Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004 and it’s since become the biggest social media platform in the world.

Today, millions of companies around the world choose Facebook to market their services and products to potential customers. For those of you that would like to use it to market your salon, you should be aware of how to use it and also to recognise the potential that it has to transform your business.

In this post, we’ve teamed up with Hollie Power to round up some of the top tips of why you should be using Facebook to promote your hair and beauty business.

Why should I use Facebook to promote my business?

1. Growing Audience

In 2015, Facebook was reported to have over 1.55 billion monthly active users on their site, along with 1.01 billion daily active users.

As there are so many users on this platform, promoting your services is perhaps one of the easiest ways to get your company noticed by a new and expanding audience. It is important for salon owners to have an online presence on Facebook for both new and existing clients.

2. Targeting Ability

Facebook has the ability to understand each of its users including their interests, age and location. This provides you with a huge advantage when you’re trying to target potential clients for your salon.

For example, you have the ability to produce an advert and target this to an audience that you feel may be interested in your business e.g. women aged between 20-50 within 20km from your salon location. You’ll avoid wasting any valuable funds on adverts to people that your salon, or spa, might not appeal to.

3. Interactive Personality

Within your marketing strategy, communicating with your clients is essential whether you’re looking to attract new business, engaging with current clients or encouraging previous clients to return. A simple and effective way to do this is through reaching out and speaking directly to them via Facebook.

You can engage with your audience through posts, comments, adverts and messages. Although communication is key in developing and building good relationships, it’s important to not overdo it and become annoying.

4. Scheduling Posts

Facebooks scheduling feature makes marketing as easy as possible. You can plan your posts and choose exactly what date and time they are posted.

All you have to do is write your post, click the arrow next to the ‘Post’ button and click ‘Schedule Post’. Easy! This means your posts will automatically go live while you’re busy working on other things. Just think of the possibilities!

5. Insights

The insights button is probably one of the most underused buttons on a Facebook business page- but it’s perhaps the most important! It’s great to provide you with the essential information that allows you to understand your customers and their activity.

The insights feature will show you which posts your customers respond to most, what time they are likely to be online and when they are responding and engaging with them. Using this information, you will be able to plan when your posts are most successful and this will help you maximise your exposure

6. Visuals

Many people use Facebook as an online photo album – it can be used like this for businesses too. These are especially popular within the hair and beauty industry.

Use this as an opportunity to showcase your gorgeous salon interior, a set of perfectly painted nails, or before and after shots of a stylish haircut. Your clients want to see your capabilities and this is an excellent way to provide your clients with an online gallery of your work that they can flick through in their own time.

An additional bonus is if your client likes or shares one of your pictures, all their friends will see your work on their newsfeed too! This is an amazing opportunity to reach potential new clients – so encourage your clients and staff to post, tag and share their treatments.

7. Feedback

You may have already noticed the reviews section down the side of the page. It’s perfect for happy clients to share their thoughts and treatments with others- and for them to say just how amazing your salon is. It’s a way to share testimonials from satisfied clients!

Encourage your clients to write the reviews and give feedback on your page along with a 5 star rating! This will show up to anyone who visits your page and hopefully your good reputation will attract new clients!

What Salon Professionals say about using Facebook for their business

We asked Salon Owners to share their Facebook experiences with us and we had some really encouraging responses.

I have found Facebook as an incredible free tool over the last 3 years in building my client base and reputation.My business has grown massively and a major part in that is down to Facebook. I have the ability to upload work daily and advertise my services to a huge client base new and old. From me there’s a huge amount of thanks to Facebook, it has been and still is my launch pad to get me where I am today.” – Georgia’s Hairbeauty

Facebook has really helped me get where I am today, I spent 6 months walking around with flyers but nothing came of it. Soon as I started advertising on here I got incredibly busy! If I hadn’t of come onto Facebook I think I would of ended up in a normal shop job as all the salons in my area are not busy at all. Facebook allows me to promote offers, show clients my work. Clients often tag my work with a recommendation which allows people to automatically be directed to my page. Overall I’d highly recommend Facebook to anyone starting a business, it’s the best thing I did.” – HairOn TheGo MobileHairdresser

Facebook has helped us to build our salon business! It’s been a great way of communicating to so many customers (old and new) and getting their feedback”– Ginger & Lime

Top tips on how to get started with Facebook for your Business

1. Cover Photo

Your Cover Photo is the first thing that visitors to your page will see. A picture really is worth a thousand words, and for salons and mobile therapists it’s a great way of attracting your audience. Choosing the right image can be a difficult decision, but we’d recommend one of the following for a great first impression:

  • An interior image of your salon
  • A team photo of you and/or your staff
  • A picture of your latest work

2. Milestones

Facebook allows you to post Milestones to your page. You can commemorate important occasions, such as the day you opened, when you expanded, awards you’ve won. It is worth taking the time to add in everything you think will make you stand out to a potential client.

3. Pinned Posts

Facebook lets you pick the most important post and ‘Pin’ this to the top of your page. This is great if you are running special offers or new services, as it is the first thing that visitors will read when landing on your page.

4. Company Description

The ‘About’ area is in a really prominent position on the Timeline, which is great for promoting your business. Use this space carefully – it’s a good place to include your contact details (address, phone, email and website if you have one), and a short summary about your business.

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