Last November, I decided that I was finally going to take the leap and chop off my hair to donate to Locks of Love and Beautiful Lengths. It was a big decision, and one that I had been thinking about for a very long time. But my hair was finally long enough, and I was determined to do it.
The first order of business, before the actual cutting of the hair, was to scope out a salon. And ladies, we all know that we can’t trust just any ol’ place with our tresses, right? So of course, I turned to social media to look for a hairdresser to whom I could entrust my hair, and boy, was I surprised to see the lack of salons taking advantage of social media for their businesses! If you own a salon or are a hairdresser, but are not using social media marketing, then you’re missing out on incredible opportunities.
It got me thinking, and I came up with three easy social media strategies that salons can use to leverage their business:
Take Control of Your Yelp Profile: This is a no-brainer. If you thought Yelp was only useful for food, think again. Nowadays, consumers refer to Yelp for recommendations on nearly everything! Yelp gives your clients the opportunity to write about the stellar haircuts you gave them. These recommendations act as referrals; they are powerful, and can absolutely bring in new business for you. If someone writes a negative review (hey, no business is perfect!), you can use Yelp to reach out to the reviewer and display your exemplary customer service. Also, remember to claim your listing on Yelp so that you can flesh out your profile. Add your salon hours and contact information, and throw in photos to show people how hip your salon is. The more people know about your salon, the more comfortable they’ll feel about booking an appointment with you.
Show Off on Instagram: So you can cut a mean fringe, or do a killer ombre dye job. Why not show the world your skills? Download Instagram and make it a habit to take photos of all your clients and your work. And don’t forget to use hashtags so people can find you! When you have interesting photos, you’ll gain more followers, who will either keep you in mind for their next salon visit or refer you to their friends. Case in point: Last year, I impulsively wanted to dye my hair, so I went on Instagram for some style inspiration. I stumbled across Kat Park’s Instagram account, and was wow-ed by her skills. I didn’t end up dyeing my hair, but a couple months ago, my friend asked me if I knew of any good hairdressers who were good with color. I referred her immediately to Kat. Even though I’d never even met Kat, I was confident in her skills just by seeing her work on Instagram. For the record, my friend went to Kat, and her hair turned out awesome!
Scope Out on Twitter: If you want to actively search for new clientele, Twitter is the way to go. Twitter’s search feature allows you to search through all the tweets in the Twittersphere coming from anywhere in the world. Which means you can search for tweets containing, say, the phrase “I need a haircut” near your location. Use this to reach out to these people. Don’t be obnoxious (i.e. don’t explicitly solicit your business), but start a conversation. Maybe the tweeter will click through to your profile and call you for an appointment, or maybe she won’t. The point is, by connecting with people on Twitter, you have an opportunity to put your business’ name in front of them.
And of course, remember to link your website to your Yelp, Instagram and Twitter pages, too! People may already have stumbled upon your website, but your social media profiles will help amp up your “social proof.”
Salons, are you using social media yet? If not, give these strategies a try!