A salon draws its clients from a very small area, usually a couple of miles and a familiar route. That makes most general marketing advice irrelevant and a short list of local things disproportionately valuable.
Be findable at the moment somebody decides
The search that matters is somebody nearby wanting an appointment soon. Winning it comes down to the Business Profile being complete and current, the details matching everywhere, and reviews arriving steadily. Photographs of your own work on the profile matter more here than in most sectors, because the decision is visual.
Turning followers into bookings
Social media is where salons show their work, and it does that better than any website can. What it does badly is answer the practical questions, what it costs, who is available on Thursday, where you are, and it is rented ground you do not control. The job of the social account is to make somebody want an appointment; the job of the site is to let them book it in one tap, which we covered in online booking for salons.
The rebooking habit
The cheapest client is the one already in the chair. A salon that rebooks people before they leave, and follows up the ones who drift, fills its column far more reliably than one running offers to attract strangers. It is a front desk habit rather than a marketing spend, and it compounds quietly.
Discounting, carefully
Introductory offers bring people in, and a good share of them are shopping on price and will move on to the next offer elsewhere. If you use them, use them to fill genuinely quiet hours rather than as a general position, and put the effort into a first visit good enough to be worth talking about. Word of mouth in a small area is still the strongest marketing a salon has.
The short version. Get found locally, let social do the attracting and your site do the booking, rebook before people leave, and be careful with discounts. Local and repeat beats reach every time for a salon.
More on the sector on our page for hair and beauty.