Boom! Social media for your fledgling salon!
Ask me about how unnerving it can be to start your own business! Costs, expenses, marketing, inventories, advertising, yada yada yada. It goes on and on and on. So clearly, one of the things you worry about is increasing your clientele especially if you’re running your very own salon because in all honesty, the success of your salon business really does depend upon your clients.
Bottom line: You. Need. Clients.
And how are you going to increase your clientele? By making the most of social media! Trust me you’ll be wiser for it because you’ve got to move with the times and embrace change. This IS the age of social media where more and more people are turning to their smart phones and tablets to shop online, communicate with people, express their thoughts and opinions and just stay abreast of the latest goings-on in the world. Social media is huge, you guys. So if you want to grow your business, it’s a given you’re going to have to embrace social media and do it now.
What does this entail?
Being present on social media platforms essentially Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr etc, to name a few. You need to first understand that each of these platforms caters to a different audience. For instance Facebook caters to a wide audience who stay connected with their social circle through updates and live feed. They become fans of brand pages to stay updated about latest trends, offers, schemes and news. Twitter, on the other hand, is a platform for sharing relevant information in as little as 140 characters. Pinterest, Instagram and Flickr are all image sharing platforms.
So as a salon owner, my advice to you would be to use Facebook as a medium to share relevant information about your salon such as the services you offer, fun beauty and make-up tips you can try at home, hairstyle tutorials, skin care advice, and hair trends or maybe even advertise offers exclusively for Facebook followers.
Similarly, Pinterest can be used to share DIY links and videos, hot fashion trends and make-up that are in for the current season. Instagram can be used to document fun stuff happening at your salon and happy customers getting their hair or make-up done. The point is to somehow give followers a chance to take small peek into your salon and the services you offer.
Always engage your audience
It’s important to engage your audience in conversation while sharing offers and updates. Striking conversations helps build relationships with your followers. Start by simply responding to a comment or a ‘like’ someone might leave on a photo or a post you’ve shared, respond to questions regarding the services you offer, beauty and skin regimens etc.
People love offers
There’s nobody I can think of who doesn’t want to win a contest or get a freebie. Giving out freebies could be a good way to earn goodwill amongst your followers. You might want to give away handcrafted soaps or bath oils to your first ten clients from Facebook. You could also run a contest every month for a free haircut or manicure, anything that suits your budget and is manageable. Remember, everyone loves free stuff so there’s not much scope for you to go wrong.
Monitor your progress on a regular basis
Through social media platforms you get a chance to communicate directly with your fans or followers. You get to respond to questions, clear doubts and circulate information about your business that is essential to its success. Similarly, it gives you a chance to control negative publicity by addressing the customer promptly and handling negative publicity professionally. It’s important to always keep your tone professional, warm and friendly. Be prompt with your responses and you will quickly find that people are not only interested in what your salon has to offer, but you also might just earn the loyalty of a few customers for life.
Social media is hot. And if you adopt it to promote your salon business, you will be too!
I’m Kathleen Case and in my beauty salon i make people pretty. With the help of a fine education provided by Marinello I’m able to make the people of the world beautiful one face at a time. I have collected the experiences I have gained perfecting every face I work on and using all that information, I write about beauty in all its forms to help the people I cannot reach with my own hands.