6 Key Areas that are often not updated on your Business Facebook Page – and they should be!

When was the last time you gave your Facebook Business Page a spring-clean? Often, we find ourselves words deep in creating great Facebook posts but overlooking the marketing obvious? Is your page letting your salon brand down?

With the constant changes to Facebook’s rules and algorithms, it makes sense to refresh, declutter and update your page regularly.

We like to think of it at a salon social audit! Make sure you dedicate some time and give your page a makeover.

First stop…. your ‘About page’

It is essential for your business that this information is correct and up to date. This is where many clients and potential new customers will go to get in contact with you. Make sure all relevant fields are completed from location, phone number and opening hours to website details and links.

When was the last time you updated the cover photo on your page?

If it’s been more than four months since you updated your latest cover photo or video, it’s probably time for a refresh.

Here are some other reasons or times when you may want to switch up your cover photo:

• If you’re launching a new campaign, product, or service.

• To celebrate a new season or upcoming holiday.

• To promote an upcoming event.
  

Is you pinned post out of date?

Nothing looks more out of date than a pinned post promoting an event or competition that’s long since passed. Pinned posts need regular changing otherwise they will look stale. Make a calendar note when you pin a post to revisit it in a week.

When was the last time you updated your services tab?  

Did you know that you can add your treatment menu to your page? And it’s super easy to do! Firstly, you will need to add the Services tab to your page.

Here’s how:

1. Click settings at the top of your page

2. Click Templates and Tabs in the left column

3. Scroll to the bottom and click Add a Tab

4. Next to Services, click Add Tab and then click Close

5. Now that you’ve added the services tab to your page, you can add your services

To add services:

1. Go back to the front page of your page and click Services in the left column

2. Click Add a Service

3. Enter info about your service, then click Save

4. To list another service, click Add a Service
   

Is your call to action current?

Facebook is no different to any other salon marketing channel; you need to lead clients towards your end goal (book an appointment, pick up the phone or visit your website for example) with a call to action. This call to action simply tells them what you’d like them to do next.

To add a call-to-action button to your business age:

1. Click + Add a Button below your Page’s cover photo

2. Select a button from the dropdown menu and fill out any required information

3. Click Add Button.

Once the button has been created, it’s a good idea to test this. Simply hover over your button and select Test Button.

Do you have Facebook reviews?

Social proof showcasing the quality of your salon, spa or clinic is key for converting casual browsers into new clients.

Once they are there, you can’t change or delete Facebook reviews (unfortunately you’re stuck with them). If you notice a handful of average reviews you will need to spring into marketing mode.

Here are 4 tips to encourage clients to leave a Facebook review and boost your star rating:

• Remind clients while they are in your salon, spa or clinic. Pop strut cards or mirror decals throughout the salon asking for a review. Eg “Loved your salon visit? We’d love your Facebook review.”

• Encourage Facebook reviews via your e-newsletter. And don’t forget to include the link to your Facebook Page.

• Always reply to every review quickly and thank them for taking the time and trouble (even if it’s not as glowing as you’d hoped). We all like to feel appreciated. 

Banned hashtags that could be damaging your salons Instagram account

Did you know that Instagram has banned a bunch of commonly used hashtag? And by using these hashtags, you could be potentially damaging your salon brand across social media?!

Here are some innocent-sounding hashtags you may be currently using on your salon social posts that are banned - #tanlines #newyears #valentinesday #ig #beautyblogger #beautydirectory #sunbathing #instamood #humpday #likeback #besties #followforfolllow #goddness. Some of these hashtags are banned temporarily, while others are permanently prohibited. But either way, using them on your posts could shadowban or penalise your Instagram account.

Using hashtags on your salon Instagram marketing

Hashtags are valuable for your Instagram marketing as they can increase your reach and get your salon seen by a new, relevant audience. Which in turn leads to more new clients for your salon business. So rather than dropping them all together as they are such an important part of your salon social marketing, we suggest you read on to discover how you can avoid these banned hashtags.

Why Instagram bans certain hashtags

Instagram is on a mission to reduce spam, fake accounts and scammers. It was revealed that spammers were jumping onto popular hashtags and abusing them, so now their bots look for Instagram accounts that use certain hashtags and flag them as spam.

What is a shadowban?

Using banned hashtags on Instagram could results in your account receiving a shadwoban from Instagram. This means your posts don’t show up in general Instagram searches, which means you become invisible to potential new followers and clients. This is not good news for those salons looking to grow their business!

How do I know if an Instagram hashtag is banned?

The bad news is that Instagram doesn’t make it easy for you, and their list on banned hashtags change on a daily basis. To check if a hashtag is currently banned by Instagram:

• Go to the explore tab.

• Type the hashtag in the search bar.

• Click on it.

• If you see a message along the lines of ‘recent posts from #sunbathing are currently hidden because the community has reported some content that may not meet Instagram’s community guidelines’ then it’s banned.

• Don’t use it.

Avoid these hashtags on your salon social

Take a look through this list below and see if you’ve used any of these recently. If you have a post that didn’t perform well and it used one or more of these hashtags, you might have found your answer.

If you are desperate to use one of these hashtags then make sure you check it out first as some hashtags are only prohibited temporarily, so listings are never totally accurate.

10 Social Media Content Ideas for Salons & Spas

In our previous blog of our Salon Marketing Education Blog Series, we delved deep into the 5 W’s (who, what, where, when and why) that will ensure your salon social media is a success. Now we are getting into the ‘how’ of it all, as often we hear from our salons, spa’s and clinics that they can often run out of content or ideas of what to post. To help…

Here are 10 Salon Social Media Content Ideas:

1.       Before & After Photos

Before and after photos are a great way to show off your talent and brag about the incredible results/transformations that you are achieving for your clients. Before & after photos work as a visual type of testimonial, helping to sell your business without ever worrying about having to do the “hard sell”.

2.       Post-Treatment Photos

Post-treatment photos are similar to before and after photos in how they can show off the services your salon, spa or clinic offers. “Post-treatment glow” photos in particular are currently extremely popular and well-received by existing clients and followers alike. With your client’s consent, of course, sharing the final result of a treatment will give your followers skin envy that will have them calling you straight away to make a booking!

3.       Product Focused Photos

Product focused photos might not perform as well when it comes to likes, comments and engagement – however they most certainly should be shared for any salon on social media. They are great to share the benefits of each product you retail to your audience and answer any questions that your clients may have about them.

4.       Behind the Scenes (BTS)

Giving your followers an exclusive “behind the scenes” look into your treatments is a great way to get potential clients excited about what your salon can offer, as well as keeping existing clients coming back for more. Another alternative BTS option is to show your followers what’s going on around the salon, whether you share a photo or video of your Dermalux lighting up a treatment room, or a pic of a staff member reaching for a product on the top shelf – we guarantee your followers will love getting a sneak peek into the day-to-day happenings of your salon.

5.       Education Posts / Tips & Tricks

Sharing education styled posts allows your audience to better understand the services and products you offer and also creates a deeper salon/client bond as they are more inclined to trust your knowledge and expertise.

6.       Skin Concern Focused

This post idea can often be overlooked but is an amazing content piece to follow suit from your more educational-based posts. This kind of post works to target the audience of whatever particular skin type, condition or concern that you are talking about. Whether it be professional treatments for dehydrated skin in Winter or an at-home cleanser recommendation for ageing skin.

7.       FAQs

FAQ’s are extremely valuable when it comes to your salon social media and also easy content for you as a therapist to curate. Simply upload a photo with the FAQ (e.g. What treatment can help remove pigmentation?) and use your post caption to answer the question.

8.       Quotes or Memes

We recommend using quotes and memes in moderation. We used just the right amount, they serve as a great way to break up content on your feed whether it is with a humorous and relatable meme, or an inspiring and uplifting mid-week quote.

9.       Client Re-shares

User-generated content often generates higher engagement rates than owned content, most likely due to the fact people often tend to trust other people more than they trust a business/brand. If a client uploads a photo of their post-treatment glow, be sure to reshare it (with their permission of course and with photo credits)!

10.    Testimonials & Reviews

Our last post idea, which is a really important one, share client testimonials and reviews! Whether they send you a text thanking you for how good their skin feels or have left a google review for your salon, use this content and share it to your feed. (P.S. Don’t worry if you’re not a mastermind graphic designer, there are plenty of free template’s such as Canva that you can use to create this content).

How to make your salon social media marketing stand out!

To kick off our brand-new Salon Marketing Education Blog Series, we are starting with one of the top marketing tools when it comes to the success of your salon, spa or clinic – social media!

There’s no question about it, if you’re a salon, having a social media account is a MUST. Not only is it an extremely valuable and reliable resource for engaging with existing clients, but it also doubles as a huge marketing asset for attracting new clients.

In an industry that relies heavily on word of mouth, in today’s day and age the success of salons is dependent on “word of the gram” just as much (if not more)! Social proof is vital to your business; from sharing client testimonials and before & after photos, to exciting new product releases, and everything in between.

Before we get started on the who, what, where, when, why and how of it all – here’s our #1 Pro Tip that you should never forget when creating and managing your salon social media accounts; ALWAYS have a CTA (call to action). Whether it is a “Book Now”, “Call Now”, “Enquire Today” or any other button – it is imperative that your profile has a means in which existing and future clients can get in touch with you. Now let’s get into the nitty-gritty of salon social media…

The 5 Basic W’s to help you with your salon social media:

WHO
Understand who your audience is.

Understanding who your target audience is might seem relatively basic but rest assured it’s essential to each and every post that you share as a business. Never just post to fill in the feed or because you think you haven’t posted in a while. Be specific and be purposeful in who you want to read and engage with for each post. For example, one post you do might be targeted at females aged between 20-30 that are suffering from hormonal acne. Whereas, your following post might be targeted to an older demographic with sun damage concerns.

WHAT
Always be on-brand.

Creating a consistent brand that your followers can always recognise is vital the success of your salon social media. Pick a style and stick to it! That way your followers know what to look out for and know when they see a certain style of post that it’s yours, hence reducing the risk of scrolling past. Check out these Australian salon’s that create consistent and aesthetically appealing social media feeds below.

Our #1 tip to get you started, always use the same profile pictures (preferably your logo) across all social media platforms and your website.

WHERE
Use location tags.

We couldn’t recommend this more! Use hashtags and your post location to your advantage and always let your followers and potential clients know exactly where you are located from the get-go. Not only will this filter your potential clients better but when future customers are looking for a salon nearby, they may stumble upon your photo thus, your salon.

WHEN
Don’t post too much, or not enough!

The “when” refers to how often you should post, what day and what time. This details can become a little overwhelming to try and perfect, but as a general rule of thumb we recommend posting to your feed at least once, every day. Of course, if you have more to share you can but often too much can be overbearing and too little can leave followers bored and begging for more.

When it comes to specific times of the day to post, a recent study by the social media scheduling service Hootsuite showed that for cosmetics-focused personal care services, posting in the early afternoon (especially Tuesday-Friday) resulted in the greatest success.

Don’t be afraid to test out different posting times, even those that are well and truly out of the periods that you know already might know work well!

For Instagram and Facebook stories, we suggest uploading content daily to keep your followers entertained and engaged. Stories are fast becoming a more sought-after resource for consumers and they are a great means for sharing content that is a little less formal, a touch more authentic and even fun. It doesn’t have to be anything major, a simple behind the scenes glimpse mid-treatment or a post-treatment glow photo of a lucky client will suffice. 

WHY
Create a community.

Your social media account should double as your salon community space. Creating an interactive community for all your existing and potential clients, as well as your followers, is a great way to increase customer loyalty and trust. We suggest posting engaging content, such as; “What is your favourite treatment in salon?” to get your clients responding and interacting. We also encourage you to ALWAYS communicate with your followers, don’t just “post and ghost”! Instead, reply to their comments, reviews & questions consistently and authentically.

Additionally, it is also a great idea to encourage all your clients and customers to share. Whether it be an Instagram story that shows their post-treatment glow that you can then reshare or a post they’ve uploaded to their feeds of a product you send them home with – all user-generated content works great! It also works as an amazing way for potential clients to see another form of testimonial-based proof.

Head to our ‘Top 10 Salon Social Media Post Ideas’ blog to get into the “how” of perfecting your salon’s social media.