8.3: What Do 6 Months of Full Marketing Look Like? A Month-by-Month Roadmap for a Local Shop

Six months of full marketing for a local shop usually runs in three phases: two months building the foundation, two months speeding up, two months on retention and automation. Results don't arrive in week one. They build gradually, in the order you lay things down.

One thing to be clear about first: this post is an illustrative roadmap, not a results report from a specific client. I've built it around an imaginary nail salon in Vaughan so you can picture what to do each month and which numbers to watch. Every real shop's results will differ.

Our imaginary shop

A nail salon in Vaughan, two years old, six chairs, mostly word-of-mouth customers.

Where it starts:

• •A Google Maps profile that exists but lacks photos, shows wrong hours and has few reviews.
• •A Facebook page with irregular posts and a nearly empty Instagram.
• •Bookings by phone and text, written in a paper notebook.
• •No ads, or a few attempts abandoned because nobody could tell if they worked.

If that sounds familiar, that's normal. A great many shops start exactly here.

Months 1–2: Build the foundation

This phase doesn't "bring customers" much yet. It's tidying the house before inviting guests.

Month 1

• •Fix the Google Maps profile: hours, services, description, 20–30 real photos.
• •Do one photo and video session at the shop to build a library.
• •Settle the brand look: colours, fonts, writing voice.
• •Put a QR review stand on the counter.

Month 2

• •Post 3–5 times a week on social, with two short videos a week.
• •Start asking for reviews systematically after each visit.
• •Set up booking software and move off the paper notebook.

Numbers to watch: Google Maps profile views, new reviews, calls from Google.

What usually happens: you get impatient. This is the easiest phase to quit, because you're putting in effort without seeing much. Stay with it. Nobody sees a foundation, but the whole house stands on it.

Months 3–4: Speed up

With the foundation in place, now it's time for ads.

Month 3

• •Run small ads on one platform, targeting a radius around the shop, with bookings as the goal.
• •Test two or three different ads to see what customers respond to.
• •Keep social and reviews going.

Month 4

• •Keep the ads that work and switch off the ones that don't.
• •Add a second platform if budget allows.
• •Put every booking into the CRM. No more notebook.

Numbers to watch: cost per booking from ads, new customers per week, no-show rate.

What usually happens: the first few ads don't perform. That's normal. Month 3 is about learning what your customers respond to.

Months 5–6: Retention and automation

By now the shop has a real customer list. The next job is bringing those people back.

Month 5

• •Turn on automatic reminders the day before.
• •Send a thank-you with a review link after each visit.
• •Message customers who haven't been back in 5–6 weeks.

Month 6

• •Let AI answer after-hours messages and take bookings.
• •Review all six months: which channel brought the most customers, which to cut.
• •Plan the next six months from real numbers.

Numbers to watch: returning customers, no-show rate, revenue from regulars versus new customers.

The six months in one table

Why does it take six months?

Because each stage needs time to settle:

• •Google takes a few weeks to register an improved profile.
• •Reviews arrive one at a time, visit by visit.
• •Ads need a few weeks of testing before you know what works.
• •Past customers return on their own cycle, which for nails is three to four weeks.

If anyone promises "fully booked in a month", ask more questions.

10 things you can do right away

1. •Open Google Maps and check your hours and phone number.
2. •Add 10 real photos taken in daylight.
3. •Put a QR review stand at the till.
4. •Reply to every review that's been ignored.
5. •Pick two fixed days a week to post.
6. •Film one 15-second video a week.
7. •Put your customer list in one place, even just Google Sheets.
8. •Send a reminder the day before each appointment, by hand if needed.
9. •Ask each new customer: "How did you hear about us?"
10. •At month end, write down three numbers: new customers, returning customers, new reviews.

Do those ten consistently for six months and the shop will look very different, even without hiring anyone.

Quick recap

• •Two months of foundation, two of acceleration, two of retention.
• •Months 1–2 are the most discouraging because results aren't obvious yet.
• •Turn ads on only once the foundation is done.
• •Each phase has its own numbers to watch.

Next up (8.4): how Wizy differs from other agencies, and when Wizy isn't the right fit.

This roadmap is also how Wizy rolls out The Wizy Stack. For a roadmap specific to your shop, book a free 15-minute consultation.

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✍️ About the author: Do Ngoc Hoan Founder of Wizy.ca, a marketing agency for Vietnamese businesses in Ontario. I write to make marketing simple for busy shop owners — no confusing jargon. More at dongochoan.com.