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The do's and dont's of social media
Have you just about gotten to grips with using social media for your hair or beauty business? If you have – congratulations! That means you’re on the way to building a better relationship with your clients. However, it’s still important to be aware of how social media can have both positive, and negative effects.
DO's
Retweet/regram/repost!
When someone is recommending you or your salon, or showing off their new nails/hair/face, courtesy of you and your team, make sure you give them a retweet or regram (Instagram) or repost via Facebook. The fact that they have taken the time to put the spotlight on you, by showing others how good you have made them feel, is a priceless thing. It’s also free advertising!
Answer and interact
Unless you’re in the business of turning away potential new clients, it’s so important to answer their questions. Whether they’ve stopped by your Facebook page to ask a question about the ingredients in a new facial or how they would maintain that new ombre hair look you’ve posted on Instagram, they are putting themselves in your path, making themselves available to you as a brand new client.
The same goes for existing clients. Clients that have been coming to see you for some time begin to feel that you are part of their beautifying team, and will often comment on your Facebook posts or tweets. Make them feel heard; at the very least, you can ‘like’ their comment on Twitter and Facebook, and on Instagram, you can simply send them a smiling emoji. And if they’re asking you a question: answer it. If you don’t have the knowledge or space to answer it in full, ask them to direct message you with their email or give them a company email that they can contact you on. People feel valued when they are listened to.
Dont's
Start and stop
When it comes to salon marketing, few things are worse than starting a social media platform and then leaving it to go fallow. Potential clients will instantly walk away if they finally find you on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, and then realise that you haven’t tweeted for two years! It’s far better to not start any social media at all, than to set it up and leave it unmonitored. Yes, we understand that you might have been too busy, but there are tons of large and small agencies around to help you with regular scheduling of tweets and posts. While you might consider giving the social media role to an existing staff member, you must instil in them how important it is, and you must know the ‘tone’ that you want to strike. Sometimes it is better to go to professionals for at least three to six months, to see how they do it.
Ignore people
There are some shocking stories around where people have contacted a brand about a serious issue, such as a poor welcome at reception, or, worse still, a negative reaction to a treatment, via social media, and been completely ignored. While your first response when something goes wrong might be to pick up the phone, there are many people who will head to your social media platform first, believing that it’s more immediate. You don’t have to go into any detail at all online, but you do need to acknowledge them and encourage them to take the discussion offline. Ask for their contact details and call them as soon as you can to solve the problem at hand.
Freelance Focus
Freelance Focus, is a one stop resource for anyone working as a freelancer or thinking of going freelance in the hair & beauty industry, which includes a FREE downloadable guide filled with advice, useful insights, experiences and tips (from experienced freelancers) to help you understand the steps needed to make the right choices for you.
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