11 Barbershop Marketing Ideas

1. Own Your Google Business Profile

If you haven’t already, claim your Google Business Profile. Formerly known as a Google My Business Profile, this listing enables your barbershop to appear in Google Search results when people search for barbershop businesses in your area. It also makes your barbershop visible on the Google Maps app. Not only is claiming your Google Business Profile essential for small businesses, it’s also free and Google walks you through the process.

Online business listings matter because they make you appear more trustworthy in the eyes of customers, increase your visibility and boost your local SEO (Search Engine Optimization). They also enable you to convert searches into bookings. Barbershops on Vagaro can place booking widgets that let them accept bookings directly from their Google Business Profiles, as well as Apple Maps and Yelp.

These booking buttons can also be embedded on your barbershop’s Facebook page and Instagram profile. That’s a great segue into our next tip...

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2. Social Media Marketing

Now that you have your Google Business Listing squared away, it’s time to set up your business accounts on Facebook and Instagram. No list of barbershop marketing ideas is complete without a social media content plan.

There are many ways to highlight your barbershop on social media.

Upload Photos & Videos

Post high-resolution photos and videos of your best cuts and grooming services. Before-and-after pictures are particularly impactful as they prove the quality of your work.

Ask for Client Testimonials

Encourage satisfied customers to share their experiences and testimonials on your social media pages. User-generated content adds authenticity to your brand.

Show Behind-the-Scenes Content

Offer glimpses of your barbershop's atmosphere, your team in action, and any special events you host. This helps define your brand and creates a connection with your audience. Let them get to know each of your barbers individually by doing a background post on each of them.

Be Consistent

Maintain a consistent posting schedule to keep your followers engaged, but avoid overwhelming your audience. Try for 3–7 posts/week for Instagram, 1–2 posts/day for Facebook, 1–5 Tweets/day for Twitter, 1–4 posts/day for Tik-Tok and 1–5 posts/day for LinkedIn.

Use Engaging Captions

Write compelling captions that tell a story about each haircut or share grooming tips and tricks. Encourage interaction with your audience by asking questions or using call-to-action statements (CTAs).

Engage with Your Followers

Respond promptly to comments, messages, and mentions of you and your barbershop on your social media accounts. Interacting with your audience shows that you value their input and helps build that trust & rapport.

Use Hashtags (Wisely)

Use relevant and trending hashtags to expand your reach and attract potential customers. Some people enjoy adding ye olde hashtag (#) to anything and everything (#FadeInFadeOut; #barBARIC). Is this you? Hey, no judgement—they can definitely come in handy with your marketing efforts. Let’s hash this one out a bit more below.

3. Use Specialized Hashtags

Social media hashtags categorize content and help people find relevant posts. By effectively using specialized hashtags, you can target your ideal client demographic, reach a broader audience and gain more visibility within the barbering community.

Popular Barbering Hashtags

Local Hashtags

Branded Hashtags

Develop a catchy hashtag for your barbershop that clients can use when posting about their experiences. This can help generate user-generated content and strengthen your brand's identity.

Trending Hashtags

Look out for trending hashtags that align with your barbershop's theme or any ongoing events. Leveraging popular trends like this can boost your barbershop’s visibility.

Avoid Hashtag Overload

Use a balanced mix of general and specialized hashtags, typically ranging from 5 to 15 per post.

4. Video Marketing

People love short videos that are funny and informative. They get high engagement and can significantly increase conversion rates. Best of all, they can be shot on a smartphone and are free to upload.

Educational Videos

Grooming tips, like beard maintenance do’s & don'ts, are popular with online audiences. Quick tips are digestible & they stick.

Popular Hairstyle Tutorials

Show your audience how the cut is created and how to style it afterwards.

Client Before-and-After Videos

Coming in a mess, going out in style—thanks to you.

Behind-the-Scenes Videos

These help you appear authentic & relatable, highlight your barbershop’s vibe and provide an inside peak into the barbershop experience.

Product Reviews

Reviews position you as an industry expert and enable you to promote products you sell in your barbershop.

You’ve got one of those, right?

5. Get a Professional Website

Imagine that a potential client has discovered you through Google search or your social media pages. They see some great before-and-after pics, your 5-star reviews, and think that video of a barbershop regular cutting your hair was hilarious. Before they hit the book button, though, they want to know more about you...

...and you’ve lost them because you don’t have a website where they can find this information.

Your website should be easy to navigate, mobile-friendly and contain as much relevant information as possible. At a minimum, it should feature:

• Your services
• Your schedules, pricing & staff
• Before-and-after photos
• Customer reviews & testimonials
• An online booking system
• Links to your social media pages

6. Ask for Reviews & Testimonials

If your clients love what they see when you spin that chair around, then ask them to share that enthusiasm in an online review. Reviews play a vital role in how people choose a business to spend their money at. In fact, positive reviews matter to many people about as much as a recommendation from a friend or family member.

Remember that how you respond to reviews—both good and bad ones—is almost as important as getting them in the first place. Responding promptly and authentically to reviews shows everyone who reads them that you are appreciative of clients’ kind words and committed to fixing any problems they may have had.

Additionally, if you respond to reviews with a balanced mix of humanity and SEO lingo, it can improve your barbershop’s visibility. Be sure to include your barbershop’s name, your location and the specific service(s) being reviewed. Review responses that are loaded with local SEO keywords can increase your barbershop’s chances of popping up higher in local search results.

7. Start A Referral Program

Word-of-mouth marketing is still going strong. In fact, the only thing people trust more than a shining online review is a review straight from a friend or family member. If clients are already willing to leave awesome reviews online, then incentivize them to refer you to their friends directly.

The incentives in your referral program should be worthwhile and structured so that both the referrer and the new client benefit. This could be in the form of a 20% discount on a signature haircut for one, and a 15% discount on hair or beard-care products for the other. Find the balance between products and services that are attractive but also cost the least.

You can also structure your referral program with your loyalty program, which is equally easy to set up— with the right software. How many loyalty points should a referral be worth? That’s up to you, but a successful referral may net you a high-cost service and a new regular client, all in one day.

8. Host Events

Events create a sense of community, attract new customers, and enhance your barbershop's reputation. Some ideas include men's grooming nights, themed haircut days, grooming workshops or product demos.

Planning, execution and follow-up don't have to be hard.

• Promote on your social media platforms with strong graphics, videos & captions
• Send out newsletters to existing clients via email (more on this below)
• Cross-promote with local businesses
• Offer discounts and highlight event-specific packages to get people interested

• Take photos & videos to share on social media afterward
• Offer free grooming product samples or branded merchandise to event attendees

• Thank everyone who attended in person, in a social media post, and in follow-up emails
• Share the highlights on your social media platforms
• Collect feedback to find areas for improvement in future events

Above all, be creative, stay true to your brand, and make each event a memorable experience.

9. Co-Marketing

Co-marketing is, basically, a referral program between you and a non-competitive business with whom you share a target audience. If you cross-promote some of your events with local businesses, then maybe you can take your relationship to the next level.

There are many businesses you can collaborate with, including:

• Men’s clothing stores
• Men’s grooming product retailers
• Women’s hair salons
• Tattoo studios
• Hotels

The easiest way to start this relationship is to promote one another’s services and products on social media. Beyond that, you can collaborate on giveaways, contests or product launches, to name a few. Just remember that each of you must have something that the other will benefit from.

In exchange for being allowed to market inside your partner’s business, you may agree to offer free haircuts as a prize for a promotion they’re running. Reverse that paradigm and replace the free signature cut with a basket of premium hair and beard products. Get creative and work together to find what works best for both of you.

10. Use Email & Text Marketing

Are email & text marketing still relevant? Absolutely. They’re affordable, easy to use and still highly effective in digital marketing. Automated email and text marketing tools, like Vagaro’s, enable you to segment your audience for personalized messaging.

This is especially useful with birthday emails, in which you’ll attach a nice deal on a service or product. You can also target people who have signed up for events or competitions, or provide them with a link to the latest videos you’ve made on social media. Emails and texts are also great for reaching out to a client you haven’t seen in the barbershop in a while.

11. Create Branded Signage

We may live in a digital world, but there are some old-school marketing tactics that have withstood the test of time, and strategically placed signage is one of them. On the surface, a well-placed sign in an area with high foot traffic raises a lot of real-time awareness about your business. But there’s more to it than that.

Your sign should illustrate your brand, with your colors, logo and any catchy phrasing you use. Whether its minimalism meets class and sophistication, or maximal flash, make your something that clients would want to snap a selfie in front of and post to their social media pages later.