Social Media Must-Do's for Salons & Spas

Facebook, Instagram or Twitter?

One post a day or 10 posts a day?

How do I get more Likes?

From "InstaStylists" to live technical videos, social media has literally reinvented the way salons, spas and service providers advertise and communicate with their clients and prospects.

But as working salon, spa and medspa owners, finding the time to keep up with the rapid-fire changes in social media and digital marketing can be daunting. Just as we think we've got one platform figured out, another one comes along.

So let's get you on track!

The following is a list of social media questions that come up regularly in our Facebook group, the Strategies Salon & Spa Business Idea Exchange.

Our intent here is to help you become a smarter social media marketer. Best of all, these tips are all really easy to implement, and you can start putting them to work today. Let's get started!

1. Which social media platforms should my salon or spa be focusing on?

The number one rule for choosing where to invest your social media efforts is a simple one: Be where your audience is.

With that being said, it's a pretty safe bet that the majority of your salon/spa clients and prospects are active on the two juggernaut social media platforms: Facebook and Instagram, with 1.8B and 600M users respectfully as of January 2017.

But again, that may not be the case. More on that in a minute...

Why Facebook? In addition its massive audience, it's the incredibly-powerful advertising and targeting tools within Facebook that make it a marketer's dream. No other social platform knows as much about the habits and preferences of its users. And no other platform offers advertisers so many different ways to use that data to pinpoint their marketing efforts.

Creepy? Maybe.

A marketer's paradise? Absolutely.

If you haven't taken the time to learn the basics of Facebook advertising, I can assure you that your competition is. And at the incredibly-low investment needed to play the game (ads starts at $5), budget restraints aren't an excuse.

Why Instagram: This one is simple: Instagram is a "gift from the gods" to the beauty industry. How lucky are we to have a visual-based social media network of 600M users, that also just happens to boast some of the highest engagement levels across all platforms? ??????

It's a no-brainer...if you own a salon or spa you need to be on Instagram, and you need to be putting massive amounts of attention into it right now.

Again, if you aren't, your competition already is.

Other social networks (and exceptions): As we mentioned above, your business needs to be where your audience is. Perhaps your salon/spa is located in a college town and caters to a younger audience. If that's the case, you probably want to put more emphasis on Instagram and Snapchat, and less on Facebook (which younger generations view as "their Mom's" social network).

Also, like him or not, @realDonaldTrump has given Twitter a massive jolt since entering in the campaign race and being elected president. Your clients and prospects may be there as well.

Important: Don't spread yourself too thin! It's better to have a fantastic presence on one platform, than a lackluster presence on three.

2. How often do you update your social media accounts?

A good rule of thumb is to post at least three times a day...once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once in the evening. (See #3 to learn which times will get the most views.) This ensures you're in front of your audience all day. If you can post more, that's great.

Remember, social media moves really fast...

A post that is 24-hours old is just that....old.

So, you want to stay in front of your audience as much as possible. However, as we mentioned above, we all know how busy our lives can get in the salon or spa. If you can't commit to three times a day that's fine. It's more important to be consistent.

Make a schedule...and stick to it. Hootsuite and Buffer are great tools that can help with this.

And remember, you don't have to do it all yourself. Getting your staff involved can really take some of the load off your shoulders...and introduce some needed creativity!

3. When is the best time to post to my social media accounts?

For this one, we're going to fall back on the old saying, "numbers don't lie." Luckily for us, the social media platforms are making it really easy for us to find out exactly when our audiences are online and/or reading our posts...and it's usually just a few clicks away.

Here's how to learn the three best times to post on Instagram and Facebook:

Instagram:

Step 1: If you haven't converted your salon/spa's Instagram account to a business profile, stop and do that right now (here's a quick tutorial video). It only takes a few seconds, and mandatory to get the information below...plus it will make it easier for your clients and prospects to contact you!

Step 2: Click on the "Insights" button in the upper-right of your Instagram app:

Step 3: Scroll down to the "Followers" section and click "See More."

Step 3: Click "Days" to find out which days of the week your audience is online the most.

Step 4: Click "Hours" to find out what time of day your audience is online the most.

Instagram tips for salons and spas

And just like that, we've determined that the three best times for us to post to Instagram are 10am, 6pm and 9pm!

Facebook:

Step 1: Open up your business page on Facebook and click "Insights" in the top menu.

Facebook tips

Step 2: Click on "Posts" in the left sidebar menu.

Facebook tips for salons and spas

With just those two clicks, we're presented with a dead-simple graph that shows us both the days and times our audience is online the most. In our case, the daily numbers are pretty consistent, but hourly usage really ramps up between 3pm and 9pm. If it were up to me...and it is...I would post once around 10:30am, once at 3pm and once at 9pm.

Take-away: Posting content when your audience is online is just as important as posting where they are online. This is even MORE important if you're really busy and don't have the time to post multiple times each day. Remember, this data is just a few clicks away. So if you can't post often, post when it's going to count...when your audience will see it!

4. Should I post the same content on all my social media accounts?

With the ever-increasing time commitments of maintaining a social presence, it's very easy to be tempted to post the same photos, links, etc. on all our platforms at once.

Many platforms, Instagram and Facebook for example, even offer ability to automate this process by linking accounts, so as soon as we post a photo to Instagram, it automatically appears on Facebook.

Might as well kill two birds with one stone right?

Well, let's take a deeper look...

I'm a big proponent of posting content that's relevant not only to the audience, but is also RELEVANT TO THE PLATFORM as well.

Each social platform has its own strength, and users expect content to be delivered to them in a format that is familiar to the particular platform they are on.

Instagram is where you share beautiful imagery of your work. It's your "online look-book."

Facebook is perfect for longer-form content like news and announcements, links to blog posts, tutorial videos, live video, and obviously photo galleries as well.

Instagram Stories and Snapchat is where you can tell your brand's story, show behind-the-scenes footage, and be a little goofy and off-the-cuff.

Twitter is great for short-form promotions, updates and links.

Play to the strength of the platform. That's not to say that you can't post the same type of content across multiple networks...after all, it only makes sense for salons to post photos of our work wherever we can...but just make sure the content is different.

I'll sum up this answer with my own personal view: If I see that a business or acquaintance is posting the same content across all (or even two) of their social platforms, I will only follow them on one. I'm not going to let them clutter up all of my networks with the same content.

Take-away: Give clients and prospects a reason to follow you on all your social media platforms. If they can see everything you're offering on just one, you've lost a massive opportunity.

5. How do I get people to engage with my posts?

Engagement. It's the name of the game in social media.

Whether it's a click, like, share or ❤️, if your audience isn't engaging with your message, there's a very good chance that you're not seeing a return on the time (and money) you're putting into your social media efforts.

So what's the secret to getting more engagement? It comes down to four simple words:

It's. All. About. Them.

We can break this down to three simple questions:

Are you providing value or solutions for your audience?

Is your content relevant to their needs?

Are you establishing trust and expertise?

Start focusing on these three elements...and less on what's in it for you...and you'll start to win at the engagement game.

Most importantly...Interact with them! Social media is not a one way street...it's not call social for nothing! Make sure you're not only commenting and replying to posts that you've created, but that you're also getting involved in others' discussions as well. This will encourage clients (and their followers) to jump in on your conversation.

Remember, being social is just as much about listening as it is talking.

Final tip: Always remember to include a Call-to-Action (CTA) in your posts. A CTA is just what it sound like...a request for your reader to take action...whether it's leaving a comment, clicking a link or sharing your content. Just make sure you're crystal-clear on what you want them to do...and make sure you've got a plan in place to get the most out of that action once they do!

6. Can you recommend some Digital Marketing classes and coaching for salons & spas?

Yes we can! Strategies is now offering intensive 3-day Salon/Spa Digital Marketing Workshops (click banner below for upcoming dates). We are also super-excited about the recent launch of Strategies' Digital Marketing/Social Media Coaching Services. Keep an eye on strategies.com, as well as our Facebook (facebook.com/strategies) and Instagram (@strategies4biz) pages for more info.

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