We are Salon and Spa Galleria, with nine locations in the Fort Worth area, and what follows are our thoughts on using social media to increase your business for your salon suite.
Here’s how it usually goes with someone who is just starting out with a new salon suite:
- Open for business
- Call client list and tell them you have a new salon booth rental
- Hand out business cards to everyone you meet
- Wait for business to come to you
That’s all well and good, but unfortunately it is ignoring perhaps your best marketing tool available to you, a marketing tool which is free to you, the business owner. We are talking, of course, about social media. We are talking about Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Linkedin, Shapchat, Tumblr, Pinterest, and any new ones which opened up on the last five minutes.
It begins with a plan
Before you begin creating social media marketing campaigns, consider your business’s goals. Starting a social media marketing campaign without a plan in mind is like wandering around a forest without a map—you might have fun, but you’ll probably get lost.
Here are some questions to ask when defining your social media marketing goals:
- What are you hoping to achieve through social media marketing?
- Who is your target audience?
- Where would your target audience hang out and how would they use social media?
- What message do you want to send to your audience with social media marketing?
Your business type should inform and drive your social media marketing strategy.
How can it help you?
Social media marketing can help with a number of goals, such as:
- Increasing website traffic
- Building conversions
- Raising brand awareness
- Creating a brand identity and positive brand association
- Improving communication and interaction with key audiences
The bigger and more engaged your audience is on social media networks, the easier it will be for you to achieve every other marketing goal on your list!
Which leads us to this question: what are you waiting for?
Here is what we suggest to you:
- Determine what your plan is for your spa room rental
- Sign up for the various social media sites
- Set time aside each week for your social media marketing (preferably in the middle of the week)
- For two or three hours, conduct your social media blitz for your salon rental
- Schedule a follow-up at the end of the week
We can hear the voices of concern from our offices in Fort Worth, Texas, voices which are saying “if I spend three or four hours with social media, that is time I’m not cutting hair or doing nails. That’s money lost!”
And we say to you stop being shortsighted!
If you use social media correctly, with a smart, focused, marketing plan, you can increase your business tenfold. You can fill your days with customers weekly. Yes, you will not be seeing clients during those three or four hours you spend on social media, but you will be making it possible to fill in all other hours with appointments.
This is not some untested strategy. Social media is here to stay, and you can either get onboard the gravy train or be left behind at the station. Call us at Salon and Spa Galleria for more helpful ideas about marketing.
