5 Easy Salon Holiday Promotion Ideas

For many salon and spa owners, the holidays are the busiest time of year, and that means they’re also the most profitable.

The more you fill your books this season, the more comfortable you’ll feel starting the new year.

To help, we’ve got a few suggestions on how to maximize your bookings, including implementing a client waitlist.

A waitlist tool helps you through the holiday madness, so you’ll always have extra clients ready to go whenever there’s a last-minute cancellation.

Couple that with some of these other savvy marketing ideas, and you’re sure to be booked solid until 2025!

How to Fill Your Salon Books This Holiday Season

1. Send Plenty of Reminder Emails

Get ahead of the seasonal rush with holiday email marketing!

Now’s the perfect time to send out newsletters and special deals for clients to book their holiday hair and beauty appointments before your schedule is full.

Oh and don’t forget to send a notice about your holiday schedule and closing hours to create urgency bookings!

Pro Tip: Be sure not to overbook yourself this holiday season. (You deserve to enjoy the time off, too!)

2. Offer Special Hours

The holidays are busy for everyone, including your clients.

If you know that a lot of them will be juggling kids home from school, extra holiday plans, and more, you might want to consider temporarily expanding your hours one or two days a week.

Staying open until 9pm instead of 7pm could make a huge difference for someone who’s trying to get everything done before vacation or after the kids go to bed.

If you’re a fitness instructor, offering a morning class on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Eve (even if it’s just on Zoom) is an amazing opportunity for those of us who’d love to move our bodies before inhaling pumpkin-themed desserts and mashed potatoes.

Or hey, really make us feel guilty by offering a Yoga for Hangovers class New Year’s Day.

Just make sure to give yourself a little extra time off in January when everything’s died down — the goal isn’t to work too much, but rather to end the year with a bang and then relax.

Pro Tip: Don’t forget to do something special for Small Business Saturday, too! Check out these pro tips in our free guide: 7 Ways to Prepare for Small Business Saturday.

3. Start a Waitlist for Services

Since the holidays are bound to be a busy time, don’t forget to set up a waitlist feature for clients look to get a last-minute spot.

With a waitlist, you can allow clients to add themselves — which you can see right on your calendar— when your schedule fills up.

Before setting a waitlist list, you’ll want to either invite clients to call you or, better yet, use this template to email your client list letting them know that a waitlist now exists.

Service Waitlist Email Template

Subject Line: We’ve Got an Appointment Waitlist for the Holidays!

Body:

Hey There!

It’s a busy time for all of us, and I know that you’re juggling a lot of seasonal to-dos.

If you’ve tried to book a service with me, and you couldn’t find a time that works for you, I’ve got great news!

I’ve just opened up a waitlist for appointments!

To be added, you can either call me at [your number] or just hit reply with the following details, and I’ll get you all set up.

To be added to the waitlist, I just need to know:

Your name
Phone number
Email address
Type of service you’d like to book
Dates. You can pick within the next 7 days, next 30 days, or before a specific date (like a holiday party!)
Day(s) of the week that work for you
Time(s) of the day. You can pick morning, mid-day, afternoon, evening

I’ll get you added, then our booking system will shoot you a confirmation email! If someone cancels an appointment slot that might work for you, I’ll email you!

Best,
[Your Name]

4. Create a Limited Holiday Season Offer

Offering a free add-on for any service or class booked before 2024 is a genius way to up the ante on your holiday scheduling.

Whether it’s a special mask treatment with every service or a free downloadable New Year’s Eve workout video that you send to anyone who books a December barre class, don’t be afraid to get creative and add some extra incentive.

By telling your clients that the offer expires ASAP, you’ll put a little extra fire under them, too.