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Don't Rely on Only Friends to Keep Your Salon Afloat

When I decided to open my own salon and spa, I had so many friends excited to try my services that I didn't think I needed to invest in marketing. Those friends did come in frequently, but their business turned out to just not be enough to keep my bills paid. I then remembered that before I began as a hairdresser, I drove many miles to see my favorite hair-stylist that I loved. That made me realize that I needed to advertise not just locally, but throughout the entire region. I drove an hour to my favorite hair-stylist, so why wouldn't my customers? I held a great "new customer discount", and soon those new customers from neighboring cities became regular customers once they realized how much they loved my technique. I created this blog to help other struggling business owners. I hope you can learn from my experiences!

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Don't Rely on Only Friends to Keep Your Salon Afloat

Things To Consider Before Embracing Scent Branding At Your Store

by Denise Watkins

Research has shown that using the right scents increase people's performance in the gym and make people in hotels more comfortable. This isn't really surprising when you consider that realtors have been using scent to sell homes for years — baking cookies right before an open house makes people think of the house as a cozy, family home. However, using scent as a marketing tool has only recently become popular with retail establishments. Before you attempt to scent your store, learn more about the process and follow these tips:

Should You Get a Signature Scent?

Scent branding is the process of having a signature scent for your store developed and using it strategically throughout the retail space. Creating a signature scent for your business takes approximately 90 days, but once it's complete, the specific scent is only used in your store, so the feelings the scent invokes are the feelings that consumers will associate with your brand.

Ambient scenting is simply choosing a specific scent to fill your space. The scent that you choose is a scent that may be used by other businesses. This is a good option for smaller businesses that may not have the budget to hire a scent branding company to develop a signature scent.

Choosing the Right Type of Scent

It's important to choose a scent that helps you achieve your goals. For example, warm scents, such as vanilla and cinnamon, prompt buyers to spend more money, making them ideal if your goal is to increase sales. Citrusy scents keep shoppers more alert, while lavender relaxes shoppers, altering their sense of time, which in turn, makes them shop longer.

Additionally, you need to choose a scent that makes sense for your brand. If the scent doesn't match your brand, it can actually have the reverse effect and turn people away. For example, light, feminine scents would work well in women's clothing stores, but it could repel shoppers in a men's clothing store.

Keep it Simple

You don't want to overwhelm shoppers with scent. It's important to keep things simple. If you have a small store, stick with one simple scent — scenting different store sections separately really works best in large establishments where the scents aren't likely to mix. Also, instead of choosing a complex scent, such as orange-basil with green tea, choose something simple, such as orange, vanilla, or lavender. This way, your scent resonates with more people.

Scent branding completes your store's marketing strategy by tying everything together. The scent that you choose evokes feelings and memories for your customers, which they eventually associate with your store. When you're ready to try scent branding, contact a scent branding specialist to ensure great results.

For more information on choosing a scent for your store, contact Fifth Scent!

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