Written for owners of hair salons, barbershops, beauty, nail, lash and brow businesses, spas and massage, tanning, tattoo and piercing studios and med spas in the United States.
The short version
- Measure channels by clients back at 90 days.Not likes. Count new clients from Google, Instagram, marketplaces and referrals who are still booking 90 days later.
- Ask every client for an honest review.Tie no reward to the rating. And at checkout, every time, ask for their next booking.
- Disclose paid posts and text with consent.Say clearly in the post if you gave free services, payment or an affiliate code. Marketing texts need prior express written consent and an opt-out.
The channels that fill a salon's book are rebooking at checkout, Google reviews, Instagram and TikTok portfolios, booking marketplaces such as Vagaro, Booksy and StyleSeat, and referral credits. Measure each one by new clients retained at 90 days, not by likes.
Rebooking is the channel you already own
Your rebook rate is the share of clients leaving with their next appointment booked. Ask at checkout, every time, and track it per provider from your POS. When you come to sell, buyers pay for retained clients and a team that stays, not the owner's book, so this number builds value too.
Reviews
Since October 21, 2024, the FTC's Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule bans the kinds of fake or false reviews and testimonials it lists, any reward conditioned on a positive or negative review, the undisclosed insider reviews it lists, such as reviews by your own managers or staff, and the review-suppression conduct it lists. It does not ban every moderation decision about a negative review. Courts can impose civil penalties for knowing violations. Asking every client for an honest review is fine. As of Oct 2026.
FTC Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule, 16 C.F.R. Part 465 (465.2, 465.4, 465.5 and 465.7)
An incentive conditioned on a positive review violates the FTC review rule.
Influencers, photos and texts
Free services, payment and affiliate codes are material connections, and the post must disclose them clearly. Before-and-after photos must be real, typical or clearly qualified, and unfiltered. Marketing texts need the client's prior express written consent and an opt-out, and states add their own laws, such as Florida's Telephone Solicitation Act. As of Oct 2026.
16 C.F.R. 255; Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. 227; 47 C.F.R. 64.1200
If you offer injectables or weight-loss drugs, never call a compounded drug or an off-label use 'FDA-approved'. Claims must be truthful and substantiated (FTC Act s.5), and state medical boards police physician advertising.
Marketplaces
Before you rely on a booking marketplace, check its fees on new clients, whether it charges again on returning clients, and whether you can export your client data if you leave. Each platform publishes its own fees, so compare the total cost per booking.
Put photo consent on your client intake form. Without the client's consent on file, her before-and-after photos stay off your grid.
Asked in Greymill
The review deal: the FTC's review rule bans any reward tied to a positive review. It has applied since October 21, 2024 (As of Oct 2026).
Courts can impose civil penalties for knowing violations.
Instead: ask every client for an honest review, with no reward tied to the rating. That is allowed.
The text blast: marketing texts need each client's prior express written consent, meaning written permission given in advance, and an opt-out.
Florida adds its own law, the Telephone Solicitation Act. Text only the clients who gave that consent.
Measure it right: judge reviews like every other channel, by new clients still booking at 90 days, not by likes.
I'll draft a review request you can send every client, if you like.
Ask it about your own business
Paste this into Greymill with your own figures, and Marketing works it through for your business.
I run a salon or beauty business in [state], in the US. Over the last [3 months] my new clients came from: [channel and number for each], and this many came back within 90 days: [numbers]. Each platform charges [fees]. Rank the channels by cost per retained client, write a review request I can send every client that stays within the FTC rule, and check these posts and texts before I send them: [paste].
More for beauty, hair and aesthetics in the US
- Pricing a color service so it still pays after commission and productPrice each service from the provider's time and product, check what commission leaves you, and track service sales per available hour before you change the menu.Read the lesson
- We sold a stack of gift cards in December. Why is cash tight now?Gift card and deposit money is service you still owe, no-shows are hours you never get back, and a 13-week cash view shows both before they hurt.Read the lesson
- Am I claiming the FICA tip credit, and do I owe tax on back-bar color?Salons can now claim the FICA tip credit on employees' tips, while back-bar product and New York City's service tax catch out owners who never checked.Read the lesson
- Adding laser, microneedling, injectables or tattoos: whose license covers it?Every state licenses the person and the shop separately, scope of practice decides what an esthetician may do, and injectables, and in most states lasers that affect living tissue, are the practice of medicine.Read the lesson
- Memberships, auto-renewals and no-show fees: will my terms hold up?Memberships, deposits and no-show fees are lawful when the client agrees to clear terms up front, and auto-renewal laws spell out how sign-up and cancellation must work.Read the lesson
- Commission stylists, '1099' stylists and booth renters: am I underpaying or misclassifying?A booth renter must really run their own business, and every commission employee needs a minimum wage and overtime check each workweek.Read the lesson
- A client was burned, reacted or had an injectable complication: what do I do today?The first hours after a burn, reaction or injectable complication decide the client's outcome and whether your insurance responds, so act in order and admit nothing.Read the lesson
Open the interactive lesson · Every beauty, hair and aesthetics lesson · What Greymill knows about the trade
Sources
The primary sources behind this lesson, checked Oct 2026.
- 16 C.F.R. 465.2, 465.4, 465.5 and 465.7; FTC Questions and Answers, effective October 21, 2024 and civil penalties for knowing violations (Winning work and advertising rules)
- 47 U.S.C. 227; 47 C.F.R. 64.1200 (Winning work and advertising rules)
- Enrolled HB 3749, Occupations Code sections 172.001 and 172.051, and section 4 (Med spas: delegation, IV therapy and compounded drugs)
- FDA updates of December 19, 2024; February 21, March 10 and April 28, 2025 (Med spas: delegation, IV therapy and compounded drugs)
- FD&C Act 503A and 503B (Med spas: delegation, IV therapy and compounded drugs)
- Quick Facts and Pay, May 2025 group median: $17.25 an hour and $35,880 a year; page modified August 27, 2026 (Show the math, source the market)
- NAICS 812111 barber shops, 812112 beauty salons, 812113 nail salons (Show the math, source the market)
- B&P 16601 (Size, growth and exit)
- IRC 453; Form 8594 allocation (Size, growth and exit)
- 16 C.F.R. 436.1(h), federal franchise definition; 436.2(a), disclosure at least 14 calendar days before signing or payment (Contract red flags)