By Grant Miller, Salon consultant

Did you ever pay for marketing or advertising and the results weren’t as effective as you had hoped? Of course you have! It’s happened to every one of us, but here’s some good news: There are only three things that can make your marketing efforts tank. Fix one or all of them and you will immediately improve your results and make more money.

The three most important aspects of any type of marketing are the market, media and message. Let’s take a look at all three:

• The market is your “who.” Who are you sending your marketing piece to, and what type of customer are you trying to attract? For most of us, this is seemingly simple since females tend to make up the biggest part of your customer base. But what if you are trying to promote your UV tanning are are sending offers to your customers that only spray tan? You would be targeting the wrong market. The more you target the exact customer you are looking for, the more effective your marketing message will be.
• The market is your “who.” Who are you sending your marketing piece to, and what type of customer are you trying to attract? For most of us, this is seemingly simple since females tend to make up the biggest part of our customer base. But what if you are trying to promote your UV tanning and are sending offers to your customers that only spray tan? You would be targeting the wrong market. The more you target the exact customer you are looking for, the more effective your marketing message will be.
• The media is, of course, how you are delivering your message. Be mindful of the platform you’re utilizing and what age group to target with each. Sending text messages or tweets to an older customer will not be as good as sending it to millenials. The one universal media that still works overall is good old-fashioned mail. I know it’s not the “hot” media, but everyone looks at their mail. And with less mail in the mailbox, your message stands out even more. Don’t write off direct mail as a dead media.
• The biggest problem I see when I consult with clients is their message, which is essentially their offer. Many salons tend to have very weak offers, which usually results in low responses. Then, they blame the media for their bad results when the poor offer was actually to blame. If you want to attract a new customer, or get someone back into your salon, you need a big, bold offer to get their attention. Ten percent off won’t cut it! Some examples of strong offers are: “Try 3 Tans for Free,” “2 Weeks for $5” and “Buy 1 Get 1 Free.” These offers will fill your salon with more customers.

One of the best examples of the perfect “Market, Message and Media” method was in a recent episode of the television show “Better Call Saul”, the “Breaking Bad” spinoff. The lead character, an attorney, was trying to illustrate to a group of senior citizens that they were being scammed by the nursing home where they live. The nursing home did everything possible to intercept the mail, phone calls and visits of the attorneys.

But he had an advantage – he knew everything about the senior citizens. He knew what they were thinking, how they acted and what their daily schedule was like. Knowing they watch their favorite show at 3 p.m., he aired the commercial for his law practice during the program’s first commercial break, knowing it was the perfect time to market to them. He knew who his target market was, when, where and how to target them with the proper media and exactly what his message was. This strategy worked, and he attained a lot of the seniors as clients.

I know it’s only a TV show, but it’s a brilliant use of the “Market, Media and Message” strategy. If you really think about your customers like the television character does, and immerse yourself into what they want, need and use, you could easily increase your revenues.