How do you spend your time between clients? Do you read the paper? Skim through a novel? Take a walk? Maybe, but more likely you are heading to your favourite social feed to read a listicle or see who owes you a doughnut when you enter “@S”.
Social media consumes our lives these days, and as a stylist you can capitalize on that obsession. It’s a great way to grow your brand and an excellent way to keep people interested in your work. A lot of hairstylists use social media, but they could be doing so much more. Here are 5 great tips to follow if you want to boost your social presence online right away.
Imagery
Why do you style hair the way you do? Why do you put so much effort into it? You want your client to be blown away by your work! So if they’re excited about their new do, you know that someone else will be too. For that reason, you need to start taking great shots of what you’re doing.
Online, no matter your feed, incredible pictures get a lot of looks. Sunsets, cats, hair pictures… it doesn’t really matter. As long as it’s there, it’ll get some likes. The right imagery can put you in a great place online and can even create some leads. So be more like Tracey Cunningham, Mara Roszak, and Kristin Ess and take your photo game to the next level.
Respond
You probably respond to people who say hi to you, right? What if you didn’t? Well, chances are you would be looked at differently, and people would stop saying hi altogether. However, if you respond, it lets the other person know that you heard them and that you care enough to acknowledge them – even a little bit.
Responses online are very important if you want to engage new and returning clients. In fact, staying in touch with a client that reviews your work can increase the odds of them coming back by almost 40 percent. That’s nothing to sneeze at!
It’s good to respond to each comment, review, message, tweet, and post that you get through social media. That means the bad ones too. We aren’t saying you should ‘feed the trolls’, but you should respond. For supportive comments, give them a reason to look into you further (website, pictures to like, book an appointment, etc.). For negative comments, just respond politely and briefly.
Learn
If you’re just getting into social media, you should definitely do a bit of research. Namely, which platform will work for you. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat all have their merits. You need to know which one works for you and your style. With the right platform for your posts and pictures, you can reach the audience you want.
Be Consistent
When you’re online personally, you probably post whenever you feel like it. You probably get a few likes on these posts too. If you post randomly on your hairstylist page, you’ll get the same thing. A few likes, but nothing that sticks. If you’re posting to promote your work, you want things that will stick with your audience.
Consistency through your business’ online presence is really important. That means your posts, pictures, the timing of them, your hashtags – should all have the same vibe. Being consistent for your audience will help them know your work a lot better.
Be Yourself
We can’t stress this last tip enough! Your clients love the work you do, but we bet they love the person doing that work just as much. At the end of the day, they could get their hair styled anywhere, but they come to you because they know you and like you. YOU! For that reason, you need to be as ‘you’ as you can be through your posts!
Someone online may not necessarily know who you are offline. But if you live your online brand as closely as you live offline, you can create a sense of trust with your audience as it grows. They’ll come to know what to expect if they come to your chair. Great hair and a great personality!
Rule Your Social Feed
Creating engaging posts as a hairstylist can be fun and easy. You already have a product and models! All you need to do is harness that power. Take some captivating pictures, build your following, and soon enough they’ll be lined up around the block to see you. Use these tips and watch your client base grow!