Building your beauty salon’s social media

Social media has become an essential marketing tool for salons of all sizes. It offers huge benefits that can help grow your business, connect with clients meaningfully, raise your profile to attract new clients, and ensure your appointment book is always busy. 

Let's explore why social media is important for your business and how to start growing your online presence.  

Why is social media important for a salon? 

Social media now plays a role in almost every business, brand launch, and startup—particularly in the beauty industry. Brands, influencers, and beauty product lines can grow their platforms significantly just by using social media. 

Social platforms have billions of active users worldwide, providing an unparalleled opportunity to expand your salon's visibility and reach a broader audience. By maintaining an active presence on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, you can showcase your salon's services, expertise, and unique brand personality to potential clients who may not discover your salon otherwise. 

It also allows you to engage directly with your audience in real-time. By promptly responding to comments, messages, and mentions, you can build relationships with clients more effectively. You can also use socials to fill up any gaps in your appointment scheduling or take on any cancellation spaces. 

Visuals are important for promoting your work and expertise and attracting potential clients. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest are effective for sharing high-quality photos and videos of your salon's treatments, before-and-after transformations, nail art designs, hair styling techniques, and more. 

Social media is also a powerful platform for building and reinforcing brand identity. You can create a recognisable brand that sets your salon apart from competitors. By sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses, testimonials, client success stories, and values-driven content, you can humanise your business and showcase the stories behind it. 

You can also use social media platforms to run targeted adverts to reach specific demographics, interests, and geographic locations with advertising campaigns. Whether you're promoting a new service, running a special offer, or targeting clients in your local area, social media advertising lets you tailor your messaging and budget to reach the most relevant audience for your salon. 

Most platforms allow you to monitor and track valuable analytics and insights that can help measure the effectiveness of marketing efforts and make data-driven decisions. This can help you determine what your audience wants to see and target them more effectively. 

How to build your salon's social media presence 

Now that we've established why you should build your salon's social media, here are our top tips for doing so. 

Do your research 

Start by researching your audience and your competitors. It's important to understand what's happening in the industry and local area, what your audience might want to see, and where they are most active online. This can help you decide what content you should be posting and how often. Looking at other salons outside of your competitors can also provide you with ideas and establish what works and doesn't. 

Choose the right platform 

Choosing the right platform is important to reach your target audience. You don't need to be on every social media channel; the right one will depend on how your audience uses social media, the trends they follow, and the information they might seek. Instagram and Facebook are often popular for local and beauty businesses. Pinterest and TikTok can help you get found by new audiences, as they are popular for people looking for hair and beauty trends and inspiration. 

Define your goals 

Determine what you want to achieve with your salon's social media presence. Whether it's increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, boosting bookings, or engaging with your community, having clear goals will guide your social media strategy. It'll also make it easier to measure whether your activity has been a success or not. 

Optimise your profiles 

Create or optimise your salon's profiles on chosen social media platforms. Ensure your profiles are fully complete across all chosen platforms, visually appealing, and aligned with your brand identity. This includes using high-quality profile and cover images, writing an interesting bio or description with relevant keywords, and providing complete and accurate contact information.  

It also involves updating your content regularly, using appropriate hashtags, linking to your website or other social channels, and engaging with your audience. By optimising your social media profiles, you can increase your visibility, attract more followers, and improve your overall online presence and engagement. 

Create compelling content 

Develop a content strategy that includes a variety of content that will showcase your salon's services, expertise, and unique brand personality. Share a mix of photos, videos, testimonials, tutorials, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and user-generated content to keep your audience engaged and entertained. 

Encourage user engagement 

Foster engagement with your audience by asking questions, promptly responding to comments and messages, and sharing stories regularly. Encourage your clients to share their experiences and tag your salon in their posts to increase visibility. 

Share your socials 

Promoting your social channels is also important for growth. The more people you get to follow you, the more engagement and bookings you're likely to get. Sharing your social media handles on your website, in your salon, on your price lists, and in any other marketing material can help people find you. 

Stay consistent and authentic 

Maintain a consistent posting schedule and voice across your social media channels to build brand recognition and trust with your audience. Be authentic, transparent, and genuine in your interactions to foster meaningful connections with followers. Your clients are what pays the bills, so keeping them engaged and interested is essential for your business. 

What content should a beauty salon post on social media? 

Salons should post various types of content on social media to keep existing and potential clients interested. Creating a content plan will help you stay on track with creating and posting different types of content.  

Here are some ideas for what you can post on your salon's social media to support your growth and engagement: 

• Before-and-after transformations: share photos or videos of transformations from clients' salon visits. This will show the expertise of your stylists, colourists, nail technicians, or aestheticians and demonstrate the results clients can expect from your services. 
• Tutorials and how-to guides: create educational content that provides tips, tricks, and step-by-step tutorials for aftercare, trends, or a new treatment. Position your salon as a trusted source of expertise and empower your audience to look and feel their best. 
• Behind-the-scenes sneak peeks: Offer glimpses behind the scenes of your salon to give followers a sense of its atmosphere, culture, and team. Share candid photos or videos of staff members, salon decor and ambiance, product demonstrations, or special events. 
• Client testimonials and reviews: when it comes to hair and beauty, people love reviews. Share testimonials, positive experiences, and reviews, or client success stories. With permission, you can feature photos along with quotes or captions highlighting the benefits of your salon's services and the professionalism of your staff. 
• Promotions and special offers: announce promotions, discounts, or special offers to encourage followers to book appointments or visit your salon. Utilise eye-catching visuals that communicate the promotion details, including any deadlines or restrictions. 
• Product spotlights: highlight your salon's retail products. Showcase new arrivals, bestsellers, or seasonal offerings and provide information about their benefits, ingredients, and how to use them. 
• Staff spotlights: introduce your salon staff to your audience by sharing their bios, photos, and fun facts about their expertise and interests. Highlight their professional achievements, certifications, or training to instil confidence in their skills. 
• Local community engagement: Participate in or sponsor local events, charities, or initiatives that align with your brand values, promote the cause, and share your involvement on social media. 

By diversifying your content and providing value to your audience, you can keep followers engaged, attract new clients, and position your salon as a trusted authority in the beauty industry. 

Specialist hair and beauty salon insurance through Ripe  

Whilst you’re producing high-quality content for your social media channels, you may want to consider protecting yourself and your business with specialist insurance just in case the worst were to happen. 

Specialist salon insurance through Ripe provides up to £10m Public and Products Liability cover and up to £5m Treatment Risk cover as standard to protect you against third-party claims for injury or property damage.

You can also choose additional cover options, such as Employers' Liability and Buildings cover, so you're only ever paying for the cover you need. 

Learn more about how we can help here, or get an instant online quote today.