Building Growth Foundations for a Luxury Salon Brand
Agence Hair Studio is a high-end salon startup based in Kingston, New York. Their goal was to build and grow a recognizable luxury brand and fill appointment books using a data-backed strategy.
To lay the groundwork for scalable digital growth, I provided Agence with a full suite of services; analytics setup and dashboarding, an ad campaign strategy and creative system, influencer research, and foundational SEO improvements. Each component was designed to connect the dots between visibility, engagement, and actual bookings.
GA4 & GTM Setup for Clean Event Tracking
Challenge:
Before any data could be visualized or analyzed, I needed to create the full tracking infrastructure from scratch. The client had no prior analytics setup beyond basic pageviews.
What I Set Up:
Google Tag Manager (GTM): Fully setup GTM account and container & Installed on the Showit website via custom code injection. This allows full control over events without needing ongoing dev help.
Google Analytics 4 (GA4): Configured with custom data streams, event parameters, and engagement tracking.
Event Tags & Triggers (ie.):
Booking button clicks (Vagaro widget tracking)
Scroll depth thresholds
Page view segmentation
Social link clicks
Navigation menu interactions
404 error tracking (to catch broken links)
Why It Matters:
This foundation enables us to track not just traffic volume, but meaningful engagement; Like how far users scroll, where they drop off, and what actions they take before booking.
Integration:
Linked GA4 and GTM together for centralized event control.
Validated all event tags using GTM preview + real-time GA4 debugging.
Ensured all events were formatted for compatibility with Looker Studio reporting and future retargeting.
Without this setup, there would be no way to see which users are engaging, converting, or bouncing. It’s the essential infrastructure that makes smart, informed marketing possible.
Interactive Dashboard
Purpose:
Establish a single, visual source of truth for user behavior, traffic quality, and booking engagement.
What I Delivered:
GA4 & GTM event tracking configured to monitor key actions (bookings, scrolls, clicks).
Fully branded Looker Studio dashboard built from scratch, featuring:
Real-time booking engagement vs. site visits
Geographic targeting heatmaps (city-level)
Device usage insights for mobile optimization
Page-level heatmaps with bounce rates and session duration
+ More
Value for the Client:
This dashboard empowers the client to understand what’s working, what’s not, and how users are finding and interacting with their site. It is the groundwork for future iterations of this dashboard as trends are identified and more data is collected.
Dashboard Insights Summary
To help the client interpret what the data means and how to act on it, I included a custom KPI insights sheet alongside the dashboard. This covered:
Baseline metrics for traffic, engagement, and conversion
Trends across booking clicks vs. engaged sessions
Strategic notes (ie. strong mobile traffic identifies that they should prioritize mobile UX)
SEO Audit & Strategy Foundation
Goal: Improve discoverability, keyword indexing, and overall search visibility; especially for local search.
Audit Areas:
NAP consistency & directory presence
Google Business Profile (GBP) optimization
On-site keyword usage & metadata
Sitemap + robots.txt submission
Site speed + mobile optimization guidance
Actionable Strategy Provided:
Each issue was paired with step-by-step instructions the client can implement or hand off. This sets a baseline for local SEO without relying on long-form blog content or technical dev work.
Meta Ads Campaign Strategy (A/B Tested)
Objective:
Identify which type of message, creative style, and offer resonates most with Agence’s target audience of millennial and gen z women in key locations within the Hudson Valley.
Structure:
1 campaign, 4 ad sets (one per concept), 1 ad each
Ad types:
Promotional Reel (incentive-driven)
Client Testimonial Image
Stylist Feature Story
Luxury Experience Showcase
Why It Matters:
This format allows a clean test of creative performance with minimal algorithmic bias, which makes it easier to double down on what actually drives bookings.
Ad Variations Breakdown
Each ad was fully detailed with:
Objective, concept, CTA, format, and creative prompts
Suggested copy tone and hook
Visual guidance for video or image content
Call-to-action personalization ideas
Ads Test Report
Overview:
Scorecard Overview: Consolidated scorecards showing cost, impressions, clicks, CTR, CPC, and CPM.
Ad Type Overview: Side-by-side comparison of four ad creatives (Service Promotion, Testimonial, Luxury, Stylist Feature).
Placements: Performance by Facebook/Instagram placements including Feeds, Stories, Reels, Marketplace, Notifications, and Explore.
Demographics: Insights derived from demographics like age, gender, state, and language engagement.
Temporal Data: Daily and hourly impression/CTR heatmaps to pinpoint the strongest engagement windows.
Key Insights
Strong Efficiency: CTR of 8.43% across the campaign (well above industry average). CPC of only $0.20, indicating cost-efficient traffic generation.
Best-Performing Creative: The Testimonial Ad had the highest engagement rate (58.9%) and strongest resonance with the audience. Service Promotion Ad drove the largest raw traffic.
Placement Performance: Video feeds and stories had the strongest CTR, validating the client’s focus on visual-first ad formats. Standard feeds still delivered volume but at a lower efficiency, suggesting budget optimization opportunities.
Audience Demographics: Engagement skewed toward ages 25–44, the core salon customer base. Gender breakdown showed a 100% female reach and clicks (aligns with client expectations), aligning perfectly with the brand’s target market. Secondary language engagement was impressive: Russian (13.9% CTR), Greek (12.5%), and Vietnamese (10.6%) audiences showed higher-than-average clickthroughs.
Timing Insights: Weekday late afternoons and evenings produced the highest CTR, particularly around 6–9 PM, aligning with leisure browsing hours. Some standout CTR spikes occurred at unusual times (ie. Monday 1–2 AM at 22.6%), offering potential niche retargeting opportunities.
Influencer Research: Instagram & TikTok
Objective:
Identify micro-influencers that align with Agence’s luxury, yet approachable tone, based locally or with beauty/wellness audiences.
Deliverable:
Two curated PDF lists of influencers by platform
Engagement metrics, follower count, and relevance scores
Style match to Agence’s brand and demographic
What’s Next?
Full Ad Campaign Launch
Launch of a full-scale ad campaign, optimized based on the results of our test campaign.
Goal: Drive consistent interactions and bookings through Meta & Google Ads.
Funnel & Booking Behavior Insights
Analyzing user flow from ad click to booking attempt
Tracking where users drop off in the booking journey
Integrating GA4 with Vagaro to connect clicks with actual appointments
Goal: Uncover friction points and optimize the journey to increase conversions.
New Dashboards to Build
Traffic Source ROI: Identify which channels drive the most bookings
Booking Funnel: Visualize drop-offs from homepage to checkout
Also: Updating the main dashboard to show weekly trends, ad traffic, and deeper engagement metrics.
Projected Outcomes
Over the next 60–90 days, we expect:
+25–50% increase in qualified site traffic and bookings
Lower cost per acquisition through optimized ad creative
Growth in branded search and direct traffic from local SEO
Clear data to refine future campaigns and scale what’s working
