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The slower summer months are a great time to plan out your Instagram strategy and content for the next 3 months. Are you hung up on what to post? How to Get Instagram savvy this summer and focus on creating a social media strategy that will maximize your online visibility, attract dream clients, and fill appointment books.
Social media is a marketing tool that’s tailor-made for the salon industry. Visual platforms like Instagram are the perfect place to show off what your stylists can do. However, it’s not enough to simply post pictures every now and then. You need a methodical social media management approach that captures your brand messaging with the right imagery, captions, and hashtags. Consistency is also key—you need to post often to keep your followers engaged and create both Reels and Stories to keep your followers excited about your brand.
If you’re like many salon owners, you’re struggling to maintain the social presence you want. Maybe you’re trying to take everything on in-house, but you’re too busy with other elements of running your business to keep posting great content on social media. Or you might be working with a generic marketing agency that just doesn’t truly understand your business or your audience. Yet, social media marketing is simply too important to let slide.
Gone are the days in which word-of-mouth recommendations will put enough clients in chairs to grow your business. You need a polished, cohesive social media marketing strategy to raise awareness of your business and get appointments booked.
Your marketing power is only as strong as your social media reach, so make efforts to consistently attract new followers.
Like other social media sites, it’s important to post to your Instagram site on a consistent basis. Pick a schedule that works for you and stick to it.
When someone leaves a comment, make sure you respond. You want to show others that your Instagram site is a spot where customers can interact with you and your brand.
Get others to share photos on your page too. Put a few signs up in your salon asking customers to share a picture of their hairstyle on Instagram, and have your stylists mention it too.
Add your Instagram handle or a link to any promotional emails or newsletters that you send your clients, this will help you build a loyal following of clients that trust you. You should also include an IG link in your employee email signature.
Use other marketing channels to advertise your Instagram page. For example, in-store signage, add the IG icon and handle to all of your in-store signage (your reception desk is the best place), and ask clients to follow you on Instagram.
As with other social sites, you should tag other people in your posts to increase exposure. When you tag someone else, the post shows up on his or her Instagram page as well. Tag your team, tag your clients, tag your retailers – tag anyone you can as it increases your opportunity for exposure.
Contests are a great way to generate some buzz. Instagram giveaways or contests create interactions with your existing audience while drawing in countless new views and followers. They’re a tried and true way to drive engagement in a way that Instagram’s algorithm can’t help but notice.
1. Like and/or comment to win
2. Photo caption contest
3. Tag a friend
4. User-generated content
5. Trivia
6. Share this post
7. Hashtag contest
Hashtags are an important part of the Instagram world. Think of them as keywords; when someone searches Instagram for something, it scans hashtags to come up with search results.
It’s a good idea to use a handful of hashtags when posting on IG, up to 30 hashtags are allowed per post. Now, if 30 sounds excessive, then at least try to add four or five hashtags to improve your visibility.
Use both specific and general hashtags If you post a shot of a wedding updo, using #WeddingUpdo is a good idea. However, the hashtag is pretty broad, so it could yield a lot of search results. Your shot might be buried in a bunch of pictures, so in addition to general hashtags, use specific words too. Maybe something like #FrenchBraidWeddingUpdo, or use both, by including #FrenchBraid and #WeddingUpdo.
Mention your location in a hashtag. Help potential customers find your salon by tagging your posts with both your business name and the location. This helps future clients find you when they search for local salons.
Take advantage of appropriate trending hashtags. Instagram doesn’t have a list of trending hashtags as Twitter does, but it’s a safe bet that if something is trending on Twitter, it’s trending on other social channels too.
So, when your Twitter account tells you that #CannesFilmFestival is trending create a post that connects to the festival or show. Pull an image of your favorite style, dress, hair, or makeup at the festival and make a post about it. Ask your followers what was their favorite style.
A lot of product lines have established Instagram sites, so use product hashtags when you can. For example, if your shop sells Redken products, you could use #redkenready in your posts. The product you use might even feature your post on Instagram, which is great exposure.
There’s no better-suited industry for before and after photos than beauty. Whether you do hair, nails, lashes, makeup, etc the proof of your talent and technique is in the photos! When a client is going for a new cut or a transformational cut color, it’s an opportunity to snap videos and photos and show off your talents to your social audience.
Tip: If your client is a bit camera shy try profile shots and shots where the hair is covering most of their face. Make the hair the focal point.
Whether you’ve recently completed a bridal style or styled a creative braid on a client, break out your phone and get a verticle video or photo of it.
When your retail partner launches a new styling product share it on Instagram. Share products that fit the season. Think of the beauty problems you can help your guests solve – i.e. an SPF hair mask would be a great product to post during the summer months. You don’t want to advertise products too often, but once in a while, they’re fine (80/20).
Offering a promotion or a customer appreciation event? Share it on Instagram. Create a graphic that shares the offer in a branded professional way. Don’t “post it and ghost it” – remember only approximately 10% of your audience sees a given post – so post it often enough that by the time your promotion ends, most of your audience has seen it.
Whether it’s summer or back-to-school season, make sure you post about timely topics to stay current and relevant to your audience.
When you hire a new stylist, share the news and introduce them to your audience with a salon-branded photo. I also love to include team member highlights to share the team with your IG followers.
Don’t forget to share BTS (behind the scenes) content – it makes you more relatable and real. Share photos and videos of you and or your team behind the chair, and share that shot of a rainbow outside of your shop. It’s good to show your audience that you’re human. You want your Instagram to feel like “that’s me” with your target audience.
Inspirational / Daily Quotes
Video of Transformation
Testimonials
Live Stream Q and A
Daily question
Product Posts And How to Get Perfect Results
Repost Clients Posts
Run Competitions
Post Training Events for Staff to Build Trust And Expertise
Polls And Surveys
Fill Last Minute Slots
Ask Followers to Tag a Friend
Motivational Quotes
Remind Clients to Book Early for Busy Times of The Year
Memes & GIFS
There’s no shortage of agencies out there providing digital marketing services, but that doesn’t mean you should leave your marketing strategy up to just any local agency. In the beauty industry, consumers are used to a high-end approach that’s supported by a wealth of market research to create immersive brand experiences. So, you need a digital marketing provider that can help you reach that level. BeautyMark Marketing is raising the bar in the salon industry, serving clients throughout the U.S. with marketing strategies that are on par with the entire beauty industry. You won’t just outshine your local competitors—you’ll make your mark on the industry as a whole.
Attract and engage new clients with DONE FOR YOU Social Media Management. Let us handle everything – and leave you free to run your business. Social media is an informal and friendly way to keep in touch, build strong client relationships and attract new customers – however, it’s also extremely time-consuming, and difficult to do well. Getting the right voice, brand aesthetic, and content are key. Why choose us for your salon’s social media? We work solely with hair and beauty businesses to attract dream clients and fill appointment books.
BeautyMark specializes in beauty business marketing. Learn more BeautyMark Digital Marketing Services or you can Schedule a Chat with Me here and make sure to follow our blog HERE for weekly salon marketing tips
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