By now, it’s a pretty safe bet that your salon has its own social media accounts. If you’re not on Instagram or Facebook, it can be next to impossible to build and maintain a connection with current and potential customers in the very place they hang out…on their phones.
According to a recent study by Global Web Index, consumers’ use of social media has sky-rocketed though the pandemic, meaning that now is the golden time to be building your social media presence – even if you already have one. In fact, in a different study, the Asia Pacific Small Business Survey found that small businesses – including salons – that are proficient in social media use are more likely to experience growth.
Be seen, be remembered
Salons tend to rely on repeat business, sure. Managers tend to try to book follow-up appointments at the initial consultation. But that just isn’t enough anymore. “The days of regular appointments keeping a salon afloat are over,” says business expert Janine Crowley. “There was a time that salons could get by with the support of their army of regular customers. But this customers are now digitally savvy and the likes of Facebook and Instagram have shown them that there are other options around when it comes to their beauty treatments. If you’re not the salon they’re seeing on social media, there’s every chance they’ll take their precious money to a new brand that they’ve built a connection with via their phone.”
It’s a conversation, not a lecture
The key to building your social media presence is to hold back from the in-your-face claims. “By all means, tell your followers what you can do, but never take the power out of their hands,” says Janine. “For example, tell them about your amazing new micro needling machine, and then ask them to comment about why they’d love to try it. Encouraging interaction leads to engagement, and engagement leads to a growing presence.”
There are, of course, some basic rules to follow:
- Keep it regular and mix it up. Amassing and keeping followers requires consistent posting, while visual variety keeps followers engaged. Different channels can also target different groups – for instance, most 18- to 29-year-olds use both Facebook and Instagram, while 30- to 49-year-olds are more likely to only use Facebook.3
- Use all the visual tools at your disposal. Photos can be effective engagement drivers, but there are additional tools to consider. Illustrations are sometimes better for conveying complex or abstract ideas and might have more options for matching your brand. Video is fantastic for storytelling and driving engagement, with users typically spending six times longer on a post with video.4
- Keep it simple. Remember that great ideas simply executed garner better responses than poor ideas with big budgets. You don’t need huge volumes of visual assets – instead, think strategically about the visuals you choose and messages you want to convey.
- Personalise your content. Personalisation keeps content looking polished and visually consistent. You can use tools to add your logo or crop and insert text, easily making content ready-to-post.
Visit the #BEAUTYSTRONG hub at https://www.professionalbeauty.com.au/beautystrong/
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