It’s all about the Tubmans, baby.
How social media can help your salon make money.
As salon owners, we often think of social media as a way to showcase our creative endeavors and the talent of our staff. And while building positive relationships between our guests and business should be the core idea behind any social media strategy, there are more opportunities to leverage those relationships into business for your salon than you might think. Here’s four of the strategies we’ve put to work:
- Know your goals and hit them
This might sound like a no-brainer, but it’s truly an art. As your social media team comes up with interesting ideas (or even off-the-cuff spontaneous snaps), always think about the end before you post whatever it is. What are you hoping to achieve? Start by understanding what you want the viewer to feel, see, or do and use that to set a goal. Sometimes, this is as simple as ‘we want our salon to be perceived as a fun place to be,’ which could be attained by lots of likes (and a hashtag to promote it), other times, it’s ‘we want to show off the spectacular work we did on a client’ and you may want to drive people to book an appointment (by pointing to a link in your profile). Always have a goal in mind for your social posts that you’ll be able to turn into a benefit for your salon and the time you spend creating them will more than pay itself back.
- Promote your products
Product sales has been a solid revenue stream for as long as we’ve been in the business. Most of the time, it happens right after the appointment – the stylist speaks with the guest, and the guest leaves with a bag. Now with social media, that conversation can go digital. You just posted the most amazing textured cut on your salon’s Instagram and Facebook accounts. Do the people following them know what beach spray you used to create it? Can you drop in a link to buy it? Not having an online store isn’t the end of the world though – even a name-drop starts to build familiarity with the product offering you carry, and can boost purchases in-person too.
Here’s a couple examples of salons doing it right:
- Be a trainer
Can you do that for me? Your guest is sitting in the chair, pointing at a magazine. How’d they do it, and how can I get that same look at home? We’re sure you’ve heard this conversation happen no shorter than ten times a day, every day. And when the guest leaves – out goes that knowledge, too. Why not take that conversation about the laissez-faire Kristen Stewart hair flip at Cannes and get it online? You’re already the expert in duplicating the look back at home – so position yourself as expert online, and train people on how to do it right with YouTube tutorials, Facebook live events, and Periscope sessions. They don’t pay out immediately, but as you become more adept, think about the possibilities for premium content – a how-to guide to achieve next season’s best styles perhaps, and create PDF how-to guides that require an email address or small micro-purchase to unlock the download from your website that is teased across your Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest accounts.
Check out how friends of ours are using video to do just that:
- Monetize your content as an affiliate or partner
Once you’re creating content, and start to gain a following, you’ll be able to tack on different short-term tactics to net you a few dollars that add up, mostly paid for by other brands who want to target your audience. Izea, the creator marketplace, matches you up with brands looking to target the people you speak to on a daily basis through directly sponsored posts. The YouTube partner program gives you opportunities to make money through advertising that plays before your videos, create paid subscriptions, or host merchandise sales. Amazon Affiliates make money for any product purchased by someone on Amazon after clicking your link. Use these different tools creatively and sparingly (and always disclose when you’re making a business transaction), and you’ll still be able to keep the trust of your network while expanding your social media earning potential.
Got other tips on how you’ve made your salon money leveraging social media networks? We’d love to hear them and share the wealth! Drop us a line on Facebook at @luxurybrandpartners, and get ready for Idealogue: The Social Media Sessions, happening October 21-22. Get tickets here.
