The Best Barbershop Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Client List

One of the best things about barbershops is that they’re the center of the neighborhood.

People come by, stay awhile, maybe share a beer or whiskey (or two) with you and the other regulars…

The dream.

As much as you love your diehard customers, if you’re looking to market your barber business and grow your barbershop’s client list, you know that you also need to get the word out to strangers.

You can try:

And of course… don’t forget social media marketing!

Whatever strategy you try, you know that marketing for barbers comes with a set of unique challenges.

That’s why our team reached out to a bunch of marketing experts, dug through all the jargon, and found some grassroots marketing tips your barbershop can actually use.

The Best Barbershop Marketing Strategies

1. Befriend Your Business Listings

Here’s the thing: you “own” your business listings online.

Facebook.

Yelp.

Google.

All yours.

If you don’t update your business profiles regularly, now’s the time.

Dr. Scott Hamula, a professor of communications at Ithaca College in New York, tells us that after spending several hours every Saturday at his local shop (shoutout to Short’s Barbershop!), he immediately recommended that they clean up their Facebook page and start an Instagram business account.

Dr. Hamula also recommends posting new content at least once a day to your social channels once you have them.

2. Go Old-School with Flashy Signage

People still use them ’cause they work. Everyone knows about the red, white, and blue barbershop pole.

Just make sure to check your local codes to see what you can get away with.

Dr. Hamula says, “A well-placed sandwich board sign on a high-traffic street can raise awareness and direct customers to your shop.”

Professional copywriter Amanda Kostro Miller agrees and suggests doubling your impact by trying some “Instagram-worthy” signage as well.

“Make it something that shows off your name but also can be used as a great photo-op for Millennials and Gen Z. Your shop gets interest on the street and online!”

3. Build Out a Loyalty or Referral Programs

Want more word-of-mouth traffic? Ask for it.

Offer a loyalty program or referral discount to your current clients. You don’t need to get too complicated for these to pay off.

Referral programs can be as simple as adding a note to a referring clients’ profile to give them 10% off the next time they come in whenever someone tells you who recommended you.

(This is easy with Vagaro.)

4. Get Online, Chalkboard Fans

Almost everyone we talked to said the same thing: Not enough barbers use online booking and marketing tools.

We’ve always loved the vibe of walk-in barbershops, but more and more people want to do everything online, including scheduling their shaves or fades.

When you use an all-in-one software for scheduling, booking, and payment, you can tackle all sorts of creative marketing strategies, including package discounts for referrals or seasonal package deals.

Walk-ins still welcome, of course.

One great platform if you’re just starting out? Yeah, us.

5. Go Hog-Wild on Videos

At least five industry experts suggested that barbers try their hands at either YouTube or Instagram Stories.

Jessica Dennehy, a former Wall Street regulator who built a brand of luxury barbershops in Long Island called MadMen, says that her business grew through the pandemic because her team created and shared video content on all their channels.

Before and afters, tutorials, “hot takes” from your chair.

Don’t be afraid to show a little personality and keep in mind that it doesn’t need to look perfect.

In fact, getting a little messy usually feels more authentic.

If you need examples, look no further than City Image Barber for inspiration — or “inspo,” if you’re looking for the technical marketing term. 😉

6. Pay Attention to Search Results

If you’ve heard the term “search engine optimization,” or “SEO,” thrown around, it’s for good reason.

Now more than ever, how high you turn up in search results online matters. That’s especially true if you want people to find you when they Google “barber near me.”

“As clients begin to go about their normal lives again, there’s a greater chance that they will take this opportunity to look for new barbers,” says Joe Agnello of City Image Barbers.

“It’s important to make sure that your business can be found when someone is searching.”

Here’s our explainer on exactly how to get found in local search results, AKA “improve your local SEO,” in just a few minutes.

7. Partner Up

Barbershops are all about community, right?

Use that to your advantage by partnering with other local businesses to co-promote each other’s products or services.

“Hosting events and cross-promoting on each other’s social media is a great way to spread out to a larger audience,” says Agnello.

“You can even do a collaborative giveaway that each of you offer to your customers to bring awareness to each other’s businesses.”

8. Leverage Giveaways

Beyond partnerships, giveaways can instantly amp up your online following — and online booking for barbers.

Hair and beauty consultant Nina Tulio swears by them to grow a social media following. (Just don’t forget to add a book button to your Instagram, so new followers can easily get in to see you.)

You can amplify your results even more by getting savvy about the winner’s pot. Offload some product that just isn’t moving or, better yet, give the winner a free cut or package deal for themselves and a friend.

Then, both people are likely to refer some more people who…

Behold! The snowball effect.

We know you’ve heard of BarberCon. The perks of attending live events are endless — and we don’t just mean the killer parties. They’re also the ideal chance to meet other people in the industry who you could partner with in the future.

But beyond barbering events, you should consider sponsoring local events, too. That could mean holiday fairs, charity fundraisers (a cutting booth at a local fundraiser could be pretty freakin’ rad), or offering matching fades for your local high school soccer team ahead of their final match.

Fun to think outside the box, right?

10. Ask for Reviews

A bad review can make your skin crawl, but a great review can change everything. It also happens to be great SEO (see tip #6).

One way to make sure you’re in that high 4.5-5.0 rating range is to get proactive about them.

“When people decide to visit a certain barbershop for the first time, chances are that they’ll want to make sure they’ve made the right choice,” says Greta Simeonova of PAN Digital Marketing.

“One of the easiest ways to do this is by looking at online reviews. Encourage your existing clients to leave reviews about the experience as this will help you attract more clients.”

We recommend that you ask for reviews on both Yelp and Google.

You can do this easily by sending an email to your client list and, if you’re feeling generous, offering them a discount on their next service in exchange.

11. Go in on Swagger-worthy Swag

Beanies, beer koozies, branded sweatshirts — these days, the sky is the limit.

Feel free to sell ’em, but use them for those giveaways we mentioned as well.

Any time someone sees one of your customers in your beanie, it’s free advertising.

And don’t underestimate the power of a simple business card for barbers.

Says Agnello: “One thing that is being overlooked lately is the power of handing people your business card. I know that you may think it’s insignificant because everything is electronic nowadays, but a business card acts as a first impression.

Make sure the quality is good and the design fits your style, and it also shows that you want them to personally be your client.”

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Social media marketing is a surefire way to grow your client list and ramp up your barber business.

1. Know Your Target Audience

If you run your own barbershop, you know who your clients are and more importantly — how to connect with them.

That’s why social media is such a game-changer for barbers: It takes your natural charm and knack for building relationships and multiplies them.

So, before you consider your social media marketing strategy, you need to understand your clients (i.e. your target audience).

Ask yourself a few straightforward questions:

Who are my clients?
What are they interested in?
How does my business help them?

Once you know your clients and what they like, you can build posts (and hashtags, captions, and bios) that will get their attention, hook them, and ultimately keep them engaged with your brand.

2. Choose Your Platforms

Not all social media platforms are made for every type of business.

Folks that are on Facebook may not always be the same folks on TikTok.

So, it’s smart to consider which platforms will work best for your barbershop.

While it can vary depending on who your clients are, the most popular social media platforms for barbers tend to be Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.

Consider where your clients are and why, and how your barbershop will keep them engaged on the social media platforms you choose.

3. Stay Engaged

Growing your business and finding new clients on social media takes a lot of time, attention, and consistency.

It ultimately comes down to one thing: Engagement.

Once you know your audience and the platforms to use, consistently engaging on social media is the biggest way to let potential clients get to know you and your business.

Here are five simple tips to help you stay engaged with clients on social media:

1. Show up every freakin’ day.

No matter the platform(s) you choose, be sure to log on every day to share content or reply to comments.

2. Share photos or videos of you at work.

Let clients see you at work, smiling and connecting with other clients.

3. Post before-and-after photos.

Show clients some of your most transformative work!

4. Educate your clients.

Share hair or beard maintenance tips and tricks clients can use between appointments.

5. Interact with your audience.

If someone writes a comment on one of your posts — good or bad — always take the time to respond.

4. Automate, Automate, Automate

As we mentioned before, staying engaged with clients on social media can take up a lot of time.

While you can’t eliminate all the leg work of managing your accounts, there are ways to automate some of the tasks.

Plenty of third-party apps out there, like Sprout Social or Hootsuite, help small businesses automate their social media marketing efforts.

(Here are our favorite social media marketing tools.)

After you found one that works for you, here’s what you want to do:

Make time at the beginning of each week or each month to create the content you want to post.

Schedule your content.

Let the automation app do the rest!

Choose the Best Hashtags

Barber hashtags are an easy way to group conversations or posts together into similar topics.

This makes it easier for clients to come across content they’re interested in.

There are a ton of hashtags out there for barbers, barbershops, and barber culture in general.

Knowing the right tags to use gives you the best chance of ramping up your traffic.

While some research may be involved to get the most out of specific hashtags for your business and what you offer, here are the most popular ones for #barber right now:

#barbering
#barberworld
#barbersince
#barberconnect
#masterbarber
#barbering
#barberstyle
#fade
#barberlife
#igbarber
#barbersofinstagram
#barberphotography