How to successfully schedule your salon's social media
It can be easy to forget about social media when you’re busy with other tasks surrounding your business. But if you’re only posting sporadically, or leaving accounts inactive for months on end, you’re harming your prospects in more ways than one.
Scheduling content consistently
Obviously, if you’re not posting, then people are much less likely to find you naturally on social media. If there’s no content to appear on someone’s feed, there’ll be no opportunity to reach a new audience or build a relationship with your customers.
View your social media like your shopfront. Would you take a second look at a business that looks like it’s not been touched in some time? If a potential customer finds your social profile to be inactive, that’s the message you’re putting across.
Thankfully, there are scheduling tools that can help you be consistent with social content. I’d recommend Buffer and Hootsuite; both have free versions that allow you to schedule posts across all of the most common platforms.
The amount you post on social media can vary. Current thinking on this suggests these are the minimum targets you should aim for:
- At least one post on Facebook per day, no more than two
- At least three tweets per day
- At least one post on Instagram, no more than three.
If you don’t think you can hit these numbers, don’t worry. So long as you’re posting somewhat consistently, then you’ll already be getting a leg up on some of your competitors.
Personality and creativity win out
There are some easy ways to put out more content on social media. Many salons use tools that post types of content automatically. Unfortunately, the easiest way will likely lead to the least success in the long term.
If your posts are robotic and automatic, they’re going to come across that way to prospective customers. Put yourself in a client’s shoes: if one salon’s content is generic and boring, and another shows their personality and creative flair, which would you likely choose?
User-generated content like reviews or testimonials are still a great source, but consider using tools such as Canva to turn them in to a graphic. Images get more organic engagement than any normal text post or link. Other quick wins include before and after photos (with clients’ permission of course), or taking some creative “glamour” shots of your salon.
Currently, video beats everything else on social media. It’s also the best way to show off your personality to the world. If you’re brave enough to “go live”, your engagement rate will continue to grow – meaning you’ll reach even more of your audience. Again, keep things simple if you need to: videos can be as simple Q&A sessions, or offering short tips to clients.
Don’t worry about being perfect: nobody expects a blockbuster epic. Being friendly and genuine on camera can mask any flubs or production problems. Showing potential customers the person they’ll meet when they make their first visit, and you’ll have made a connection before they even walk in the door.