Susan’s Ultimate Salon, a beauty salon and boutique located in Rushville, IL, signed up for CloseBy® Text Marketing in August of 2021! They signed up for the CloseBy® Text Marketing program because they wanted an efficient way to get more information out to their customers. CloseBy® Text Marketing is a great way to directly communicate with your customers, and with our simple and easy-to-use platform Susan’s Ultimate Salon can instantly send messages to their curated list of 165 loyal patrons.

Here at American Marketing & Publishing, we see the value in investing and creating community with the businesses that choose us to provide solutions to their marketing needs. We see, first hand, the hard work that small businesses, like Susan’s Ultimate Salon, put into their business daily. Every month, we choose a CloseBy® Text Marketing customer to spotlight and send out their tips and tricks on staying successful with the CloseBy® Text Marketing program to all of our active text customers.

This month, we reached out to Susan Grate, owner of Susan’s Ultimate Salon, to learn her secrets behind how she grows her text list, and all the ways she successfully navigates the CloseBy® Text Marketing program.

Read our exclusive interview with Susan Grate, owner of Susan’s Ultimate Salon, below!

What was the biggest reason you signed up for the text program?

“I really signed up to help get more information out to my clients and customers. Some of my customers are not on Facebook at the time, or even at all. Being able to shoot them a text where I know my customers will view it, has been great for my business. I also am able to stay top of mind with them!”

What is a typical response you receive when you send a text message?

“I would say a good to great, definitely not fair to good. I like sending them reminders, especially during the holiday season. I don’t like to discount everything, so sending reminders about products and new shipments has been a great way to get customers to come back in. I will also add a link to my Facebook page in the text message to help promote Facebook too!”

What do you think has been the best way to promote the program for your type of business?

“The best way we have found to promote the list has been in person, honestly. I have my flyers sitting around the shop and at the front counter so that when a customer walks in, I can point to the sign and have them join. People are always in a hurry, so it’s hard to be sure that every customer joins by talking to them, so to have the signs to promote our list has been a great help!”

Have you found the program easy to use?

“It’s been extremely easy for me to log in, send a message, and make money! I’m not a huge technology person, so it’s been a great help for how easy the portal is to send out a message.”

Susan has been working closely with her Text Account Manager, Raegan Fingerman, to create text messages that promote their products and keep them top of mind with their customers. Here are some of the recent messages that Apex Nutrition has sent to their customers:

  • All Christmas shirts and shackets 30% off thru Friday. Show text to redeem. Not sure what to get…. grab a gift certificate!!
  • Small Biz Saturday, 9-2.Check out our new Judy Blue Flares! 25% of all apparel, show text to redeem.
  • Judy Blue Shorts & capris are a FAVE! We have distressed, non distressed, high rise & mid, Bermuda & medium length, come check them out!
  • It’s my birthday so let’s celebrate-now thru Friday. $5.00 off $30 or $10.00 off $50 or more on any apparel items. Show text to redeem.