What to budget for digital marketing as a salon or wellness clinic

Fibvo editorial · 27 October 2023 · 4 min read

Salon and wellness marketing budgets often skew entirely toward acquisition — ads and social content to bring in new clients — while underfunding the retention tools that keep existing clients coming back at a much lower cost per visit.

What the spend typically covers

• Local Google Ads and social ads, sized against the value of a filled off-peak slot.
• Booking system and reminder automation costs — often underfunded relative to their impact on retention.
• Content production for service pages and social media.
• Google Business Profile management and review monitoring.

Balancing acquisition and retention spend

A reasonable starting split for many local salons weights retention tools and rebooking automation nearly as heavily as new-client acquisition ads, since the cost of keeping an existing client coming back is typically far lower than acquiring a new one.

A new client acquired through an ad is worth far less than the same client rebooking for years — budget accordingly.

Seasonal adjustment

Increase acquisition spend ahead of wedding season or festive periods specific to your service mix, and use retention-focused promotions during quieter months to keep existing clients engaged rather than only chasing new ones.

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Written by Fibvo — Bengaluru and Erode, India — working with clients in other time zones. Questions, or think we have it wrong? Tell us.