ads to lead to a sale.

Content Tips

Keep your content fresh, informative and evergreen. Share content via social media and allow readers to do the same. Using backlinks in content blogs is a great way to build your rank on Google and other major search engines. Remember to use keywords appropriately, employing a good mix of both short and long-tail keywords. It is important to use good search engine optimization techniques, which help increase traffic to your website.

Since many searchers use their cell phones, make sure your website content is well-suited for mobile use. Local searches are king today, so if possible, include your city in the title. While an awesome call-to-action at the end of a blog can encourage customers to purchase your products or services, don’t oversell. That can be perceived negatively.

Content Ideas

Create blogs that solve problems customers might have. For instance, how to find help for thinning hair or what can be done to treat heat-damaged hair are two problems that are common to many people. Do your research and present trending topics in which people are interested.

Use your blog to get the word out about your superior products and services.

Use Other Mediums to Help Advertise Your Salon

While buying newspaper and radio ads are ways of doing this, use the medium to have your salon’s expertise showcased. For instance, contact a local radio station and suggest an interview where you can address hairstyling issues. Talking about new trends in the business may be interesting to listeners and help you advertise for free. Do the same with newspapers. Call a reporter who deals with health and beauty and suggest an article on keeping tresses healthy. Make sure to think about your response to reporter questions in the article, and let your knowledge shine through.

Stay on Top of New Trends

You can stay on top of new trends through cosmetology school online continuing education. This is a valuable tool in maintaining your skills and keeping abreast of new techniques in the industry. In addition, it allows you to complete your continuing education requirement for license renewal. Beauty Academy offers online courses that build on your knowledge base and provide insight into new approaches in your field of cosmetology.

BeautyAcademy offers convenient online and correspondence courses in the different disciplines of cosmetology that fulfill the continuing education requirements for different states. Our courses are preapproved by the appropriate licensing board, and we invite you to complete your courses before spending any money.  Just choose your state to get started. Cosmetology courses are available at attractive prices to help you be the best you can be.

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