Have you been putting time and effort into your business social media platforms, but don’t seem to be getting anywhere? Or maybe you’re super interested in learning the social media ropes but have no idea how or where to start? 

First of all, don’t worry. The world (more like a universe) of social media can be overwhelming and knowing where to start isn’t easy. However, showcasing your work and what you can do is essential – and social media is the quickest and most effective way to do this. 

At Salons Direct, we care about providing professionals with helpful advice on a variety of relevant topics – including tips on how to get your business and work out there onto the online world. 

Let’s face it, nowadays it’s more important than ever to nail your online presence. Competition is fierce and it’s only getting fiercer! So, how can you start using social media to boost your salon business? We’re here to help. 

Read on to discover the social media hacks you can use to boost your salon business…

Get your business operating on TikTok

TikTok is relatively new to the social media world, but it’s a force to be reckoned with. To put it bluntly – you’re missing out on a huge opportunity for your salon business if you haven’t yet signed up to TikTok. 

TikTok has rapidly increased in popularity, surpassing the literal founding fathers of social platforms, YouTube and Facebook. In fact, the platform now holds the title of the most downloaded app in the Apple store, with 500 million users accessing the platform multiple times a day.  

In addition, TikTok is quite literally the perfect social media platform for salon businesses. It’s literally an engagement goldmine, and similar to other social media platforms, there are tons of tips and tricks to get your content trending. 

Here are a few actions you can take to gain more exposure on TikTok: 

  • Sign up for the TikTok creators newsletter – they’ll send you a list of all the popular hashtags so you have more chances of people seeing your posts. 
  • Show your wins! Share positive, inspirational videos of your work – people love to see transformations. 
  • TikTok is all about creative user-generated content. Remember that your content doesn’t have to be perfect, and you’ll learn as you go. Have fun with it! People love authentic content. 
  • Use hashtags on every piece of content you post. People search for specific hashtags, so whether they are relevant to what you’re posting or not, you should still use them. 
  • Provide advice on relevant topics. TikTok’s algorithm (kind of like Google’s) boosts posts that are interesting and informative and shares those videos with more people. 
  • Use trending songs. Depending on the week (or even the day) there will be trending songs all across TikTok. Use them in your videos to get your content viewed by more people.
  • Get on the right side of TikTok. In other words, find your tribe! For salons or professionals, try using “Hairtok” and “stylistsoftiktok”, “hairhumour”, and “salontok”. 
  • Find like-minded people and follow them. You’ll start showing up in other similar people’s profiles as “suggested”. 

Use Instagram Lives to connect with your followers 

Instagram Lives are a perfect way for your followers to see the person behind the business. We mentioned it earlier, however, it’s worth stressing – people love seeing authentic content. Don’t be afraid to show the “you” behind the business. You’ll be surprised by how well-received it’ll be! 

Another fantastic use for Instagram Lives – content of what you can do in real-time. No pressure though, even if you are being watched on a Livestream! It’s a great tool for informative content, such as Q&As, or even showing how you pull off techniques. 

People are interested and become way more engaged when they’re following along on a journey with you on Instagram Live, especially if you’re performing a fantastic technique or other creative work. 

Why is this? Because they want to see the finished product! And if the user likes what they see (of course they will) there’s a higher chance it’ll boost your salon business. 

Instagram highlights

Instagram highlights are a useful tool that businesses can use to boost their online presence. 

Instagram highlights are essentially a feature you can use to make all the stories you post timeless. If you spend a lot of time creating content for your social media stories, it can be quite a shame watching them disappear after 24 hours. 

Use Instagram highlights, and put them into categories. So if you have stories on killer hair transformations, label it just that.

If you want to show how gorgeous the interior of your salon is, name it “Inside look”. If you have products that you want to retail, call the highlight “top picks”. Show what they can do in action. Do you see where we’re going with this? Make it easy to follow for a better user experience. 

Not only that, but new followers or just people who happen to find themselves on your page would’ve missed out on all the fun. This way, they’ll be able to catch up with everything you’ve previously spent time and effort curating and posting – which will enhance the chance of you gaining more followers. 

Plan your content in advance

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. It’s always worth making a content plan that you can follow easily. It’ll help you stay creative, and it’ll also help you stay consistent – which will massively help with boosting your online presence. Consistency is key, after all!

To help you keep on top of your content planning, there are many free websites you can use. The ones we would recommend would be Canva and Planoly. 

Unfortunately, Instagram doesn’t allow you to schedule planned content. But it’s not a big problem, because Planoly is a part of the Instagram Partner programme. 

Planoly is essentially a visual planning tool that users can utilise to create personal calendars, to plan out content especially for Instagram. You’ll be able to do a variety of useful things with Planoly, such as scheduling posts, analysing stats, and creating content. So it’s really worth checking out. 

Canva is also great for planning out your content. Canva is a graphic design platform, but it can be used to really take your posts to the next level. Canva can be used to create a variety of content pieces, such as business posters, presentations, social media posts, social media stories, social media themes, and much more. 

You can pay for a subscription that offers additional functionality, but if you’re not keen on committing to that and would prefer to use it for sporadic use only, there’s also a free option. 

Keep up with trending topics 

We know this is slightly contradictory to the point above, but if you’re gonna boost your salon business using social media – you’ve got to post spontaneously as well as planning. 

It’s a fantastic idea to plan out content, however, you need to keep up with the latest trends to ensure you’re creating content that your followers (or potential customers) want to see. This is especially true in the hair and beauty industry, because as you’ll know – there are always new trends popping up!

We’re not saying that you need to spend every hour of the day online, making sure that you don’t miss the boat on a certain trend. Just be mindful of what’s trending and then see if there’s anything you could include into your own content strategy. 

For example, nail techs will know how on-trend pastel sets are at the moment. So it definitely wouldn’t hurt to get imagery of your own work using a pastel palette onto social media, whilst also using the relevant hashtags and location settings. 

What we’re saying is, don’t put yourself under too much pressure. Your work will speak for itself. Just keep a little eye on it and you’ll be more than okay. 

We hope that you’ve enjoyed reading about the social media hacks that could help you boost your salon business. Follow these handy tips and tricks, and you’ll enhance your social media presence and boost your salon business in no time. 

Explore our range of professional products as Salons Direct today.

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