A Beginner’s Guide to Salon Social Media Marketing

With over 82% of the US population on social media, apps like Instagram and Facebook are treasure troves for salon owners…

We all know those Instagram accounts that make the social media game seem a little too easy — we see you Jenny Cho!

But of course, there are some serious social media skills behind the most famous hair and beauty accounts on Instagram.

The question is: How do you learn those skills and truly grow your business on social media? 

In this guide, we’ll break down the basics of social media marketing for hair and beauty salons, giving you the skills you need to become a marketing pro in no time!

• Know Your Clients
• Choose Your Platform(s)
• Be Consistent
• Automate Where You Can
• Don’t Forget Your Hashtags

How to Market a Hair or Beauty Salon on Social Media

Get to Know Your Clients

It takes a certain amount of charm and charisma to be a successful salon owner.

You know your clients and how to connect with them — which keeps them coming back again and again.

Why not take your natural talent for building client relationships to social media?

To do that, you have to ask yourself a few important questions: 

• Who are my clients?
• What do they like to see on social media?
• How do they benefit from my business?

Once you know exactly who your clients are, you can map out your salon’s social media strategy around their interests.

You can build posts that catch their attention and, ultimately, keep them engaged with your salon.

Pick the Right Platform(s) for Your Salon

When it comes to marketing your beauty salon on social media apps, they’re not all created equal.

Some are better for video, like TikTok, and others are better for sharing special promos and discounts, like Facebook.

So, before you pick all social media apps to use for your salon, it’s important to ask yourself:

Which platforms are my clients using? Which apps will help draw in more new clients?

While the most popular apps among salon owners tend to be Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, you have to do some research to find the best fit for your particular client base.

Pro Tip: Scheduling apps, like Schedulicity, make it easy to share your booking page on social media. There’s even a handy Book Now button you can put right on your Instagram account! 

Be Consistent

All the successful salons on social media platforms, like Instagram, have one thing in common: They show up, post, and respond.

This can all be summed up with one word: engagement — which takes a lot of time, effort, and consistency. 

But… there’s a simple strategy to keep your salon’s social media accounts in front of potential clients:

• Stay consistent: This means showing up every. single. day. No matter the platform you’re using, it’s important to log in every day to share fresh content or answer comments.
• Share your work: Let potential clients see your skills! With apps like TikTok and Instagram, you can easily share videos or pictures of your work to catch a new client’s eye.
• Post before-and-after pictures: What’s your most impressive transformation with a client? Document your work with a picture or video, so you can show off your skills on social media.
• Drop some valuable knowledge: As the expert, your clients come to your for hair and beauty advice, so why not take the time to share your expertise on social media?
• Interact: Lastly, don’t forget to use your salon’s social media accounts as a way to communicate with your clients. This means, if someone comments on a post — positive or otherwise — always respond. (If it’s not so great, we got you. Here’s how to respond.)

Automate Where You Can

As we said before, managing your salon’s social media strategy can take up a lot of time. But there are a ton of timesaving apps to help businesses automate their social media game.

Apps, like Sprout Social or Hootsuite, can automate posts and keep your social strategy streamlined. 

Pro Tip: Once you find an app that works for your salon, create a content calendar, then let the automation app take it from there! 

Check out our Guide to Must-Have Salon Social Media Marketing Tools to learn more about automating your social media posts.

Don’t Forget Your Hashtags

Hashtags are an important piece of social media marketing that not enough salons take advantage of.

Hashtags are there to group posts or conversations into similar categories, making content easier for clients to find.

Of course, there are a ton of hashtags out there for the hair and beauty world.

But knowing the best ones can give you a leg up on your competition.

While you may need to do some research to find the best hashtags for your hair or beauty salon, here are some of the most popular right now:

• #salon
• #hair
• #haircut
• #beauty
• #hairstyles
• #hairsalon
• #beautysalon
• #easyhair
• #goodhairday
• #haircare
• #hairoftheday
• #instahair