Boomer Business For Beauty

Baby Boomer Love

As you might have heard, Baby Boomers – people who are between the ages of 55 and 75 – are one of the fastest growing segments of the population in the United States.  As the number of people at retirement age increases, so is the demand for hair and skin care services for this age group.

Baby Boomers are spending their new found freedom in retirement by going on trips, taking up new hobbies and getting to spend more time and money on themselves.  Salon and Spa services often play a much bigger role in their lives, as many women will start looking into get more anti-aging services and procedures, and take relaxing spa trips.

To put your business in the spotlight for picking up these clients and helping to meet this growing demand, think about expanding your business services to include products, services and a marketing strategy that appeal to a mature client base.  The boomers are retiring in huge numbers and they have money to spend on beauty services, which provides a great opportunity for salons and spas.  

Try these strategies to get more Baby Boomer clients into your salon:

1. Anti-Aging Hair Products

Along with offering anti-aging hair services like conditioning treatments, and toning treatments, it's also a great idea to keep a good selection of anti-aging hair products that you can offer to your clients.

Alterna and Living Proof both have great products specifically designed to restore hair with anti-aging ingredients.

The Alterna Caviar line from DermStore.com is perfect for clients with aging hair concerns.

Keep a selection of hair products that appeal to a wide variety of clients.

2.  Marketing for Baby Boomers

While instagram and live streaming may be a great way to get millennial clients in the door, the Baby Boomer generation may be more inclined to trust personal referrals and personalized promotional packages when choosing a salon or services.   

Although Baby Boomers may not be using Snapchat or Instagram like millenials do, they are still very active online.  Putting your salon or spa business on sites like Facebook, Pinterest and Beauty Seeker are likely to get more of traffic from this growing demographic.

The baby boomer generation is the largest segment of consumers, making up over 40% of the market share.  That means big business!   

They have money to spend, and you want them to spend it in your salon.  It's important to come up with an effective marketing strategy that can reach them and most importantly,  appeal to them.

Here are some ideas for appealing to your Baby Boomer client base:

- Create a tailored marketing strategy that includes promotions such as 'Refer a Friend' discount program, and Mother's Day packages.  Offer 20%, 30% or even half off services for referring clients.  Create gift packages designed for Mother/ Daughter day out, or discounts for groups of friends.  If you can create the right kind of promotions you may just get the same group of ladies every Thursday afternoon for their usual hair treatment.

- Baby Boomers are quite tech savvy, so keep this in mind when creating your marketing plan.  Consider promoting your business with posts that appeal to them on sites they frequent such as Facebook, Pinterest and BeautySeeker.  Be sure to create business profile pages and post regularly with specials and promotions that will appeal to the Baby Boomer client base.

- The Loyalty Factor:  Unlike the reputation of millennials, Baby Boomers tend to be a very loyal consumer base.  Once they find a product, service or stylist they like, they will stick with them and often refer their friends.  One way to capitalize on this is to make sure that first appointment is everything they hoped it would be.  Schedule in extra time for their first visit to make sure you give them at least a 10-15 minute consultation on whatever service you are offering to make sure you understand what they want.

Not only do you want to make a wonderdul first impression, you want to follow up with your clients by way of handwritten postcards thanking them for their business, and keep your quality of care consistant.  Every time they come in, make sure they are happy.  They will stick with your business if you follow these steps, and even better, they will refer their friends.

3.  Offer Services for Mature Women

It's important to add additional beauty services that will attract your clients.

Services such as permanent makeup, eyebrow shaping, and anti-aging hair conditioning treatments are the type of services a more mature client base will be looking for.  Be sure you have a good variety of these kinds of offerings on your services menu.

Here's a list of 10 services you should consider adding to your menu:

1. Eyebrow Shaping

2. Permanent Makeup

3. Hair Extensions

4. Deep Conditioning Anti-Aging Hair Treatments

5. Eyelash and Eyebrow Tinting

6. Anti-Frizz Treatments

7. Anti-Aging, Moisturizing Hand Treatments 

8. Eyelash Extensions

9. Makeover - Makeup and Hair 

10. Scalp Facial  - Scalp Treatment and Massage

4. UpSelling and Customized Care

One of the most important steps you can take to developing a good client relationship is to cater their treatments and services to meet their specific needs.  Create a personalized beauty file for each client with their photo and all the services they have received.  Most stylists already do this, although it's especially important for your Baby Boomer clients who will really appreciate this kind of specialized attention to detail.

It's important to think about your clients needs in a broader sense by providing many services in one session rather than just a hair cut or just color.   Women who are retired have more time to spend in the salon, and offering them a 'spa day' type of experience is sure to please your client, and could potentially increase your profit margin. 

Think about offering some services like eyebrow tinting, eyelash tinting, conditioning treatments and a nice moisturizing hand treatment for your client while they are sitting there for their hair appointment.   Upselling your more relaxing service options are an excellent way to build a positive relationship with your clients.  Offer them additional services each time they visit - a scalp treatment, makeover, hand treatments, hair extensions etc.

We hope this article will help you grow your salon or spa business.  For more tips and beauty industry articles follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.  Click the links at the top left side of the page.