So you’ve set up your salon, got a pretty sweet email marketing campaign going and you’re making use of SMS marketing and all the new salon technology there is on the market. And that just leaves one thing – your salon social media.
In this digital age, it’s pretty much imperative that all businesses make use of social media to advertise their business, and for salon owners, it’s all the more crucial. With Facebook having acquired Instagram back in 2012, and Facebook/Instagram advertising being at their most potent due to the merger and the opportunity for cross-platform advertising, there’s never been a better time to really own your salon social media and make it something you can be truly proud of.
But maybe you’re a little stuck and don’t know where to start? After all, in most companies, social media is usually handled by a specialist, so how can you possibly do the same job yourself? Well, that’s why we’ve spoken with our in-house social media specialist here at Salon Gold, to get their top tips on how to get your salon social media off the ground and start bringing in the business.
Know your target audience
With any form of marketing platform, before you get your salon Facebook or Instagram account set up, it’s crucial to know your audience and find your niche. You need to have a long hard think about the kinds of customers you get coming through your doors on a regular basis, who your salon appeals to, and really capitalise on this demographic. So if, for instance, you know that your typical demographic is women aged 30–45, you can then start to really tailor your advertising, branding and content to appeal to those types of people.
Once you’ve worked out your target audience, you’ll need to work on honing in on the right tone of voice to use to get those people interested in what you’re offering. If your clientele is younger, in the age range of 18–25 or beyond, you’ll want to consider a tone of voice that’s fresh and inspiring – a bit more akin to wackaging, which is a marketing method that involves establishing a friendship with your reader through the way you write (think of the packaging on Innocent smoothies as a good example of this in practice). If your demographic is slightly older and more affluent, you’ll want to adopt a more professional and sophisticated approach – think lofty vocabulary, lots of adjectives but avoid making it look like you’ve swallowed a thesaurus.
Create content that resonates with your audience
The one thing you have to remember about social media is content really is king. The only way to get people consistently checking our your social media is to provide content that really speaks to them and their interests. As a salon, your best source of content for social media, particularly Instagram, is the work you produce in-house, so don’t be afraid to ask your clients if you can snap your work after you’ve done something particularly noteworthy to help you build up a large image portfolio of your work. This is particularly useful because it’ll help potential customers see the sort of skills you’re capable of and show them whether or not you’re the right fit for the style they’re looking for. It’s also really important to remember that, particularly on Instagram, it’s imperative to hashtag each image you put up, to increase the chances of your work being seen – but don’t go too overboard! Keep hashtags to a maximum of around five so it doesn’t look like you’re spamming, and be sure to use line breaks between your image caption and the hashtags to create space and remove your hashtags from central focus – about five line breaks will usually suffice.
Content doesn’t have to just be showing off your work though. You should also look at pages or accounts that your target demographic will likely be following, and you can even share particularly interesting bits to your own page. An example of this would be sharing a video of some really creative nail art if you’re a nail salon, an amazing viral hair transformation video for a hair salon or even just an interesting article to do with your sector from a magazine your target audience is likely to be reading. You can even have a crack at creating your own videos yourself, or if you’d rather share your own article content, you could even start up your own salon blog, to give your readers an insight into the what goes on in your salon and help them to feel like they’re building a personal bond with you and your brand.
Show off your personality
The key to successful marketing, whether it’s through an advertising campaign or just through your website or the content you produce, is to make sure your personality shines through. There are a number of ways to do this.
First up, introduce your social media following to the members of your team, by showing their faces and their work. Showing off the human faces behind the business makes you seem more friendly, more approachable and more relatable to your target demographic. You could even try out a live Q&A with one of your best stylists, where they field your clients’ questions, to demonstrate not only the depth of knowledge in your salon, but also to create a personal connection with your social media following by allowing your team to directly interact with them.
Another thing to bear in mind is that you need to interact with the people engaging with you on your page. Answer every comment, deal with every review whether they’re positive or negative, and respond to every message. It’s important that, even when you face online criticism, you maintain your composure and deal with it in a calm and professional manner, as a complaint dealt with efficiently and effectively can be just as important for building a good reputation for yourself as a shining review.
Sell yourself & your skills
In all the buzz and creativity that comes with running your own salon social media, don’t forget that this is still a lucrative marketing platform too. To make the most of both the ads and general posts, you need to hone in on your USP (or unique selling point) and really push that niche. Focus on what skills your salon has that set you apart from the rest and capitalise on the things that make you truly unique.
You also want to make sure you regularly promote the cuts and styling options you want to push, and any special offers you have on, to try and entice clients inside. You can try things like “extra free” campaigns during your busier months, to be redeemed during your quieter months – think a free blowdry with a cut and colour or an extra half an hour of a facial if they book a 60-minute facial – and advertise these on your social media to really make the most of them. These kinds of discounts work best as they don’t really involve giving an actual discount, more the illusion of a great bargain. You can even set up a proper ad campaign using your Facebook advertiser account to target more than just your loyal followers – and even get some new ones too!
Remember, attention to detail is crucial
We’ve all been there – we have a really important email to send, we’ve checked through it a dozen times. But once we’ve clicked ‘send’, we suddenly notice a glaring error that we’ve completely missed. It’s annoying, but it’s a part of life.
As a business though, it’s one of those things you really have to try to avoid. Proofing is absolutely essential to give the appearance of an established business, and since social media is fast becoming one of the first places someone will check out when deciding whether to use a particular service, it becomes imperative that you thoroughly check everything you send before you post it. Run it past a few members of staff before you post it or even run it through Grammarly, a free online spelling and grammar checker – anything to help you minimise the number of potential proofing errors that could occur.
Attention to detail doesn’t just mean proofing though. It’s also other little things like checking that your new post encapsulates your brand’s identity, checking out the landscape of the industry and ensuring you’re on top of the latest trends, and listening to what your clients are saying on your social channels and using those to improve your business. Use your social channels as a way to get boots on the ground with your clients and really relate to them, in order to better market your products and services to them.
What are your top tips for maintaining your salon social media? Share yours with us in the comments on Facebook and Twitter.
Salon Gold provides insurance for salons. For further information, please visit our Salon Insurance page.
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