5 marketing tips from Chris Foster of Mentored by Menspire to attract salon clients, build your industry profile and grow your career.
Published:Effective marketing starts with understanding your audience. Chris Foster, co-founder of Mentored by Menspire, explains why hair professionals need to adopt different approaches to attracting clients and building their reputation within the industry.
For salon owners, barbers and stylists, marketing offers opportunities to attract new clients, strengthen their reputation and open doors to professional development. However, while these objectives are connected, they require different messages.
According to Chris Foster, co-founder of Mentored by Menspire, one of the most important steps is recognising that marketing to clients and marketing to the hairdressing industry are two distinct activities.
Understanding the difference can help professionals communicate more effectively, make better use of their platforms and ensure their marketing supports their wider business and career ambitions.
When promoting yourself or your business, it is important to distinguish between the people who book appointments and the industry professionals who may help you develop your career.
Clients are primarily interested in how their hair will look and how the salon experience will make them feel. They want to see evidence of your skills, understand what you can offer and feel confident that they are choosing the right professional.
Industry audiences, meanwhile, include fellow hairdressers, brands, educators and potential collaborators. Communicating with these groups can help raise your professional profile, build relationships and create opportunities to work on campaigns, deliver education or develop partnerships.
Although both audiences may be interested in your work, their reasons for engaging with it are different. Recognising this distinction is the starting point for a more focused marketing strategy.
When marketing to existing and prospective clients, the message should be straightforward: what can you do for them?
Social media is an opportunity to demonstrate the results clients can expect and give them a sense of the experience you provide. Before-and-after images, transformation videos and finished styles can all help communicate your capabilities.
Rather than simply showcasing technical achievements, consider how your content answers the questions a potential client might have. Can they see the type of results you specialise in? Do they understand your approach? Does your content give them confidence in booking an appointment?
Word of mouth also plays an important role. A consistent client experience, supported by visible results and clear communication, can encourage recommendations and help build trust.
Ultimately, client-facing marketing should support practical business objectives: attracting bookings, strengthening relationships and giving people a compelling reason to choose your salon.
Marketing to industry peers requires a different approach, with greater emphasis on your craft, technical ability and creative vision.
Hairdressing publications, industry platforms, events and professional networks can provide opportunities to showcase your work to people who influence the direction of the sector.
This visibility can be valuable for professionals looking to develop their careers beyond the salon floor. It may help them connect with brands, explore educational opportunities, collaborate with other creatives or pursue campaign and session work.
Foster highlights the importance of understanding where your work will have the greatest impact. Content designed to inspire industry peers may not necessarily appeal to clients looking for a stylist, just as client-focused transformation videos may not demonstrate everything a brand or potential collaborator wants to see.
Being selective about where and how you showcase your work can help you build a more recognisable professional identity.
Once you understand your audiences, the next step is to decide what you want each marketing activity to achieve.
For client-facing marketing, the priorities are likely to include increasing bookings, showcasing results, building trust and communicating the salon experience.
Industry marketing has different goals. These might include establishing yourself as an educator, connecting with brands, securing professional opportunities, increasing your income or building a lasting reputation.
Foster recommends considering separate Instagram feeds for client-focused content and industry-facing work, as each serves a different purpose.
For some professionals, separate accounts may help keep messaging clear and make it easier for each audience to find relevant content. Others may prefer a single account with clearly defined content themes. The important point is to ensure that the purpose of your content is understood and consistent with the audience you want to reach.
Before publishing, consider what you want the post to achieve and who you want to engage with it. This simple step can help make your marketing more intentional.
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Although client marketing and industry profile-building require different approaches, both should reflect your professional identity.
You do not need to become two different people to communicate with different audiences. Instead, you need to adapt the message to suit the people you are trying to reach.
For clients, this means communicating the results, services and experience they can expect. For industry audiences, it means demonstrating your craft, creative perspective and professional ambitions.
Confusing these messages can make it harder for people to understand what you offer or why they should engage with you.
A clear strategy helps ensure that every platform, post and professional interaction has a defined purpose.
For hair professionals looking to grow their businesses and develop their careers, effective marketing is not simply about posting more content. It is about understanding who you want to reach and what you want to achieve.
By separating client acquisition from industry profile-building, salon owners, barbers and stylists can make more informed decisions about their content, platforms and professional relationships.
As Foster’s advice highlights, clarity is essential: one professional identity can serve two audiences, provided each receives a message that speaks to its needs.
For more information, visit Mentored by Menspire or follow @menspiresalon on Instagram.
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