How to Find Your Ideal Client

When starting any kind of business, you’re always told to find your target market. This is because you need to know who to attract and how to brand yourself. During the early stages of your beauty business, it can be common you’d feel inclined to open your bookings to anyone possible. It’s understandable because you need clients to get your business going.

Practicing on friends and family is normal during the early stages as you will need the hours to perfect your craft. However as your business starts to grow, you will need to find your ideal client. Your ideal client is someone who will receive the perfect solution to their needs through your services. This person will love what you do, continue to book with you, and will refer your services to their friends and family.

While it’s tempting to think that everyone needs and will benefit from your services, it will be difficult to manage without a clear direction. By trying to serve everyone, you could be wasting your time and money on attracting the wrong clients. When you find an ideal client, you will:

• Know how to position and market your beauty business
• Attract clients quicker and easier
• Get paid what you deserve

First, you will need to find your niche, a focused portion of a larger market. Nearly every market can be further divided based on the price clients are willing to pay, age, income level, values, interests, and where they live. Marketing to a niche is much easier than trying to attract a wide audience since a niche has much more in common in terms of needs, wants, and preferences.

Choosing An Area of Expertise

As a beauty business owner, you need to ask yourself which area of expertise you will focus on. This will allow you to understand the needs of your clients and how you can better serve them. Before you can think of the exact person you’re trying to target, let’s work backward. Start with yourself and the services you offer. Think about your area of expertise–what you’re good at and enjoy doing. Don’t think of what will attract the most people or bring in the most amount of money.

For Permanent Makeup Artist, Jenna Huang, she focused on microblading eyebrows before deciding to expand her services later on. Previous to doing aesthetics full-time, she worked as a technical analyst position within a corporate environment. It was always a dream of hers to be in the beauty industry as she watched her mom express creative freedom as a hairdresser. She went to college for medical aesthetics, graduated, then ended up changing her career path completely.

A few years into her technical career, Jenna came across microblading and microshading. This immediately drew her back to the idea of being able to help those suffering from alopecia or hair loss from chemotherapy. Being able to help someone achieve the brows they’ve always dreamed of, gave her the push to step back into the beauty industry. Along with her own experiences with getting her eyebrows semi-permanently done and not going the way she liked, it motivated her to provide her services to help others.

After Jenna was certified and opened her home studio, eyebrows naturally became her specialty. She believes that when a beauty professional offers too many services, it takes away from being specialized in a particular treatment. Her other services came as requests from clients after developing loyalty with them.

“It’s great to be recognized for one particular service. That way your clients will know exactly who to recommend to their friends and family and you will have a larger portfolio to show your new clients.”

“On the financial side of things, it’s easier to track your expenses as a small business if you offer one service versus 5 or more,” she says. “However, on the flip side it’s also good to have a small variety of services so your clients can go to someone they know and trust–it really depends on what you prefer doing and what your clients are asking for.’ She now also offers lash lifts and volume lash extensions in addition to her permanent makeup services.

Defining Who Your Ideal Clients Are

Now you will need to determine who your ideal clients are, specific to your beauty business and area of expertise. Ask yourself–what type of client would I love to help over and over again? Start by looking at your current client list and picking out your favorite clients. From this list, look for similarities between them.

• What problem of theirs are you solving?
• What type of personality do they have?
• How do they define value?
• Which services do they lean towards?
• How much do they spend?
• How did they hear about you?

These are just a few of the questions you should ask yourself to find the type of client you want to attract. Once you have a better idea of who your ideal clients are, you can create a detailed profile. By thinking of someone you already know, you won’t be creating a persona of someone that may not even exist. Your ideal client will need to be someone that is within reach and attainable.

We recommend implementing a question on your intake forms asking how they heard about your business. This will allow you to see where your clients are coming from, particularly the ones you enjoy serving. Knowing this information will be very helpful in creating your marketing strategies.

Attracting Ideal Clients to Your Beauty Business

With a better picture of your ideal clients, you can start tailoring your marketing message. Think about the problem you’re trying to solve and how your services provide the solution. Your solution will be the way to attract your ideal clients.

Let’s look back at Jenna with her expertise in medical aesthetics and permanent makeup. She has a strong interest in helping those suffering from alopecia or hair loss, which could be her ideal client. While this seems too specific, it’s not– roughly 6.8 million people in the United States experience alopecia. Her permanent makeup services will provide her ideal clients the solution of fuller-looking eyebrows. This is the benefit that she can use to sell to her ideal clients.

Attracting your ideal clients to your beauty business will consist of multiple initiatives. However, your job is a bit easier now that you know who you’re trying to target and what marketing message to use. Building your strategy will focus on the planning, creation, and delivery of your content online. You can read our blog post, Building Your Instagram Content Strategy, to determine what type of content to post.

Facebook Ads

If you have money available for advertising, you should consider Facebook ads. They are one of the most cost-effective ways for beauty businesses to expand their reach and grow their client list. You should use Facebook ads because, more than likely, your clients are on Facebook. It’s a highly targeted form of advertising that’s customizable to your marketing needs and budget. Another great aspect is the analytics you will get to help better understand your audience.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the oldest, yet most effective forms of marketing your beauty business can use. When used effectively, they will convert potential clients into salon bookings while increasing the chances of turning them into loyal and returning ones. To learn more about email marketing and how to build your email list, you can read our guide.

Ask for Referrals

Don’t be afraid to ask your current ideal clients for referrals. This is especially if they are loyal clients that keep coming back to you. When a current client is happy with your services, simply ask them to refer to anyone who would enjoy the same service. This can easily be done by introducing a referral program to provide an additional incentive if they bring someone in.

Once you’ve determined who your ideal clients are and how you can attract them to your beauty business, you will notice a positive growth. You will earn money doing more of what you love and serving the type of people that make you happy. It’s time to take control of your business and create the path you want.