Last Updated on August 12, 2026
Most salons do not have a marketing budget. They have a Treatwell bill, an Instagram habit and an uneasy feeling that both should be producing more.
The bill is the problem. Commission is marketing spend, it just does not arrive as an invoice you can cancel. It comes out of every first booking before you ever see the money.
Here is what salon marketing actually costs in 2026, from our UK beauty salon marketing cost research.
What salons actually spend
| Salon size | Turnover | Monthly budget |
|---|---|---|
| Solo or chair renter | £30-60k | £75-250 |
| Small salon, 2-3 chairs | £100-180k | £400-900 |
| Larger salon, 5+ staff | £250k+ | £1,000-2,000+ |
As a share of revenue that lands at 3 to 7 percent. Most salons are nowhere near it, because they count the Instagram time as free and the commission as a cost of sale.
The bill you are not counting
Booking platforms charge on new clients. On a £50 first visit, here is what leaves the till before you have paid a stylist.
| Platform | New client fee | Taken from a £50 first booking |
|---|---|---|
| Treatwell | 35% plus VAT | £21.00 |
| Booksy with Boost | 30% plus VAT | £18.00 |
| Fresha | 20%, minimum around £6 | £10.00 |
| Booksy without Boost | none | £0 |
| Phorest | none, around £250-300/mo | £0 |
| Timely | none, from £21/mo per calendar | £0 |
Returning clients are free on all of them. That is the whole game. The platform charges you to meet someone once. Everything after that is yours, if you can get them back.
Now hold that against the retention numbers. Roughly two thirds of first-time salon clients never come back. So a lot of salons pay £21 to acquire a client, serve them once, and never recover it.
What each channel actually costs
| Channel | DIY cost | Outsourced cost | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile | £0 | £100-300 one-off | Do first |
| Instagram content | £0 | £300-800/mo | Do first |
| Review collection | £0 | £0-50/mo | Do first |
| SMS reminders and loyalty | £25-50/mo | n/a | Do first |
| Website | around £35/mo | £500 one-off, £2,200-4,200 specialist | Build phase |
| Meta ads | £150-300/mo test | plus management | Build phase |
| Local SEO | £0 | £300-1,500/mo | Build phase |
| Booking platform boost | n/a | 20-42% of first bookings | Scale phase, if at all |
Meta ads are the surprise here. The beauty industry benchmark cost per lead is around £40. A well-run local salon campaign produces leads at £3-9. The gap is not luck. It is targeting a five mile radius instead of a country.
Where to start if you have nothing to spend
The £0 starting plan
- Complete your Google Business Profile. Every treatment, real photos, correct opening hours.
- Ask for a Google review at the till, on the day, while they still like their hair.
- Rebook every client before they leave the chair. Not by text later. Before they leave.
- Take deposits on new bookings. This alone cuts no-shows by 65 percent.
- Turn on automated reminders. They cut no-shows by up to 40 percent.
No-shows cost the average salon almost 7 percent of monthly revenue. Deposits and reminders are the cheapest money you will ever make back.
What to stop paying for
- Discounting to fill quiet days. You are buying customers who came for the price and will leave for a better one.
- Boost fees on clients who already know you. If they found you on Instagram and booked through the platform, you paid twice.
- Paid followers or engagement. Fake followers do not sit in the chair.
- Marketing to new clients while ignoring lapsed ones. A new client costs 5 to 25 times more than keeping an existing one.
- Instagram as your only channel. It is a shop window. Google Business Profile is the front door.
The bottom line
Salon marketing is not an acquisition problem. It is a retention problem wearing an acquisition costume.
A 5 percent improvement in retention is worth 25 to 95 percent more profit. No ad budget will beat that. Fix the rebooking, then spend.
Not sure where your money is going?
Run a free check on your business and get specific budget recommendations.
Related reading
