09.25.2023 9 min read time

Hair & Beauty

How To Craft An Irresistible Spa Or Salon Menu For Your Personal Service Business: A Trend Backed Analysis

Businesses/Owners

“What services do you offer?”

If you own or work at a spa or salon, you likely get that question all the time. While you can choose to answer it by telling people about your services, a better and more efficient solution is to showcase your offerings using your salon or spa menu.

Not all spa or salon menus are created equal, though. In order for your services to be enticing, your menu should be able to present your offerings in the most attractive way possible.

Not sure how to do that? Read on to discover how you can craft a captivating salon or spa menu that converts people into paying clients.

What is a spa or salon menu?

A salon or spa menu (sometimes referred to as a “spa services menu” or “salon service menu”) is a document that lists the services you offer. Typically, the menu contains the titles of your services, along with descriptions and pricing information.

Why should you craft a compelling salon or spa menu?

A salon or spa services menu can be both an educational tool and a sales asset, so it’s important to get it right. Here are some of the purposes and benefits of having a great menu for your business.

To inform people about your services

Your service menu is primarily a tool that informs clients about your services. This document should list and describe your offerings so customers know exactly what they’re buying. A good salon or spa menu literally keeps service providers and clients on the same page, so there are no surprises once the service has been administered.

To entice them to buy

Your spa or salon menu (a good one, anyway) doesn’t just tell people about your services, it sells them. When done right, it gets people excited about your services and convinces them to buy.

To show off your brand

You can also use your spa or salon service menu to show off your brand’s unique style and voice. With a gorgeous design and compelling copy, your menu can speak to your target customers and make a strong impression.

Top Considerations When Creating Your Salon or Spa Menu

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s discuss the components and considerations to factor in when you’re creating the menu for your salon or spa.

Menu items

You can’t have a service menu without services, so let’s kick things off by talking about what offerings to include. Each business is different, but generally, your menu items would fall under these buckets.

Classics/basics

First, identify the basic or classic services that people would purchase from you. For hair salons, services like haircuts, coloring, and other usual hair treatments would fall in this category. Spas, on the other hand, may choose to list classic types of massages (e.g., Swedish, deep tissue, etc.,) while nail salons would list basic manicure and pedicure services.

Signature/specialty

These would be offerings that are unique to your business.

If you’re a massage therapist who combines various styles and techniques, then you can add a signature massage to your menu (ideally with a unique name). Or if you offer complex nail art services or hair treatments that use proprietary formulas, then you’ll want to put them in this category.

Seasonal

You could also add seasonal specials to your menu. Maybe you’re offering pumpkin-infused spa treatments during the fall or you’re providing services specifically to protect your client’s hair during the summer. Whatever the case, add these limited-time offerings to your menu.

Pricing

Price is an important consideration for your clients, and in most cases, your menu needs to contain pricing information. There are two key considerations when determining the right prices. They are:

Your costs and margins. You’re running a business, and you need to generate a profit. As such, your prices should cover the costs (labor and materials) you incur when administering the service. Run the numbers in your business and see to it that you’re not losing money with your prices.

Your market. The market in which you operate can also dictate your prices. How much your competitors are charging, as well as how price-sensitive your clients are, all factor into your rates.

Make sure you have a solid handle on your market to determine the best prices. Take a look at the service menus of competing businesses and conduct audience research so you can calculate your rates.

Content and presentation

Once you’ve nailed your menu items and pricing, it’s time to move on to how you’ll present the information. You should be able to come up with content that’s both informative and captivating in order for your menu to be effective.

Here are some tips on how to do just that.

Use clear service titles

When writing service titles, it’s better to be clear than to be clever. The names of your services should instantly communicate what you’re offering, rather than make someone guess or wonder what it’s all about.

For example, if you’re selling facials, avoid the temptation to come up with a clever title that doesn’t have the word “facial” in it. You can certainly spruce things up by adding descriptive words like “rejuvenating” but make sure your keyword is present.

Favored Hands and Naturals does this really well. The titles listed on their spa services menu are simple and easy to understand, so clients know exactly what they’re getting.

Write short but compelling item descriptions

Now let’s move on to your description. Here, you can be more descriptive and show your personality when describing your menu items.

If you’re not sure where to start, adopt your natural voice and write like you’re speaking to a client. How would you describe your offerings? What makes your services special and what do clients get out of it? Answer these questions in your item description.

Another quick tip: keep your copy short. Walls of text can scare off readers, so make sure your descriptions are easily digestible. Aim for 2-4 lines, max.

We can see this tip in action when we look at the salon menu of Aesthetic Glo Spa, in San Fernando Valley, California.

Think about content categories, format, and hierarchy

Next, have a think about how you will present the information. What services should go at the top of the menu? What categories will your menu contain?

There are no one-size-fits-all answers to these questions, but here are a couple of ideas:

Categorize items based on service type. Grouping your menu items into service types is a straightforward and reliable way to arrange your offerings. Most people naturally think in broad categories first (e.g., “massage”) before narrowing things down (e.g., “deep tissue massage”).

So if you have a variety of offerings, group them into service types, then list the specific items under each category. For example, if you’re a salon, then separate cuts, coloring, and straightening treatments into different groups.

List the basic treatments first, then move on to specialty or more complex services. As for the order of your menu items, it’s best to go from simple to complex. If you’re a nail salon, for instance, then you can put basic manicures at the top, followed by French tips, followed by nail art.

Don’t forget your specials, promos, or bundles. If you’re offering promotions or service packages, you'll have to think about how you’ll list them.

One approach could be to have a “Specials” or “Seasonal” section on your menu, which is separate from your year-long items. Another idea is to place bundles between categories. If you’re selling mani-pedi packages, for instance, then you can position the bundle in between the manicure and pedicure categories.

There’s no right or wrong answer here, as each service provider is different. Figure out what works best for your clients, then go from there.

When it comes to service packages, at Booksy you can set up Combo Services to start grouping different services together in one appointment. Then encourage clients to book several treatments in one session to help you generate more income.

Design

Now let’s discuss the look and feel of your service menu. When coming up with the right design, some of the factors to consider are:

Branding

Your spa or salon service menu should be on-brand. Make sure you have a clear handle on what your brand is all about. Part of this includes incorporating your company’s colors and fonts, and your business logo but you should also consider your business’ personality.

Are you a minimalist, no-frills salon or do you like to go big and bold? Is your spa a fan of the classics or are you on the trendy side? The answers to these questions will inform your design decisions.

Here’s an example from Chika Nails & Beauty Business that chose a minimalistic approach—check out the well-laid design and straightforward descriptions.

Client needs and preferences

Put yourself in the shoes of the person who will be reading your menu, and make sure that it’s easy for them to peruse.

If you’re catering to an older clientele, then your font sizes may need to be bigger. Do you serve busy, on-the-go moms? Then your menu probably needs to be lightweight and portable, instead of heavy with several pages.

The online hair salon menu of Dolled & Dapper in San Francisco follows the best practices above. Dolled & Dapper’s site has a classic, black and white theme, and their menu has the same look and feel. What’s more, the salon caters to both men and women, so they’ve opted for a gender-neutral design that can be appreciated by males and females.

Functionality

Think about how the menu will be used. Are you handing it out to your clients onsite? Are you giving away copies for people to take home? It’s important to get clear on how you want the menu to function, as this will also influence its design. Depending on your business, you may need to design a menu for different use cases.

DIY vs. Templates vs. Custom design

When you have an idea of what you want your menu to look like and how it should function, you can start thinking about bringing it to life. There are a number of options here.

Do it yourself. If your menu is simple and you don’t have a huge budget, then consider going the DIY route. You can craft your menu using a word processor. This menu may lack the appeal of a professionally crafted menu, but will still serve the purpose if done right!

Here’s a quick video to create one on MS Word Word (yes that’s possible)

On the other hand, if you have some inclination you can get quick lessons on designing a spa menu and design one using tools like Photoshop, Canva, or even Venngage. For inspiration, you can glance at Pinterest which is filled with thousands of ideas to nudge your creative flow.

Use templates. A quick Google search for spa or salon menu templates will bring up plenty of sites, so if you need inspiration or aren’t keen on creating a menu design from scratch, check out the many templates on the web.

Here are some starting points:

Hire a designer. If you have the budget for it and you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind service menu, then consider hiring a designer. Post a design job listing on sites like AIGA, Authentic Jobs, or Behance, to start collecting applications. You could also crowdsource a design by using sites like 99Designs, Crowdspring, or DesignCrowd.

Here’s an example of a spa menu that comes to life with a professional designer at hand:

Now that you’ve got a fair idea of what constitutes the basics of a spa or salon menu, let’s jump on to see how you can take them a notch up.

Salon and spa menu trends to consider

Part of running a successful salon or spa entails keeping up with the latest beauty trends and wellness trends. Services go in and out of style, and you need to make sure your menu contains items that are “in.”

The right trends to adopt will depend on your market, but here’s a look at some of the top ones to consider for your menu:

Environment-friendly. Everyone from the government to your favorite tech startups is going green. Increasingly, consumers are aligning themselves with businesses that provide sustainable services.

Research by IBM and the NRF found that almost 70% of consumers in the U.S. and Canada think it’s important for brands to be eco-friendly. Globally, almost 8 out of 10 consumers say that they value sustainability, and would even pay a premium for eco-friendly brands.

To that end, you may want to include environment-friendly offerings in your service menu. If you’re a salon, for example, consider offering services that make use of eco-friendly hair products like Truly Organic Toxin-Free Shampoo or LOVE Beauty AND planet Mumumulu Butter. Ditto for wellness and nail spas. Look at the products on your shelf and start incorporating more eco-friendly options.

Vegan. Veganism isn’t just about food. More and more people are choosing to go animal-free with beauty and wellness.

That’s why many spas and salons are adopting plant-based products and services. Osea Skincare Studio in California, for example, makes use of seaweed-based products like Hyaluronic Sea Serum which helps decrease the visibility of fine lines and wrinkles.

CBD. Cannabidiol (CBD) is another fast-growing wellness trend. In 2019, the CBD industry saw a 700% increase in demand and the market is expected to hit $22 billion by 2022.

The numbers are insane, and businesses are taking note. Various wellness providers are starting to promote CBD treatments. Spa Anjali at The Westin Riverfront, for instance, offers a Green CBD Spa treatment, which includes the use of activated hemp extract on stiff or sore parts of the body. Meanwhile, Simply Massage at DoubleTree by Hilton Vail introduced a CBD add-on to its signature treatment.

Creative colors. This one is particularly popular in hair salons. According to Salons Direct, unicorn hair, mermaid hair, prism hair, and other non-traditional hair colors have grown in popularity over the last few years. Pinterest searches for “lilac hair,” for example, grew by 1077% in 2018.

This trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon, so if it makes sense for your business and target clientele, consider adding creative coloring services to your hair salon menu.

Also, remember that the beauty and wellness industry is constantly changing, which means your service menu needs to evolve along with your market. Constantly keep an eye on the latest trends in your industry and update your menu accordingly.

Be sure to put a lot of thought into your salon or spa menu

Your service menu is one of the most important tools you can have in your salon or spa, so invest the time and effort in getting it right. Speaking of spa and salon tools, if you’re looking to streamline appointment scheduling and management, check out Booksy. Our salon software gives you the tools you need to increase bookings, delight your clients, and run a more efficient spa or salon. Start your free trial today!