Sensory marketing - how sound and smell in the salon affect your customers' satisfaction.

Sensory marketing - sound, smell and client experience

Sound, pervasive smell and visual stimuli have a great impact on brand value. In beauty salons, spas and other entities in the beauty industry, this is already an everyday occurrence. In an increasingly competitive market, where digitalization is the arena, it is worthwhile to ensure innovative methods of retaining, or acquiring, clients. For the spa and cosmetics sector, sensory marketing is a particularly interesting solution.

How does sensory marketing work?

How does sensory marketing work in the context of clients’ senses? It reinforces the brand through channels theoretically not included in the advertising strategy: it is the integration of impressions on several levels. This way of influencing audiences was already pointed out in the mid-1970s by Philip Kotler – a scientist recognized as a kind of marketing visionary.

Sensory stimuli make a brand - a place, a person, an activity - start to evoke associations, memories, images in the minds of clients. As a result, it has a clear positive impact on the process of differentiating the brand from the competition in the - how competitive! - market in the beauty industry. In other words: if sensory marketing is used in an interesting way, a beauty salon or an exclusive spa can effectively generate a positive feeling in the recipient and, as a result, stand out in the recipient’s perception.

Sensory marketing - methods and types

If one were to try to define sensory marketing, it could be considered a compilation of mechanisms affecting sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste. If we go deeper, it is worthwhile - especially in the spa or cosmetology industry - to focus on two levels. It is sound and smell - key stimuli for positive brand recognition.

Marketing that utilizes the potential of audio cannot be limited to the music that accompanies beauty salon clients. It must influence the atmosphere: build a sense of intimacy, create a sensual ambience - not coincidentally, the body produces more endorphins under the influence of the right rhythm. These “happy hormones” translate into a degree of satisfaction with the service provided - and it is this that is crucial for a possible return.

In contrast, the most commonly cited example of marketing based on olfactory stimuli happens to be a simple air freshener - particularly popular with franchise outlets. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg - it is worth noting, for example, that premium spa salons use not standard fragrances, but their own compositions so that clients identify them with one chosen brand.

Examples of sensory marketing implementation

Aroma marketing focused on fragrance composition – as research conducted in the United States shows – has been adopted by a wide range of beauty salons. AromaCorp, a brand specializing in fragrance strategies for beauty salons, provides - depending on their specialization - variants ranging from fruit to oriental woods to combinations of different variants.

A true champion - though not in the spa industry - of such a mechanism is Singapore Airlines, which has commissioned the development of a fragrance line for aircraft on its long-haul routes. The result is the unique - and above all now famous - smell associated with this airline.

What solutions are worth considering in addition?

Although sensory marketing mainly focuses on smell and hearing, for the beauty industry it is worth exploring other options.

Touch marketing:

• the right texture and softness of the materials used on clients during treatments – worth highlighting up close, for example in social media photos and videos,
• shape - the perfect fit of an item to the hand can reinforce the recipient’s satisfaction - as demonstrated by the classic Coca-Cola bottle, designed to fit comfortably in an average hand,
• temperature - a pre-warmed towel in the beauty salon will evoke a far better feeling than a cool towel just taken out of the cabinet.

Taste marketing:

• a body scrub made from brown sugar or a chocolate-scented foot cream will definitely stimulate the power of the sensory experience; however, the tastings that are often used are no less interesting - one American cosmetic clinic offers each guest a spoonful of selected acacia honey for its calming effect,
• a drink can be more than flavored water - the cucumber slices commonly associated with spas are, in Europe, sometimes served as an interesting way to enhance a beverage.

Visual marketing:

• appropriate color projection - depending on the sunlight in the room, it is worth taking care to regulate the colors and make them neutral,
• chromotherapy - the play of colors, their automatic projection so as to influence the client’s mood, a mechanism successfully used, for example, in spas.

Solutions using sensory marketing are numerous. The limit here is the imagination of the owners of the spa, aesthetic medicine clinic or beauty salon. Only one thing is certain: where there are no stimuli, it is difficult to generate emotions - and these, if positive, provide a natural gateway to encourage the client to return.