Plan around the cut-and-colour cycle
Hair clients return on a rhythm: a cut, then a colour top-up or a root refresh, then a trim weeks later. Build your texts around that cycle instead of sending at random. A client fresh from a colour does not need a promotion the next day; they need a reminder when the refresh window opens. Tag clients by service and last visit so each campaign reaches the right group at the right time, and let the calendar pace the sends for you. Review the cycle lengths with your stylists so the tags match what actually happens in the chair.
A simple campaign rotation
Start by looking at where the book is thin. If certain weekdays sag, build a campaign to fill them. A practical rotation:
- Colour refresh reminders to clients due for a top-up.
- Cut and trim reminders to regulars.
- Quiet-day offers for underbooked weekdays.
- Birthday and seasonal messages with a booking link.
- Win-back texts to clients who have not visited in a season.
Give every campaign one action: book, reply, or claim a slot. Do not stack several asks into a single message, and keep the tone the same one a client would hear at the desk.
Write for a phone screen
Keep lines short and skip the jargon. Lead with the reason for the message, then the booking path. Include the salon name so the text is trusted, and use the same words your team uses in the salon so a client recognises the service. A single well-chosen emoji can help a message stand out, but use it deliberately and stay consistent with your brand. Keep a small set of approved templates the team can reuse, and update the template once when a service or a station changes, rather than rewriting messages by hand each time.
Consent, cadence, and Canadian rules
Collect consent at booking and keep a record of it. Let clients choose how often they hear from you and what they want to hear about, then honour those choices. Send at reasonable hours, honour stop requests, and keep the frequency comfortable rather than constant. Under Canadian anti-spam rules a text campaign needs clear identification and a working unsubscribe path, so build both into every send. A campaign that respects the rules is also the one clients stay opted in to.
Fill last-minute gaps
When a client cancels, a quick text to a short list of clients who asked for earlier slots can rescue the appointment. Use a standby tag, message the group, and give the slot to the first reply. This is where answering earns its keep: the system takes the replies, confirms the appointment, and updates the book while you keep working on the client in the chair. That turns a cancellation into a filled seat instead of a gap in the day.
Keep the list clean
Remove numbers that bounce, update preferences when a client changes service, and re-confirm consent when someone books again after a long break. A current list is the difference between campaigns that land and messages that annoy. Review the list each month, and treat accuracy as part of the campaign itself rather than a chore that comes later.
Related: the SMS marketing for salons hub and the page on an AI receptionist for hair salons.