Client: Ohh Lashes is a luxury eyelash extension boutique located in Coral Gables, FL. catering to a higher end clientele which includes, but is not limited to, celebrities, business owners, and fashion models.
Ohh Lashes began servicing clients in a small, yet desirable, studio location on the Coral Gables waterway. After a year, the owner took a leap of faith to grow her business by upgrading to a 900 sq. ft. studio which was three times larger and more expensive. During that short period of time, she grew her team from one to three lash artists. As the marketing manager it was my responsibility to bring in new clients and generate revenue streams from sources like Yelp in order pay for increased overhead expenses from her business expansion.
I began with a free Yelp listing which had 7 reviews. Based on feedback from the owner, she acquired a few new clients from this Yelp listing with no Ad Spend.
Gathering information for this case study was a manual process and required several forms of analysis.
I pulled a report of all new clients within the specified time-frame April 16, 2018 – October 30, 2018.
I then looked at the 231 client waivers that were signed by new clients on the day they became a paying client. On the waiver, the question, “How did you hear about us?” appears. I highlighted all answers which mentioned Yelp.
Afterward, I analyzed new client files in the CRM and calculated initial and recurring revenue from follow up appointments over the following six months.
The graph to the left shows the top 10 reviewed categories on Yelp, with Beauty and Fitness placing in the top four. Eyelash extensions fall into the Beauty and Fitness industry, hence, our potential clients were already actively using the Yelp platform to search for services.
Although this case study covers an eyelash extension boutique, Estheticians and Cosmetologists who offer similar beauty services can also benefit from the details and suggestions in this case study. Beauty services include, but are not limited to, the following:
Acne Treatment Barbers Cosmetics & Beauty Supply Day Spas Eyebrow Services Eyelash Service Hair Extensions Hair Loss Centers Hair Removal Laser Hair Removal Sugaring | Threading Services Waxing Hair Salons Blow Dry/Out Services Hair Extensions Hair Stylists Kids Hair Salon Men’s Hair Salons Hot Springs | Makeup Artists Massage Medical Spas Aestheticians Nail Salons Nail Technicians Perfume Permanent Makeup Piercing Skin Care | Skin Care Estheticians Tanning Spray Tanning Tanning Beds Tattoo Teeth Whitening |
After creating the potential customer avatar, it became clear that our target market was women between the ages of 35-54 with a college degree and an income of $60k +.
Yelp’s user demographics, which are listed to the right, identify Yelp as a worthwhile platform for the generation of more revenue and clients.
Scale the number of leads and increase revenue amongst a sea of competitors in the area.
Upgrading to an enhanced listing for $75/month allowed CTA’s (Call To Actions) and removed competitor ads from our listing. Starting with a $300 monthly Ad Spend, in addition to the $75 for an enhanced listing, I also ran a couple of daily deals and created check-in offers. Once the sales from the initial $300 started to come in, I increased the ad budget to $475. For this case study, the Ad Spend was $475 plus enhanced listing upgrade = $550/ per month for 6 months.
It’s important to note that although cost per acquisition of $52.56 seemed a bit on the high side, it still made good business sense, since the average client spent between $150 and $400.
It wasn’t as simple as paying the $550 and waiting for new clients to roll in. I applied my P.O.W.E.R. Framework™ strategy to the Yelp listing and to all the steps of the marketing campaign and execution.
In my opinion, the most important aspect of running this successful marketing campaign is attributed to having A working sales funnel ,a component of my P.O.W.E.R. Framework™, which optimizes leads and traffic from Yelp. The sales funnel is powered by marketing strategies such as email marketing and retargeting with Facebook Ads. Both were instrumental in guiding potential customers to make a purchase.
Leads may not make a purchase immediately, but it doesn’t mean that they are dead leads. If you take a look at the stats to the left, you can see that 34% from Yelp purchase within a week. It is our responsibility to prepare for the generation of these leads, and be able to nurture and move them through our sales funnel.