You're passionate about pampering your clients, but are you struggling to get new ones through the door?
Between managing appointments, keeping up with the latest trends, and handling the day-to-day of your spa or salon, marketing often falls to the bottom of the to-do list.
I understand the challenges you face:
But what if you could attract clients who are already searching for services like yours, without breaking the bank or spending hours on complicated marketing strategies? With Google Ads, you can.
More people than ever are searching for beauty and spa services on Google. There’s no shortage of people who want to look and feel younger - that will never change.
Below is a chart highlighting the steady and upward trend of Google searches related to “Med Spa Near Me.” All beauty categories - nail, hair, massage, microneedling, and more - continue to grow.
Google Trends - Med Spa Near Me Searches
Below are additional examples of searches - there are over 700 keyword variations of “laser tattoo removal” that people search for.
Google Ads Keyword Planner Example - Laser Tattoo Removal Searches
Or how about 1,100 variations around “spa near me.”
Google Ads Keyword Planner - Spa Near Me Searches
So, how can you capture your share of that traffic in Google and maximize your sales and profit?
The answer: Our 2-Campaign Funnel Strategy in Google Ads
In this post, I will demonstrate how to set up winning Google Ads campaigns that generate sales and profitably bring in new prospects. The process outlined below has been proven over years of setting up winning campaigns nationwide.
In this post, I will cover:
Google Ads for Spas & Salons FREE Course
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Why Google Ads Work for Spas and Salons
Google Ads is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with potential customers actively looking for spa and salon services in your area – even if you have limited time and a small budget.
Did you know the average person checks their phone over 200 times daily?
That means when someone needs a last-minute brow wax, a relaxing massage, or a fresh new hairstyle, their first instinct is to reach for their phone and search on Google.
In today’s digital world, you must reach people where their eyeballs are, and that’s on their phones.
mobile phone consumer behavior
Here's why Google Ads are incredibly effective for spas or salons like yours (and we’ve seen firsthand in over 15 years of creating campaigns nationwide):
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The Essential Checklist for Spa and Salon Owners to Drive High-Quality Leads NOW with Google Ads!
Want proof this works - Case Study
Below is a chart showing a new Google Ads campaign focused on microneedling and facial services. We set up two campaigns. The red line shows the conversion rate (conversions in this case are click-to-call, Book Now button clicks).
As we can see, the conversion rate (red line) is increasing as the campaign learns, producing conversions at $5 each (book appointments, calls). The blue line shows local clicks. I will go over the campaign strategy below.
Google Ads for Spas Salons - Case Study
Discover How Our Agency Can Drive More Leads and Sales To You
SEO - increase traffic and leads from Google
Content Marketing - from a data-driven topic strategy to awesome content
Paid Ads - Google Ads and Paid Social Media
Here’s another example from a more mature campaign - a spa specializing in massage therapy and facials. We can see 67 conversions at $4.17 per conversion.
Google Ads for Spas Salons - Conversion Actions
Google Ads: Built for Your Success (Even if You're a Beginner)
Are you worried Google Ads is too complex?
It can be, but don’t worry, I got you!
This guide will simplify things and show you how to use Google Ads to get more appointments, boost website traffic, and increase brand awareness.
One of the best things about Google Ads is its ability to optimize for conversions – those valuable actions like booking appointments, submitting contact forms, or calling your business. Google's machine learning identifies the people most likely to convert, ensuring your budget is spent on those ready to become clients, not just window shoppers.
Essentially, Google uses its massive data pool to connect your ads with the right people at the right time, helping you attract new clients and grow your spa or salon. Your success is their success, so they're invested in making your campaigns work.
How Do Google Ads Work for Spas and Salons?
Google Ads offers a variety of ways to connect with potential clients who are actively searching for the services you provide. Not all these channels are created equally. However, Google receives the overwhelming majority of online traffic in many niches.
The advertising channels you have access to with Google Ads:
- 1Search and Maps - text ads that show based on keywords you choose. Search ads are bottom-of-the-funnel and focused on conversion actions, which include showing in Google Maps.
- 2Display - Text, image, or video ads on other websites. Showing your ad to the right people is based on audience signals (first-party lists, in-market, and affinity audiences), demographics, machine learning, AI, and topics
- 3Gmail: within contextually relevant emails
- 4YouTube: the second largest search engine behind Google search
- 5Discover App on Android phones, is an app that has a news feed curated per user based on preferences
Next, Google Ads has six campaign types will show ads in one or more of the above channels. Our campaign strategy relies on the top two campaign types below - Search and Performance Max.
Six Google Ads Campaign Types
The Winning Google Ads Strategy for Spas and Salons
Ok, let’s get to the heart of the strategy.
As a spa or salon owner, your main goals are likely to attract new clients, fill your appointment book, and ultimately, increase sales. To achieve these goals, we use a powerful two-campaign strategy that maximizes your reach and drives bookings.
The Dynamic Duo: Search + Performance Max (Pmax)
This approach combines the precision of Search campaigns with high-intent keywords and layers on Performance Max's automation and broad reach, creating a comprehensive strategy that works for even the busiest spa and salon owners.
1
Keyword-Focused Search Ads
Our first focus is to capture high-intent prospects actively searching for services like yours. We do this through highly targeted Search campaigns that use precise keywords and location targeting.
Think about this: When someone searches for "best facial near me" or "mani-pedi specials [your city]," they're ready to book an appointment - the intent is there. Search ads place your spa or salon directly in front of these high-intent clients.
Here’s an example - three paid ads take over the top of the page.
Microneedling Near Me Google Ads Search Ad Examplel
Toby Danylchuk
Why Your Digital Plumbing Set Up Is Essential
If you're new to Google Ads, it's crucial to ensure that your digital plumbing is set up to record conversions. Tracking key actions your customers take - such as, booking online, click-to-call, or asking for driving directions - is necessary to create effective campaigns. You can read more in a related post here.
When someone clicks on your search ad, they'll be taken to your website, given directions to your location, or prompted to call your business or book online. You only pay when someone clicks, making it a cost-effective way to attract high-intent clients. Search ads are text ads.
Why Search Ads Are a Must-Have:
2
Performance Max for Amplified Reach & Conversions
While Search campaigns are excellent for capturing immediate bookings from searchers, Performance Max casts a broader net. This campaign type uses Google's advanced machine learning to show your ads across all of Google's channels where it’s likely to get a conversion, including:
By combining Search campaigns with Performance Max, you cover all your bases with a full-funnel approach. You attract clients actively searching for your services and increase your brand visibility to a broader audience, driving immediate and long-term growth.
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How To Set Up a Winning Search Campaign
Create a new campaign - click on the blue plus sign.
Google Ads for Spas and Salons - Creating A New Campaign
Then, choose Leads.
Google Ads for Spas and Salons - Google Ads Objectives
Then, choose which conversion goals to use. If you don’t see any, you can come back to this at a later point (at the end of this post, I provide the steps to set up Conversions). So hit Continue when you’re ready.
Google Ads for Spas and Salons - Conversion Goals
Next, we choose the campaign type - go ahead and select Search.
Google Ads for Spas and Salons - Select Search Campaign Type
Next, choose all the ways that you want to get leads. And then give your campaign a name and click Continue.
Google Ads Search Campaign Set Up - Conversions
Bidding
Now you should see a left-hand menu that shows where you are in the steps to completing the campaigns.
Google Ads for Spas and Salons - Campaign Setup Menu
The first section is the Bidding section - select Conversions and uncheck “Set a target cost per action.” Once your campaign has enough conversion data, you can come back to the campaign later and change the bidding if the cost per conversion is too high. However, setting the bidding to Conversions is often all you need. Click next to continue.
Google Ads for Spas and Salons - Setting Campaign Bidding Options
Search Campaign Settings
Networks for A Search Campaign
For Networks, make sure only Google Search and Partners Network are selected. Uncheck Google Display Network. I do not recommend Display because it is a completely different channel and the performance metrics are completely different from Search.
Google Ads for Spas and Salons - Setting Networks for Search
Setting Geotargeting of Your Search Ads
Where should your ads show?
Your ideal geotarget will depend on where you live, whether urban, suburban, or rural. A general guideline is to show your ads geographically where 80% of your client base lives or works. If you show your ads too far out, you will waste too much ad spend on prospects that won’t travel that far.
So, click the radio button for “Enter another location,” then click Advanced search.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Setting Geotargeting Performance Max
The best approach to set your geotargeting is to use a radius from an address or zoom in on the map and drop a pin. For suburban locations, a 5-mile radius is effective.
So, you can see that I used a 5-mile radius around the address of my office.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Setting Geotargeting Radius
Set Your Search Language Preferences
Next, set your language preference - often, I set this to English and Spanish to ensure I reach people with their browser language set to Spanish.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Setting Language
Audience Segments
Even though this is a Search campaign that is driven by keywords, adding in Audience Segments can be beneficial.
As you can see in the screenshot below, there are quite a few relevant audience segments. Try other searches to find the most relevant audience signals. And make sure you have these audiences set to “Observation.”
Google Ads for Spas and Salons - Audience Segments for Search
Remember This...
If you're serious about growing your salon leads this year, you have to spend to grow. You cannot shrink your way to growth by cutting back on ad spend. Excellent customer service, great reviews, and customer referrals are necessary for growth but will only take you so far. With ads, you have unlimited potential.
Broad Match Keywords Setting
We want to set this to On. Shortly, I will discuss the difference in keyword match types. In the past, Google Ads was not as sophisticated and Broad Match was ineffective, but it now uses machine learning to understand better keywords and content on your landing pages and website.
Google Ads for Spas and Salons - Use Broad Match
Automatically Created Assets
Next is the section on automatically created assets. I am not a big fan of this option and often will turn this off.
If you leave this enabled, Google will pull content from your website automatically and send traffic to different URLs if it believes it can generate a better result. The problem with this is that you are turning over control to Google, which, in my experience, is generally not good. In one case, we had a client website that had multiple locations and phone numbers on the site and Google Ads was mixing and matching different locations with different phone numbers - it was not good! You can learn more about this in my video about this here, https://youtu.be/ZGznKfSotX8
Google Ads Spas Salons - Search Campaign Automatically Created Assets
Next, under More Settings, you can leave the default settings there.
Keyword and Asset Generation
Next, Google will actually help you generate keywords that would be relevant to your campaign along with other assets. Put in the URL of your landing page - remember, focus on one service. Do not mix and match different services. Then, write a description about what makes this particular service unique for you. Once you’re done, click next to the next step.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Search Campaign Keyword and Asset Generation
Keywords
Now you’ll see fields that Google has auto populated with AI based on what you entered in the previous step.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Search Campaign Keywords and Services
Based on what Google’s AI entered, it’s clear that this is not optimal, here’s why. Remember, the best Google Ads campaigns are the ones where each ad group is focused on one service. In this case, we can see Google entered massage, spa, salon, and body treatments - those are all very different in intent and customer needs. Part of Google Ads rewards adverertisers that align their landing pages, keywords and ads tightly so people see exactly what they were looking for and not a bunch of extra services they don’t really care about. For more information on this strategy, I encourage you to read my related article, Maximizing Conversions: Aligning Landing Pages with Google Ads.
So, at this point, you can either go back and re-enter the information in the prior step or enter your own keywords.
Here’s an example of a tight knit keyword group:
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Google Ads Spas Salons - Search Campaign Nails Example Keywords
Notice these are all closely related.
Now let’s say you offered French manicures as a service too. Would you add that in here too? No! That’s a distinct service with a specific type of nail service and the landing page should talk all about French manicures. Hopefully now you’re getting the idea here. But can you get away with blending in different services together? Yes, it’s just not ideal and your campaign will be less successful.
Keyword Match Types
Now up to this point, the keywords we’ve entered are what we call Broad Match keywords. Let’s discuss keyword match types because they are essential to success.
There are three different ways we can tell Google to match your ads to searches:
Example: If your keyword is "nail salon," your ad could show for searches like "nail salon near me," "best nail salons," or even "manicure prices."
Why this is good: You'll reach more people and discover searches you might not have thought of.
Why this needs tweaking: Sometimes broad match can be too broad. Your ad might show for searches that aren't relevant to your business, like "nail art supplies" if you only offer services, not products.Think of it like this:
We're starting with a big fishing net to see what we catch. Then, we'll look at what we've caught and throw back the fish we don't want to keep. This makes our advertising more focused and effective over time.
And recent changes in Broad match has made them much more effective as Google uses AI and crawls the landing page to better understand what variations on keywords are a good fit.
How we'll refine Broad Match keywords:
Other Match Types:
Google offers two other match types - phrase match and exact match.
My recommendation is that you start out with a mix of Broad Match search terms, then add the same keywords again but make them Exact Match. You can make a keyword Exact Match by putting brackets around it like this, [laser tattoo removal].
For now, let's start with broad and exact match and refine it as you go! This approach helps us learn about how people search for services like yours and make sure your ads are reaching the right audience. I do not recommend using phrase match terms.
Remember as well that even after the campaign is created, you can go back and make changes later so don’t feel locked in.
Creating Ads
Now, let’s move on to the next essential step - creating the Search ads.
Below you will see an example of the first step of creating your actual ads.
At the top you will see Ad strength rating - your goal is to get it to excellent rating. Best practices are to use keywords, calls to action, features and benefits as part of all your headlines and long descriptions. You can also click on View Ideas for additional ideas from Google that will help your ad strength score.
Final URL:
Just enter the landing page URL for these ads. If you want, you can also use the Display Path fields to make the URL more enticing. For example, you could enter, Same-Day and Nails. Thing about your service and what entices your customers here.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Search Campaign Creating Ads
Headlines
Before you write any ad copy, I encourage you to think about your ideal past customers - and answer a couple questions as if you are them:
- 1What do your customers need to hear before becoming a customer? Is it price? Cleanliness, good parking, walk-ins welcome, guarantees, availability, etc.
- 2What sorts of things are deal killers to them? Lack of weekend appointment availability, or contracts, etc.
Now, as you scroll down, you will see the Headlines section. Because these are Dynamic Search Ads, meaning Google will mix and match headlines and descriptions to find the best performing combinations, Google allows advertisers to write 15 headlines that are up to 30 characters long. I encourage you to use all fifteen headlines.
Long Descriptions
Google gives you up to four Long Descriptions up to 90 characters long - use them all. You have much more room to elaborate so use it to your advantage and expand on your features and benefits, calls to action and more that you know are important to future prospects.
Images
Next are adding images. Even though these are text-based search ads driven by keywords, Google allows you to load images that will appear next to the ad. Here you want to provide what you know your customers want to see - the inside of your spa, perhaps the staff or doctor, the entrance, perhaps pictures of the equipment. You have to be careful about using images heavy with text - they likely will be disapproved. And make sure the images are crisp, not low quality or they will be disapproved.
Business Name
You will have to be an approved advertiser before Google will allow you to enter a business name. After you finish the process of taking the campaign live, you can become a verified advertiser by going under Billing and then Advertiser Verification.
Business Logo
This is another element that you have to be a verified advertiser before you can load a logo.
Sitelinks
Sitelinks are exactly what they sound like - links to other pages on your website. I highly encourage you to add at least three sitelinks. Examples of sitelinks to add include: contact us page, about us, promotions page if you have, Services page that lists all your services, and gift cards page.
Google chooses when to show sitelinks so you can’t control that, but they help the performance of your ads.
Pro tip: sitelinks like other assets can be set to run only on certain dates, days, and hours which can be helpful if you run a holiday promo, for example, with a gift card deal and you set it to run from Thanksgiving to December 24th. Or perhaps you know you’re always slow on Mondays, perhaps you offer a deal for Monday’s that runs from 8am to 12 pm only and it links to a specific page.
Callouts
Next up are Callouts which are text and up to 25 characters long. They also help your ad perform better. Because you don’t have much space, I recommend using these for more features and benefits. For example, Free Parking, Walk-ins Welcome, Gift Cards, etc. And like sitelinks, you can set callouts to only run on a specific schedule.
Budgets
Set your daily budget - what you’re willing to spend. Sometimes Google will make recommendations at this point, but if they don’t go ahead and enter what you’re comfortable spending per day. Keep in mind a few things about Google Ads budgets:
So that’s it - after you enter your budget, your ads go into review and should go live within the same day.
Key Metrics to Monitor (with Time Frames) for Search Campaigns
Why These Metrics Matter
Tips for Spa and Salon Owners
How To Set Up A Winning Performance Max Campaign
Performance Max campaigns are Google's newest campaign type designed to simplify your advertising and maximize your results. Performance Max ads are images, videos, or text ads like Search. However, unlike search campaigns, Pmax uses Google's AI and machine learning to show your ads across all of Google's channels and focus on driving conversions. The channels Pmax ads can show in include:The Power of Automation
With Performance Max, you provide Google with your ad creative (images, headlines, descriptions, and, optionally, videos), your budget, and your goals (like getting more appointments). Google's automation takes care of the rest, optimizing your bids, targeting, and ad placements to get you the best possible results (results = conversion actions).
Why Performance Max Is Ideal for Busy Managers:
First, ensure you’re in Expert mode, not Smart mode, if you have a new Google Ads account. I do not recommend ever operating in Smart mode because too much control is given to Google.
Campaign Settings
Create a new campaign - click on the blue plus sign.
Google Ads for Spas and Salons - Create New Google Ads Campaign
Then, choose Leads.
Google Ads for Spas and Salons - Google Ads Objectives
Then, choose which conversion goals to use. If you haven’t already. See my related post on setting up for conversions, or contact us if you need help setting this up.
This step is essential if you want a high-performing campaign. Google Ads will learn from these actions on your website and try to find more people who are likely to complete this action. If there are any conversion actions you do not want, go ahead and click on the 3-dot ellipsis to the right and remove them.
Google Ads for Spas and Salons - Conversion Goals
Next, we choose the campaign type - go ahead and select Performance Max.
Google Ads for Spas and Salons - Select Performance Max Campaign Type
If Google Ads has a section called, "Add products to this campaign," skip that.
Add your website URL where people will, after clicking your ad, and give your campaign a name.
Google Ads for Spas and Salons - Add Landing Page URL
For high-performing campaigns, you should have a landing page per service.
Do not mix and match services if you can avoid it.
Here’s an example:
If you offer massage therapy, you will have an ad group for a couples massage, a separate ad group for prenatal massage, and so on - the ads and landing page will be relevant to each respective niche but not mixed together. This approach is a best practice for Google Ads, leading to lower costs and better results.
Bidding Options
Next is bidding - choose Conversions in the drop-down. The other option in the drop-down menu is Conversions Value, which I do not recommend at this point unless you already have a lot of data on cost per conversion. Also, leave the box for “target cost per action” unchecked. And leave the box “Bid for new customers only” unchecked - we want new and returning customers. Bidding for new and returning customers helps maintain mindshare and brand awareness with prospects that perhaps did not convert after visiting your site - this is referred to as retargeting.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Performance Max Bidding Options
Setting Geotargeting of Your Ads
Where should your ads show?
Your ideal geotarget will depend on where you live, whether urban, suburban, or rural. A general guideline is to show your ads geographically where 80% of your client base lives or works. If you show your ads too far out, you will waste too much ad spend on prospects that won’t travel that far.
So, click the radio button for “Enter another location,” then click Advanced search.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Setting Geotargeting Performance Max
The best approach to set your geotargeting is to use a radius from an address or zoom in on the map and drop a pin. For suburban locations, a 5-mile radius is effective.
So, you can see that I used a 5-mile radius around the address of my office.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Setting Geotargeting Radius
Set Your Language Preference
Next, set your language preference - often, I set this to English and Spanish to ensure I reach people with their browser language set to Spanish.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Setting Language
Automatically Created Assets
Next is the section on automatically created assets, enabled by default. I am not a big fan of this option and often will turn this off (or uncheck the boxes).
If you leave this enabled, Google will pull content from your website automatically and send traffic to different URLs if it believes it can generate a better result. The problem with this is that you are turning over control to Google, which, in my experience, is generally not good.
In one case where there were multiple locations and phone numbers on the site, Google was mixing and matching different locations with different phone numbers - it was not good!
Google Ads for Spas Salons - Automatically Created Assets for Performance Max
Asset Generations
Here you can let Google Ads AI help you generate ad creative and copy. You don’t need to use Google’s AI help, but there’s no harm in seeing what it can suggest.
Below I filled in information about my company, you can fill this out based what you are advertising.
Remember, the Final URL should be the landing page dedicated to your service. Don’t mix and match services.
And a word of caution, home pages often are not good landing pages for many reasons. To learn more about why it’s essential to have an effective landing page, what the benefits are, and how to create a winning page, read my post here, https://www.39celsius.com/aligning-landing-pages-with-google-ads/
Google Ads for Spas and Salons - Automatically Created Assets
Below is part of what Google Ads generated for me. It’s not great, but that’s partly because I instructed it poorly. The old adage, garbage in, garbage out. So play around with what you input about your services until you get content that works for you.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Performance Max Headlines
Let’s break down best practices for writing your ads: Ideally, you will choose one service, not many services all at once. Otherwise, you will appeal to no one. If you offer Facials as one of many services, then focus on the features and benefits of that.
Headlines
Long Headlines
Images
Add images.
If you used Google’s AI in this process they likely created some images for you. If you like those, go ahead and keep them, but add as many images as you can that have the following characteristics:
Sitelinks
Sitelinks are links to other parts of your website. For example, you can have a sitelink that points to your Location page, or About Us, Offers, All Services page, etc.
Sitelinks help the performance of your campaign by improving the click-through-rate (CTR) so add at least 3 if you can.
A pro tip for these other assets is that you can set start and end dates. So if you have a special promotion that will run only for a certain period of time, then set it to start and end when you want.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Sitelinks
Call to Action
My recommendation is to leave this as automated.
More Asset Types
For the more asset types, the core ones you should use are:
For the other asset types, if they are applicable to your business, consider using them, but many do not use these.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Setting Up Messaging Whats App
Best Practices for Starter Messages:
Signals
Ok, this section is unique to Pmax campaigns and one of the most important. Signals are how we tell Google’s AI and machine learning the types of people we want to target.
Search Themes
First up are search themes. Here are some best practices when adding these:
Google Ads Spas Salons - Performance Max Audience Signal
Relevance is Key:
Quantity with Quality:
Instead of redundancy, aim for variety and specificity:
Rather than using two general terms, choose one general theme and then add a more specific theme. For example, instead of "hair salon" and "hairdresser," use:
This gives the AI a clearer understanding of the stylist's expertise and helps target the right audience.
Audience Signal
Next is Audience Signal - and the first option here is called, “Your data.” If you have a large customer list (first-party data), you can load your lists to retarget and use as a signal to find other people just like your existing customers - this is similar to a Lookalike audience in Facebook.
However, currently, you must have a history of 90 days with Google Ads before using this feature. So if you don’t have that requirement, make sure to come back when you do and load your first-party customer data for targeting.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Performance Max Audience Signal
Here’s how you can load your customer list:
Click in the field where it says, Add your data, then click on New Segment.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Performance Max Audience Signal Search
Then, you will see the below options. In this case, this account is not yet eligible. But if your is, go ahead and click on Customer list and follow the instructions. I highly recommend leveraging this for targeting.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Performance Max Audience New Segment
Additional Signals
Interests and Detailed Demographics
This section helps you further refine your targeting. When you click into this area, the following options appear:
Google Ads Spas Salons - Performance Max Audience - Interests - Detailed Demographics
The most relevant ones include:
Google Ads Spas Salons - Performance Max - In-Market Audience for Spas
Now, if you click on the Browse tab, open up Life Events, and scroll down until you find Moving - click to open that up, and you’ll see Recently Moved - this is a good one to target because people that just moved into your area are establishing their buying patterns so get in front of them while they’re new to your area so you’re the go-to spa or salon.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Performance Max Targeting - Recently Moved
Next in the list are Affinity audiences - these are weaker signals than in-market audiences, but Google organizes people into these buckets based on their habits and preferences. Typically we do not add any Affinity audiences as our audience size is large enough without going to Affinity audiences.
Google Ads for Spas and Salons - Affinity Audiences
Demographics
This section is dependent on who your target audience is. If you’re promoting a Mommy Makeover, then select ages and genders that are relevant.
For household income, you can segment based on higher-income people if you are a premium brand or you charge more than competitors but selecting here can narrow your audience too much. I would leave these alone for now, and refine it later based on campaign performance.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Performance Max Audience Demographics
When you’re done there, go ahead and click Next at the bottom.
So that’s it, the two campaign strategy that will create new prospects for you and create hyper-local awareness in your market for your services.
Budget
Here is where you set how much you want to spend on a daily basis. Google gives you some recommendations, but you do not have to follow those. You can set a custom budget that is more aligned with your goals.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Performance Max Setting Budgets
Keep in mind that Google Ads daily spend can fluctuate greatly above or below your daily spend, but over the course of 30 days it averages out to your daily budget, so don’t be surprised if you go way over or under on an individual day.
How Much Should You Spend On Google Ads?
There are several ways to arrive at your ideal spend.
- 1Your goals: I want to grow 30 new appointments per month, or I want to grow sales by 20%?
- 2Percentage of sales: if you’re being aggressive, 20% of sales committed towards marketing is aggressive, and if you’re just wanting to maintain your current sales and profit, then 5% or less of sales is a minimal investment
- 3Benchmarking: the range I see for spas or salons is anywhere from the low side of $500/mo to upwards of $6,000/mo for multi-location establishments
Read my post on, how much should I spend on Google Ads, for a more thorough explanation of how to arrive at an ideal budget.
What if I have a Small Budget?
Read my related post on low budget Google Ads strategies and how to squeeze the most out of your budget. Just because you have a small budget, doesn’t mean you cannot advertise to attract new customers.
Remember that you don’t pay Google until someone clicks on your ad. And you can start and stop your campaigns at anytime. But my recommendation is that you should always have some marketing and advertising going - the old adage, out of sight, out of mind still holds true. Never stop promoting your services!
Now, you’re at the Summary page - look everything over and if it looks good, go ahead and publish the campaign. If there are any errors, the Summary section is where Google Ads will notify you. If you need to make any changes, click on the step in the left menu to go back and update a section.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Summary Performance Max Setup
Key Metrics to Monitor in Performance Max (with Time Frames)
Since Performance Max campaigns operate across various channels, you'll need to track a broader set of metrics to understand their overall performance. Here's what to focus on:
Why These Metrics Matter
Tips for Spa and Salon Owners
What If I Have A Low Budget?
Anything less than $20 per day is what I consider as a low budget. If that’s you, then I would focus all that ad spend on a Search campaign that is laser focused on keywords for your service that you’re promoting. Remember that focus is key - do not add in keywords for all of your different services. Focus on the one that is in most demand and has the highest search volume. Do keyword research using the Keyword Planner to understand what has the most volume.
I wrote an entire post about low budget Google Ads strategies - read that. It has tips and tactics to squeeze the most from your ad spend.
Measuring Success and Getting the Most Out of Your Investment
For most small and medium-sized businesses, nothing else matters other than new customers. So setting up conversion tracking is essential if you want a high-performing campaign. Google Ads feeds off of data. You need to tell it which actions on your website are the most important to you. Once Google Ads knows this, it works to deliver more of those conversion actions. It’s an efficient machine.
Setting up conversion tracking is a bit technical which is why I put it towards the end of this guide.
So, the first conversion action you should set up is calls from ads. This is straightforward. To do this, navigate to the left-hand menu, go to Goals > Summary. Then, click on the blue “Create conversion action button.”
Google Ads Spas Salons - Setting Up Conversion Tracking
Next, choose Phone Calls.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Conversion Tracking Phone Calls
Then choose “Calls from ads using call extensions or call-only ads” -
Google Ads Spas Salons - Conversions Tracking Call Extensions
Then make sure you have Phone call lead or similar in the drop down. Then, we want to make sure the radio button, Primary action is selected.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Conversion Tracking Goals and Action Optimization
Setting a conversion action to Primary talles Google you want to optimize for that.
Conversely, you can create conversion actions and set them as “Secondary” which is helpful in seeing certain conversion actions, but Google will not optimize for it. This is particularly helpful if you have a funnel and want to track how many people take an action at each step. For most salons and spas, you likely will not need to set any Secondary conversions.
Next, enter in a Conversion Name - this will appear in your conversion reports.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Conversion Tracking Conversion Name
What is the conversion value used for?
You will notice in the above screenshot that I have selected, “Use the samve value for each conversion.”
There are certain bidding options that you can use where this is important - for example, using Maximize Conversion Value (MCV). So if you had several different conversion actions (e.g. calls, forms submissions, and Book Now button clicks), you can assign different values to each and Google will optimize for the ones that are most valuable - thus, maximizing your conversion value.
But, in our case, we’re setting our campaigns to Max Conversions and the value does not come into play (but set it to one anyway).
Next, for the Count, the default is One - leave it as this.
For Call length, the default value is 60 seconds - you can change this based on what you feel is a reasonable amount of time for a call to be considered a Conversion. I would leave this at 60 seconds - if you go too long, it can make it hard for Google to get conversions.
Leave Click-through conversion window at 30 days - this means that if someone didn’t convert on a first visit, but then converts within a 30-day period, Google will record that as a conversion. And finally, for Attribution, leave this as Data-driven. Now, just hit the blue button Create and continue and you now have your first conversion action.
Google Ads Spas Salons - Conversion Tracking Conversion Count
Now you will want to set up more conversion actions - form submissions, chat engagement, Book Now button clicks and more. But this will require a more technical set up that involves adding Google Tag Manager to your website. I have a blog post all about the more detailed conversion set up which you can read here, Google Ads Conversion Tracking.
Conclusion
In the competitive world of spas and salons, reaching the right clients at the right time is essential for success.
Google Ads offers one of the most effective ad platforms to capture new customers actively searching for your services.
If you are serious about growing your sales and profit, you should always be advertising. Never stop. If you have to pull back a bit, then do it, but never stop marketing and advertising your services.
Take control of your marketing, harness the power of Google Ads, and watch your appointment book fill up. Ready to transform your online presence and attract a flood of new clients? We provide a one-time set up of Google Ads, or ongoing management. Reach out to us today.
