Today’s consumers can often be found scrolling online when on the hunt for new service providers. For these prospective customers, social media provides ready answers and trustworthy recommendations on the go. Often, the salon or spa with the best social media strategy books the most customers.
Effective social media profiles can improve your growth and your reputation. That’s because your brand’s social profiles serve as an extension of your salon’s or spa’s portfolio. Read on to find out how you can use social media to connect with new customers.
Highlight Your Staff
According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, more people trust employees than top-level managers. In other words, customers prefer hearing from the people actually providing the service.
Encourage your staff to create videos for your company’s social media profiles. With permission, employees could also post on their own accounts and tag the business.
The best online negotiation platforms enable your employees to connect with each other and with customers online. Listen to your staff’s ideas on their posting preferences to create a social media setup that works for everyone.
Negotiate the ownership of content, rights to post, and procedures to follow. You want employees to show off their creativity and connect with customers without exposing your business to lawsuits.
Optimize for Local Search
Some salons and spas make part of their revenue with online product sales. However, most salons and spas rely on walk-in customers for most of their business. These businesses may be limited to attracting customers within a 12-mile radius at best.
So, while a brand may brag about having a million followers worldwide, remember that it’s the local fans who are most likely to convert into paying customers.
According to Social Media Week, 72% of searchers buy from businesses within a five-mile radius. Having the skills to optimize your salon or spa’s social profiles for local search is critical to being found by new customers.
Google and other search engines use algorithms to provide searchers with the fastest, most relevant results. As a business, the aim is to appear on the first page for spa/salon lists in your location.
Spa and salon customers are often looking to try out new service providers. Whether they’re locals or travelers new to the area, searchers are looking for the convenience of a nearby service provider. Here are some steps you can take to optimize your social profiles for local search:
- Fill out the “About” and “Bio” sections and include location data. For instance, mention that you are a spa in Atlanta.
- Use vanity URLs instead of the platform-generated URLs. For instance, instead of www.facebook.com/0123456789, your social profile URLs should be something like: www.facebook.com/LuxurySpa_BondStreet_NewYork or www.instagram.com/FashionistaSalonHoustonTx/.
- Add your address.
- Include maps and directions.
- Add local-related keywords. You can use keyword research tools such as SEMrush, Moz, or Ahrefs to get an idea of what terms local customers might be searching for.
- Use hashtags popular with locals. These can include hashtags related to local news or events in the salon and spa industries like #MiamiLifestyle, #GeorgiaFashion, #MissNewHampshireBeautyContest.
- Highlight any local events your business is hosting, like beauty skills training classes or charity fundraising games.
- Negotiate with local influencers and celebrities to spread your message.
- Use geotagging features on all your content.
Set Up a Selfie Station
Social sharing is the new word of mouth recommendation. A selfie station can encourage satisfied customers to show off their new look to their friends and contacts.
A selfie station is a designated area within your business where customers are encouraged to take photos to share online. Design a space with a visually appealing setup that customers will want to use. Add your business name and logo for branding, so viewers can readily know where the photo was taken.
Choose a high-traffic spot, so others feel they want to participate when they see someone else taking a selfie. Pick a spot with flattering lighting that portrays elegance. You can create hype around shared content by making a game of it, like a competition on which stylist will feature in the most customer selfies.
Offer coupons to those who tag your business in their selfies. Negotiate with prominent people and celebrities to take some promotional photos from your selfie station.
Use a Social Scheduling Tool
Connecting with customers on social media can be an almost full-time job, and most of your staff are likely too busy or lack the training to post with any frequency. You could negotiate with a social media agency or hire a skilled social media manager to handle your profiles. Alternatively, why not create all your posts during the weekend and preschedule them with an automation tool?
You may only have time to create posts after business hours, and pushing one post after another in the evening may not be the best strategy. Your brand may also be on many platforms. Managing a cross-platform campaign needs more planning.
Some of the top social media scheduling tools include:
- Sprout Social
- Social Pilot
- CoSchedule
- Feedly
Run Targeted Ads
Connecting and negotiating with new customers can be difficult if they can’t find you on social media. One way to reach new markets is by running targeted ads.
Social media ads are mostly easy to set up and work great in targeting exact demographics, no matter the location or your level of training.
With almost all major social platforms, you can target new customers by country, province, state, city, ZIP code, etc. You may also target potential customers based on:
- Whether they follow pages similar to yours.
- Personal interests such as the online platform games they enjoy, classes they attend, or the companies they work for.
- If they have recently purchased similar products or services.
- Whether they have shown interest in coupons, discounts, or events run by other businesses within your niche.
- Your potential customers’ income levels.
