Instagram is another amazing tool for attracting customers to your salon or spa.
Used correctly, it can showcase your brand and create opportunities to connect with potential customers better than any other social media platform.
Firstly though, you need to have some strategies in place so your valuable time is not wasted on yet another social media task!
The most important thing is to have your profile correctly set up.
- Is your page a business page?
- Your bio needs to be set up correctly so that it points your community in the right direction. Contact details, a clear description of what you do, and who you are is how you use the 150 character limit
Next, spend some time on these points so posting is simple and time-efficient.
- Get clear on WHO you are trying to reach
- Figure out where they hang out (online)
- Research hashtags that are appropriate for attracting your ideal customers and make a list. More tips on this below
- Create stylish images of your salon and team, plus have a place to take new images easily at your salon
- Use a scheduling tool like Later for making it set and forget
Let’s look at the top 6 2020 strategies for attracting customers using Instagram.
#1 Goals and KPIs
First, it’s important to look at not only your Instagram marketing goals, but your business goals as a whole.
When it comes down to it, your Instagram account should be an extension of your brand and salon’s uniqueness, and your approach should reflect that!
Is everything is aligned from top to bottom?
What are your current business goals and do they align with your goals for Instagram?
Your goals on Instagram should directly support your business goals, even if it’s in some small way.
For example, if your salon is fairly new and focused on making people more aware of you, your Instagram goal is probably going to be overall follower and engagement growth.
Once your goals are locked-in, you will want to measure them so you know how you are tracking. So, it’s worth asking: What KPIs do I use to define success?
Whether you want more engagement, followers, sales or DMs, keep an eye on the stats so you can deliver more of what’s working towards your goals.
Focus on that one thing and grow that or everything social media will become overwhelming and you will just give up.
#2 Brand Identity, Image and Voice
Now that you’ve honed in on your Instagram’s goals and KPIs, you can begin reviewing your branding.
Ultimately, what it comes down to is consistency… your Instagram should look, sound, and feel like the rest of your marketing channels.
A potential follower should be able to look at your Instagram account and immediately get an idea of who you are and what you have to offer. From your Instagram handle to your Instagram bio, every touchpoint should be consistent and on-brand.
Brand image is all about the look. Do you have a logo, colour palette, icons, fonts, and other branding elements, and are these used consistently on your Instagram profile?
Create your very own style guide so you can always be consistent. See how to do one with our Branding Checklist. Join the Social Hub and get your copy here…
You can create cool icons for your story highlights with this free offer from Later. Click HERE.
Your brand identity and brand voice are the next most important things to focus on, because although Instagram is very visual, it also attracts people with the message and voice. Who are you as a brand? What is important about you and the market you serve? What do you want to tell people about you?
#3 Content
Most importantly, in order to truly grow your Instagram followers and attract customers, you need to consistently post great content.
What that means is telling a clear and obvious story to your audience with your posts and stories.
They should easily understand who you are and what you do.
Does your content have a varied mix, including promotional content, non-promotional content and user-generated content?
Basically, are you keeping things interesting for your audience?
Showcasing your product over and over again will make people scroll on through. Mix up your posts with inspirational shots or lifestyle content that supports who you are and what your brand stands for.
Are you using all of Instagram’s post formats, including video posts, stories, photo posts, carousel posts, and IGTV previews?
Visually optimising your content is another consideration that will do wonders for your engagement. Having great images are a must.
The most important question of all is how relevant is your content to the audience and customer you want to attract?
No matter how beautiful or how on-brand your content is, if it isn’t relevant to your audience, it won’t help you achieve your business goals.
#4 Hashtags
Whether you love them or not, hashtags deserve your attention on Instagram. But don’t worry, as the relevance of them is not so important now. Just follow these few tips and get on with the content creation and connection that really does help turn followers into customers.
- Are you selecting relevant hashtags that both fit your brand and your audience?
- Do you have at least one branded and owned hashtag that you consistently use?
- Are you updating hashtags that you use and using them differently in your content?
- Are you using the right ones for your business type?
- Will the hashtags you are using help followers discover your brand?
You can use up to 30 per post, so make the most of that.
Hashtags can really get your posts off the ground and into the hands of the right audience. When people follow a hashtag, they can see your content twice… on your feed plus the hashtag feed.
Add a hashtag to an Instagram Story. It becomes searchable on the search and explore page, meaning that anyone who searches for that hashtag in Instagram will be able to see your story. You can add them with the text feature (10 max) or the hashtag feature.
When creating your list, think of these categories…
- brand
- promotion or offer
- community
- content
The most important thing to keep in mind when deciding what hashtags to use is that you’re being intentional… as in, you’re using hashtags that your target audience is actually searching for and following.
Time spent researching relevant hashtags will not be wasted. Keep an eye on what ones attract more followers to your brand.
#5 Community and Followers = Growth
It’s time to talk about your community and how you engage with them. Engagement means having a two-way conversation with your followers.
The biggest takeaway is… engage more than you post!
Are you responding to comments and DMs?
Just like Facebook Messenger, this is the way we connect and convert, so pay attention to how to get people to communicate with you. Don’t just expect them to take the plunge and start chatting via the DMs either.
You need to think about the habits of your community and how they use the platform.
Train them to make micro engagements and build them up to feeling comfortable with engaging with you. Use the DMs and they will respond.
Here are our tips for encouraging engagements via DMs…
- Conversation starter: Reach out and say “hi” to people in your ideal audience. But don’t be creepy, comment on something in their feed.
- Introductions: Take the chance to say hi to new followers and likers.
- Thank you: Use the DMs to say thank you for a follow, like or re-post. Get the ball rolling when a post is shared.
- Collaborations: Use Instagram to build relationships with other brands. Engage on their page and use the DMs
- Give: Give and give some more. Remember, social media is for socialising. Think of how you like to give to a new friend. Offer up a blog post, product tip sheet, guide, resource or even a free gift voucher.
Are you following the right accounts?
Connecting with potential advocates and influencers will help to spread your following and community.
It also shows that you’re actually active on the platform and not just using it as a way to drive sales.
Are you liking and commenting on tagged and hashtagged content?
Show the love and engage appropriately. Don’t just dump and run. Put your business owner hat on, log on and network.
Are you keeping track of your most engaged followers?
There are lots of ways to reward your highly engaged followers… offers, events, samples. This group of followers are certainly worth paying attention to.
Are you partnering with influencers to create sponsored content?
Influencer marketing is all about building genuine trust and loyalty with your followers. And, if you partner with an influencer for your brand or business, they act as an ambassador for your brand.
Do you collaborate with other brands on Instagram to host giveaways, takeovers, and other co-marketing campaigns?
Teaming up with like-minded and complimentary businesses and brands is a great way to introduce your account to a new and engaged audience you may never have reached before.
In conclusion
Using Instagram with intention, focusing on connecting, content, conversation, community and conversion, plus putting your business hat on when you log on will make your efforts so much more worthwhile for your business.
If you want to Build an Online Presence That Gets Your Salon Noticed
Join the Social Hub
There are Blogging & Branding Checklists so you can craft your salon’s brand for success, Facebook Post/Ad Templates to take the hassle out of your social media posts this week, and an Ideal Customer Worksheet to help you uncover who you want to notice your salon online.
