​Welcome to this week's episode of Beauty Babble. This is our first recording of the new year and we wanted to kick off this year talking about how to plan your marketing and promotions for a successful year ahead. Hi Suzanne, happy new year, although we're a little bit into January.  

Happy New Year to you, too.

I'm really excited for this one because  I know in this industry, we tend to get a little overwhelmed with thoughts and how do we even, you know, organize those thoughts?  How do we even plan? So you know, we sat down and had a couple ideas together and we wanted to share with you guys. We're going to really simplify this.

Of course, you can get a lot more strategic for sure. But if you're new at this, we wanted to keep it very, very simple. And basically when you just got to sit down, have time for this, it won't take you very long to plan it.  

That's right. And the key is, what we wanted to do is present you with like three steps. 

That you are going to take to look at your year ahead because a lot of times we, you know, February will come and it's like, oh, dang, you know, Valentine's is next week and you've forgotten about it because you're so busy doing your clients and, you know, balancing life. So if you take some time at the beginning of the year and actually look at the entire year, yes.

Seems overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. We, we've got some tips to tackle it in like a little bite size and a lot of this is really based on your lived experience, Suzanne. Like you've done this with your spa and you're going to share some of that wisdom with us and hopefully everybody will be able to Take away how to plan their next 

year. 

Yeah. So really, like when you, when you look at this, I think the first important thing is, is to really look at who are you serving? Who are your clients?  How can you break that down? Are they you know, here, like in town working all the time? Are they retired? Do they go away? Are they busy in the summer?

Like what is kind of like your whole overview of your clients and when you chunk out, you know, who they are and who you're servicing, then you can start looking and thinking ahead, Oh, this would be perfect for this group of people. But really if you take the 12 months  and simply look at each month and just start off like with January and think, is there anything particular about January?

What comes to my mind always in January was. Being in Edmonton, it's cold. A lot of people go away on vacations. If the retired haven't gone away already, they're about to go. A and the other thing is it's after the holiday season, which a lot of people are tapped out financially. So what are some things you can do?

And this ends up being, you know, your strategy as your business owner. You're the one that needs to think about these things. I mean, we can give you ideas, but it really needs to be You know,  completely you who you are genuine you that's that's I think an important thing instead of jumping on someone else's social media idea, start really, you know, honing in and respecting the fact of you.

This is what you are. Make it make so that that client thing. Oh, yeah, that's such a great idea during that you have that I can totally that's totally you. It's just another genuine way for that rapport with your client that things important as well and that you're thinking about your client.  I just used January because that's a hard one. 

Nothing special is going on in a sense unless they got a vacation planned, right? Yeah. 

I think, when I think of January, and because waxing was always my A thing, I always got done personally, but the one I liked to do the most was When you need to start, if your clients are not on a waxing regimen, get them on a waxing regimen.

Nobody's going to see their legs in the next, you know, few months. So by the time summer comes and, and stuff like that, or any, any service you have, how can you make it  applicable to that time of year or beneficial for your client? 

Yeah. And if they're going on holidays, that's an important one. Cause it is a holiday time January, February, March.

Like you think about you know, the month. And the dads out there, the grandparents, whatever it may be, a lot of times people are planning their family vacations around that time because it's spring break,  or so yeah, I'm thinking like that's a great example, whack things. You're going to go away, say March, when should you start waxing to be ready for that?

So you actually have less hair, less growth, the best,  the best bang for your service and pain. I'll put it that way. But that's a great example of how you can think ahead. Now you're honing in on your clients what their lifestyle is and what they're doing. So really serving them. That's awesome.  

So when you, when you're thinking about that, like if you come up with waxing and you're like, okay, this is, maybe you come up with a promo, whatever, but this is something that your clients are going to be thinking about because they're going away. then that can also be, keep that in mind, because that can be some of the content ideas for your social media too.

Talk about, why is it important to wax ahead of time? How much ahead of time should you ask? How do you prep your skin for waxing? Like, you can take one thing and then build so many different like your planning can lead to all aspects of your 

marketing. So many things, like, is it a body scrub before they go?

And then have them do exfoliation  while they're out there. Yeah, and and lotioning because this will prevent them from coming back and peeling crazy and being so dry. I mean  They can go on and on and on and look what we just came up with with one thing you said I know I want to scrub now and go get wax  well, actually, if you're tuning in this is the  Second week, I guess you could say, of January, and we're about to get hit with freezing cold.

So guess what we're doing? I'm doing it. I'm looking at vacations. Can I get out of here? Like, so then a lot of times, this is the time. What's the weather like? Could that be impacting people's decisions? Or the reverse, like it's too cold, it's too snowy. I don't want to go out anywhere. They're going to be cancelled. 

You know, like Rescheduling. Hopefully it's a reschedule, not a cancel, but, you know, really, you know, you have to set the time just to be strategic for more success. If you're just going with the flow every day. I hate to say it, like mindlessly, like I've been there, I know what that's like, you just keep going, keep going, and you're, you know, especially if you've got family, right, you're going, go, go this, that, this, and you got this event and that event, and I got to go volunteer here, and I got to do that, and you still have to run your business. 

So, these little things that you can do by looking ahead, like if you look at February, well, February is Valentine's Day, so we know that's a big event. But what will you do for Valentine's Day? Is it just a promotional service idea? Is it a giveaway? Is it, you know, love yourself campaign? Like, you know, like,  it goes on and on.

But the idea behind it all is if you take each month,  one month at a time, and the best thing, if you could just sit down, And hit the all year.  I think it's important just around the holidays and then think of the season you're in. I think those are two good ways to look at your year.  And then the other thing is.

Your suppliers, your distributors, wherever you're getting your things from, whether it's waxing or skincare or pedicures, lashes, brows, like whatever it is that you're doing, body treatment, it's endless out there, right? What promotions do they have coming? Is there any way that you could find out what's coming?

So then you can plan ahead with that as well, because usually there's campaigns like that, because just like you, you're planning, right? So are they because they got a plan for the product they're going to be looking ahead for that as well So now reach out to them and say hey, do you know what promos are coming next month?

I'm just trying to strategize in my head like oh, yes, you know what February's gonna be peel  something, right? So then look ahead. Okay, it's gonna be peel So what can I what what how does that look for me? And I don't know if you're waxing. That's what you do You're waxing technician But they're only offering peels and products, so okay, well exfoliation is really important when it comes to waxing,  so then think about that, right, so it's really just sitting down and doing it, and then it comes easier, like it, it really truly does because now your head's in it.

In that space and you can start being a little more creative if it's not there for you, then you need to find outside source of some sort of like a mentorship program that you can do with people that know this.  Stuff like that can help you with it. I think that could be a strategy you really don't understand.

You just need that start point sometimes just starting out. Like, honestly, I, I did a lot of marketing courses and classes and workshops and at the beginning, and then I like, okay, cause it doesn't matter if you're selling bananas, a car or a facial,  it's the same. It's, it really, truly is. You're just honing in on who are you serving? 

is the big overall of all of those campaigns, right? Absolutely. 

I think, who are you serving, and what do they need? Understanding what they need, and then how can you meet that need? And what, why, why you, right? How do you meet that need that's very 

specific to you? Mm hmm. And that's an important, that's an important part to understand.

They don't just come to you to come to you,  right? Because You know, it's competition that is out there, and it doesn't take much for people to move on to the next person. Unfortunately, that's kind of how it works, which is okay. Sometimes they want something new and fresh, so how do you stay new and fresh?

And this is another way to look at if you're planning out, and you can change it. You know, if all of a sudden, like, oh my god, I didn't even think of this. I'm not doing that in March. I'm going to do this. Write your idea down. That's what it's for. Like, I didn't have anything specially you know, then it was like literally paper and pen in my folder and I said, okay, what's going on?

I had each month written down and on one side I had the whole year just like point form of what I wanted each year and then I worked with that and then I worked with my website graphic designer. This is what's coming next month. I need you to focus on this. Like, it was that type of thing, but I was always ahead.

And I think that's crucial because then you can sit back and relax and not go, Oh my God, next week is Valentine's Day and I haven't done anything,  right? So it really is so helpful to be a little more organized in that way, I think. It lessens the stress and you don't have to think because you know you got this.

I don't need to think about that. I've got that planned next week. I think that's a huge part and then the other thing is like, when you look at who you're serving,  what is it like you said, what they want? What are their needs? What, why are they there? It's, you know, what's happening in their life too, because life changes and that's another important thing.

I mean, you look at what happened a few years back globally. It impacted a lot of people. So is there anything going on and around the world? Is there anything locally around you that's changing for you as well? So you start looking at those things because yes, you can look on, for example, I think everyone's doing in social media is they're looking at other people's accounts to get ideas, which isn't wrong.

It's a great idea. But did that,  you know, really reflect you, like if I'm looking at someone in California, and they're looking at, you know, toning and, you know, I don't know, maybe cellulite, you know, the legs, whatever it may be, and we're here in the middle of winter where people are covered up. Is it relevant?

Right. So it's like really think or you go, I love that idea, but I'm going to do that in May instead. Right. So start those ideas, but don't do it because you see it. And so, Oh my God, they got like 500 likes on that post. I got to do that too. Is it relevant to you where you are? I think is another part.

Absolutely. 

Like you said, it doesn't have to be overwhelming if you carve out the time and then you're not overwhelmed throughout the year. So you just sit down and you do it and then you take away the overwhelm, but also keeping in mind that you are flexible. These aren't set in stone because things do happen and you have to pivot.

But when you have a plan, it's easier to pivot than when you're  Got nothing.  

Absolutely. Yeah. And I think too, it's it, this will be probably the most time spent in fairness, like, cause you gotta look at the whole year. You gotta think about, okay, break it down each month. When does the seasons hit? I used to have, you know, in little  arrows, like, Winter, spring, summer, fall, you know, that type of idea.

So I knew which month, I was like, oh, over here how does that look? How does that affect me and my, and my clients? Where are they at in the season as well? Like, because I did, I had. You know, a wide range of working class, stay at home to the still birds that go away. So it did impact my business. You know, there's a few times of the year that do.

I mean, I know one thing that that I've noticed out there is that what used to be. So if you've been in this for a long time and struggling with, Oh my God, this isn't working anymore. That's kind of what happens throughout. So it's staying fresh. It's not saying it didn't work before, like it did work before it won't work now, but what, what maybe do you need to tweak with it because I think that's a big thing that's changed from 10 years ago to today, even, even five years ago.

It's a huge change. And everyone's like, you know, I'm not a. Not a huge social media person, but I understand in business you, you need to be, to be out there, but it's not the only thing. And I think that's what people misunderstand is they hire someone to do their social media and that's all their energy is, but you're forgetting everything else with it.

It comes part of your package. And I think that's another aspect that people don't realize that it's everything. It's not one thing. Yeah. That might sound overwhelming, but if you just break it down, it's not like, don't overthink this. People, don't overthink it, is all I can say. Okay, I want to, I'm 

going to summarize because, because you said that, I want to just kind of bring it back.

So three steps that you're going to do, you're going to look at a calendar for the entire year, and you are going to jot down the important days or holidays. So February, right, Valentine's Day. Easter, whatever it is, and then you, or spring break, that's a good one too. And then you're going to look at it and say, what is important to my clients in each of these months?

So if January can be like, you know, hydration or waxing, whatever it is, just jot those down in point form. And then you look to your suppliers and see if there's any promotions coming up. So you can also jot those down. And I think. When you have all of that down, then you can look at it and get a clear picture of, you know, what, what the next three months are going to look like.

What's the next six months? So I think that You can also, you know, look at it quarterly from there, like you've already got it jotted down now break it down to a quarterly task where, you know, every three months you get into more detail for that for those three months or something like that. Some people might want to do it at the beginning of the year and just get it done, but it can be also broken down bite size. 

For sure. And I would suggest to be  At least six weeks ahead of what you're thinking. So if you need to get supplies, if you do, they have it. I mean, now even that sometimes supplies are an issue to get in for whatever those reasons are. Or it's like you're thinking, it's like, Oh, I got to change this because this big event is happening now that you heard about women's day.

I don't know. Like, I'm just trying to throw things out there. Right. You didn't think of. So you want to give yourself time. And the reason I say it. It's just less stressful, right? If you've got it ahead, and if you have marketing people and you're on, that you've hired out, they need the time to plan that out.

You don't be giving it to them last minute, because it's not going to be, they can bang it out, I'm sure. But I think if you honestly gave them the time, and if most of them, I think you can attest to this, you're going to say I need at least a minimum of this time frame for me to do that. So, ask them, if this is new, ask them, how much time do you need?

Notice.  If I was going to ask you to do something on social media, or whatever it may be, or update my website, or whatever it is that you're doing those people, you need to get that time frame, so then you know in your head, you know, you might have that  great idea, you missed a promotion, it's starting in two weeks,  this one's urgent, can you do something for me, please, like, explain the urgency behind it, it's not just an idea, there's a time frame, literally, I forgot about, you know, Valentine's Day, I need to get something out there.

What can you do,  you know, by then, maybe that person can shuffle down what they have already for you. But, you know, like, yeah, and there's little things you can do in house as well. Like being the new year. And out here I find January, February, sometimes even March really hard on people because that's when the weather changes, it's a really dark day.

So sometimes my promotions was just self care  mentally, you know, like it was their holiday at home, but in my spot,  you know, so sometimes you don't have to go too far out or, you know, I was sharing this with another owner that is. Was struggling for ideas, so I've been working with her, but I said, you know, like, you get bath salts,  you know, Epsom salts, and I used to buy A huge bag of it.

And I physically, in my time, would do my own bath salts. With essential oils some coloring, but it was specific for like, what they use in bath bombs. Things like that, so that you're not staining tubs and whatever it may be. And it's like, you know what, here's a gift with your pedicure when you get home next week, sometime to soak your feet again, or it was for something else.

Or it was just like, happy new year to you. It's your first time in today in for 2024. Or, I mean, it doesn't have to be truly expensive either. Your time is there, though. I had to look at that, too. It was a lot of my time, and then the staff, they thought it was fun. They had some down time, like, I want to make some.

Do you really? Here's a recipe. I literally give them the recipe, and how many drops, to how many scoops, to how to package it, and You know, like you can get, it's fun. I, I found it fun, but again, the only way I could do that was I had a plan. 

I had a plan. Pre planning, exactly. And that's a good idea because you're not having, like, you're not having necessarily a promotion or a discount or anything like that, but it is something that you're going to give your clients and they're going to feel, They're treated, they're going to feel special and they're going to feel like they got a little bit of a deal because they just got their pedicure but now they have a gift with that.

So I think in thinking outside the box like that is, is really important too for when you're planning out your year. And  If you don't, like, you're a great source of ideas, so folks can reach out to you. But, you know, they can also, like, if you're part of groups, like, esthetician groups, or whatever, on Facebook, like, ask what other people are doing.

Get some inspiration. Even looking at maybe there's accounts that you follow. Go back to that day last year and see what they did so that you because you're planning ahead. It wouldn't be current, right? So you would go back and see what they did to get a little inspiration. Not necessarily copy, but see what's out there.

I love Pinterest. So That's a, that's 

another, you 

can go on Pinterest and look up some ideas as well. 

Yeah, for sure. Well, hopefully this is helpful. We didn't, I mean, we, gosh, I think you guys get the idea that we could go on and on with these things,  but we just want to simplify.  So, think of those three strategies we said, sit down with it, we'd love to hear your thoughts and your ideas.

If you need ideas or you're not sure even where to begin, this is still overwhelming to you, reach out to us, no problem, and we can see what we can do to to help you along with it.  That's great, 

and good luck with the new year, we'll be back with another episode next week.