Social media marketing is all about engaging with clients and growing your brand.

But it can be hard to focus on social media when you have such a busy schedule and a phone that won’t stop ringing.

As a scheduling app made with hair stylists in mind, we know a lot goes into running a salon: appointments, clients, emails, voicemails — the list goes on.

The good news is there’s some seriously handy software out there for managing your social media accounts and designing your posts.

Below, you’ll find a full breakdown of the best social media tools to help salon owners to take back their day and grow their business. 

Got specific questions? Feel free to jump ahead!

The Best Social Media Tools for Hair Salons

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media management software that works kind of like an assistant.

Their goal? To give business owners the ability to manage their social media all in one place.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest — you name it!

With Hootsuite, you can schedule and post content to all your social media accounts, track how well your posts are doing, and give a little “boost” to the content that’s doing well.

They even have a digital calendar where you can view all your scheduled and published content together! 

One of the biggest ways they can help salon owners boost their social media presence is by offering “actionable insights on the best time to post — without the heavy data crunching.”

Instagram and TikTok

Hootsuite is full of features to help improve your Instagram or TikTok presence.

Build your posts and schedule them directly in Hootsuite, without worrying about logging into your social accounts to build the post.

  • Can you post directly to Instagram from Hootsuite? Yes! ✔️
  • Post reels and other video content directly? Yes! ✔️ 
  • Post Stories directly from your Hootsuite account? Yes! ✔️
  • Can you schedule TikTok content, too? Yes! ✔️

What is their most popular feature?

Without a doubt, Hootsuite’s most popular feature is the ability to post the same posts on all your social media profiles at the same time.

To do this, Hootsuite automatically optimizes your post to fit on your different platforms. Which is huge for salon owners!

This gives you more time in your day to focus on your clients — instead of carving out time in your schedule to create and post across your different social profiles. 

How much does Hootsuite cost?

Hootsuite has four different subscriptions, which depend on your needs and the amount of users on the account.

Professional: $129/month

Professional accounts are for single users, so if you’re a solo hair stylist it could be just what you need!

You also get to connect up to ten social profiles, unlimited posts, post scheduling, and an inbox to manage all your DMs in one place.

Team: $249/month

Team accounts allow up to three users and 20 social accounts.

On top of everything you get with the Professional account, you can also control roles and permissions for each user and assign posts to specific team members.

Business: $739/month

Business accounts allow up to five users and 35 social accounts.

You get everything that comes with the Professional and Team accounts plus approval workflows, inbound/outbound tagging, a content and asset library, and access to Hootsuite customer support.

Enterprise: Custom pricing

The Hootsuite Enterprise account is the top shelf of subscriptions.

It’s meant for bigger businesses (like salon franchises) with a ton of users and social media accounts to manage.

It comes with all the tools Hootsuite offers, and since each Enterprise account is a little different (based on users and social accounts), you need to chat with Hootsuite directly to figure out the right price for your business.

Does Hootsuite offer a free trial?

For the Professional and Team subscription levels, yes, Hootsuite offers a free 30-day trial.

For the higher-tiered subscriptions, they offer a free demo. 

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Later

Later is all about making social media management easier on you and your salon business.

They offer the tools you need to plan, manage, and execute your salon’s social media strategy.

Plus, they offer a link in bio tool for nearly every social media platform out there. 

Their big goal? To save you time and grow your business.

Want to plan out a month’s worth of social media content all at once? Later has you covered.

What is their most popular feature?

Later has some seriously robust features to boost your salon’s social media game, but one of their handiest features is the Hashtag Suggestions tool.

With Later’s Hashtag Suggestions tool, you can search for words related to your post, and Later uses an algorithm to pull up 30 of the most relevant hashtags you should include.

This leads to more engagement from clients and helps your content find a wider audience.

Does Later support TikTok?

Yes! Later has the tools to support your TikTok creativity.

Like Later’s integrations with Instagram or Facebook, you can schedule, auto-publish, and build customizable links with TikTok. 

How much does Later cost?

Compared to Hootsuite, Later is definitely on the less expensive side.

They offer three different subscription options — Starter, Growth, and Advanced — each with a free 14-day trial. 

Starter: $18/month

The Starter subscription level allows one user and one social set, which they define as six social profiles.

You also get a customizable link.in bio page and access to collaboration tools for creators.

Keep in mind: At the Starter level, you’re limited to 30 posts per social profile. Plus, there’s a three-month limit to data as well, so your analytics will only go back three months. 

Growth: $40/month

With the Growth subscription, you’re allowed up to three users on the account and up to six social sets.

You’re able to post up to 150 posts per social profile and view analytics as far back as one year.

At this level, you get everything that comes with the Starter package, plus team and brand management tools.

Advanced: $80/month

The Advanced subscription level allows up to six users and six social sets and… unlimited social posts! 

You get access to everything in the lower packages, plus access to Later’s live chat support. 

Canva

Canva goes hand-in-hand with social media management software like Hootsuite and Later.

But think of Canva more as the creative side of social media marketing in your salon.

Canva is a one-stop shop digital design tool to help you create beautiful and engaging social media posts — which is crucial for growing your salon’s brand and for booking more clients. 

With Canva, you can easily make professional designs to share.

Their ready-made templates and treasure trove of quality images makes building quality content a breeze!

What are some of Canva’s best features?

Covering everything from Instagram and Facebook posts to YouTube ads and photo editing, Canva is full of tools to help boost social media engagement and let your creative side shine.

How much is Canva?

If you’re wondering, is Canva free? Yes, Canva offers a completely free version.

From there, they also have two paid subscription levels, depending on your needs.

Canva Free: $0

Canva Free is just the basics, but the basics come with a ton of tools to help boost your salon’s social media presence.

The best news? You don’t need a design degree to create your own professional-level graphics and images.

You could even create your business logo or design assets for your website.

Canva Pro: $119.99/year

Canva Pro is for entrepreneurs who want unlimited access to premium content and special tools to help grow their brand.

On top of the thousands of free templates, you also get access to:

  • Brand-building kits with logos and fonts
  • Dedicated folders for specific projects
  • Magic Resize tool to resize your designs
  • Cloud storage (1TB)
  • 24/7 customer support

Canva for Teams: $149/year (for up to five users)

Canva for Teams is for larger companies that need to collaborate on projects.

On top of everything you get in the Pro subscription, you also have access to more team-friendly tools, such as team reports and the ability to choose which tools team members have access to.

Why Are Hootsuite, Later, and Canva Good for Salons?

At the end of the day, running a salon takes a lot of hard work and, of course, time.

Social media management and design tools, like Hootsuite, Later, and Canva, give salon owners more time in their day to focus on what they do best: caring for their clients and growing their business.

With Canva, you can easily — and more efficiently — design Instagram or Facebook Stories or build a professional-looking graphic to match your weekly salon pro tip on social media!

(Hey, it’s all about your clients, right?)

Then, with the right social media management tools, like Hootsuite or Later, you can plan your social media calendar and set up automated posts — all in one place!