Don’t Miss This Social Media Trend – Why Instagram for Hair Salons is a MUST!
Do you run a hair salon or are you a salon professional?
Successful salons stay on top of trends, so it’s no surprise that salon owners and stylists are showcasing their work on this photo-sharing social network.
Instagram recently made some major improvements that will help boutiques like yours get more clients and build relationships.
Instagram for hair salon is EASY!
Here’s why…
Because it’s a phone app, posting on Instagram is at your finger tips. Plus, you can connect with other users by tagging friends in photos and posts. Tagging and #hashtagging allows for a direct approach to staying in touch with clients and letting potential new customers find you.
Fully integrated with Facebook, it’s an easy way to draw people in. You can even use direct messaging! Still not convinced that Instagram is perfect you?
500,000,000 Users and Still Growing!
Ever since Facebook bought Instagram, it’s been growing in giant leaps, way faster than other visual platforms like Pinterest.
The number of ACTIVE monthly users tops 500 million! That’s more than the population of the US, CANADA and MEXICO combined!! If Instagram were its own country, it would be the 3rd largest in the world.
WOW!!
No wonder so many businesses are showcasing their brands on this hot social media platform now:
“A study conducted by Simply Measured earlier this year found 59% of the world’s top brands are now active on Instagram.” ~ SocialMediaExaminer.com
With how fast it’s growing, you simply must find a way to use Instagram to your advantage. That’s why Salon Plaza is sharing with you…
6 Ways To Keep Your Book Full Using Instagram
Tip 1: Get Instagram Set Up For Business
Instagram for hair salons and nail spas makes a lot of sense. Start by creating a separate business account. This way you can write your bio specifically for your salon and the city where it is located. When potential customers are looking in your area for services that you provide, your photos will come up.
As with all social media platforms, be sure to add a link to your salon website and a profile photo that showcases you as a salon professional.
Salon Plaza Members get their own personal webpage – perfect to show your work and connect potential customers directly with you. They might even book an appointment!
Are you ready to make it as a salon owner? Discover now with Salon Plaza’s Success Quiz:
Check out Instagram’s very own “Instagram For Business New Tools” blog post to get set up. Visit the Instagram Business Blog to see how other companies have grown using the Instagram app.
Tip 2: Connect Instagram with Facebook
If you have been following our blog for a while now than you know that we fully believe that having a Facebook page for your salon is a plus. Now you can link your Facebook business page to your Instagram page.
When you do this you can see who follows you on Facebook and follow them as well. Connecting with Facebook is going to give you a great start for followings on Instagram.
Tip 3: Link Your Social Media Together
You can also link your salon’s Twitter account and a few other social media accounts. When you go to create a new post you can easily share to all of these social media sites all at one time.
This can actually cut your social media marketing time down a lot.
Tip 4: What Should You Post on Instagram?
This should be easy. Being a hairstylist, barber, nail tech or makeup artist is a visual art. Instagram is virtually 100% visual. You can take pictures and create short videos.
a. For your first post, try doing an upbeat introductory video. Introduce yourself and tell viewers what you are good at or why you love doing what you do.
b. One of the best things you can post are before and after photos. This shows prospects your amazing talents.
Quick Trick… You will have to download a separate app onto your phone or tablet in order to create a collage or add text to a photo. The one I like the best is “Photo Editor Pro,” which you can find in the Google Play Store. If you are rocking an iPhone, iPad, or iPod I suggest “PicLab.” “PicLab” is also available for android devices.
c. Next, do posts about your favorite hairstyles and products. For example, you can do “sassy up-dos,” “sparkly nails,” or “beards on point.” Get creative!
d. Change it up every once in a while. Don’t make it all business. Have some fun. Do a selfie post (once-in-a-while!). If you saw something cool while walking into work, snap a pic and post it. Or maybe you saw a great quote? Create a picture quote with one of your photos.
e. Do contest posts and promotional posts. Create an image explaining the contest or promotion in a few words.
Quick Trick… A great app for this is “Quotes Creator,” which can be used on Apple or Android products. I like this one for creating promos because it has backgrounds that you can use and add text to. Be sure to make your contests relevant to your business. For example, unless there’s one right next to your salon, don’t give away a Starbucks gift card. It may help you get follows but it isn’t going to bring people into your salon. Let them win a free service or salon product.
Tip 5: Captions Matter on Instagram
The brief description under the photo – the caption – helps customers find you.
a. Try to keep it at just 2 or 3 short descriptive sentences. If you make it to long then Instagram cuts it off and you have to click the “more” button. In marketing you must grab their attention in the first few sentences — or not at all.
b. USE HASHTAGS!!
Hashtags are how you find everything and how others will find you. When you type in a hashtag, Instagram will even show you how popular it is. If it isn’t very popular you can change it up and try another one.
Hashtag everything that is relevant to your post, especially your location and salon name. Examples: #RichmondVA – #SalonPlaza – #SassyShortDos – #GlamNails.
GET CREATIVE…
Tip 6: Keep Your Page Active and Relevant
When you take a little time to interact on social media, it begins to pay off for you.
a. Follow your followers! Cultivate a following by following others.
b. Build your following by engaging with the people you follow. Like and/or comment on their photos.
d. Post once or twice every other day. Share what inspires you or you think will inspire others. Keep in eye on how often you post. You don’t want to overload your follower’s feeds with your posts — They might get aggravated and stop following you.
e. Pay attention to what gets “follows” and what doesn’t. If it isn’t getting attention then try a different idea. Change it up a bit.
Every Salon Professional needs to be aware of changes that impact them and to stay innovative. That’s the purpose for Salon Plaza’s Success Blog – to help beauty industry pros and salon owners to stay current and improve their skills. We especially focus on how to run your salon or your booth like a business.
Who else wants to check in and see how ready you are to open your own salon?
Take our Salon Owner Success Quiz now…
If you had the key in hand to your own salon… how successful would you be?