When you are running a busy salon/clinic with so much to manage; like supporting staff, hiring, constantly thinking about how to keep clients happy, staying on top of finances and generally day to day running of a business, then adding in the management of social media to the mix, it can feel overwhelming to say the least.
There is a huge amount of advice out there on how to be successful at social media. This article could be a book if we were to include everything you need to know. But as we just said we know you have little free time so we’ll keep it to one page.
First things first, pick the right platforms for your business. Do not feel you have to be on all of them or the latest trending platform because of any outside pressure.
A quick google search of each platform will give you the main demographics for that channel and so you can quickly gauge where the majority of your audience will be.
You must think about what your goals are, when choosing the correct platform. If you’re looking for mainly brand awareness, then you have more options. If it’s sales, you are after, then you’ll need to narrow your options. The below graphics show the difference in each channel what they are mainly used for.
Your ‘Why’ and Content Pillars
Ok, so let’s say you want to try using Instagram as that’s where your audience is and because you want sales.
Next, think about your ‘Why’. Why you do what do! Aside from paying the bills and making money. What drives you? Write it down. This is your mission Statement. Don’t overthink it and remember you can change it with time. However, having a short statement written down will help you to always come back to your values, why you run your business and what the value of it is for your clients.
Here a few examples of very well known business to get you thinking:
Now you have that, think about 3 content pillars that you can use to create content within. This helps keep the creativeness going when you aren’t sure what to post. When we say content pillars, we mean groups or categories that your content will fall into. For example, you could choose Promotion, Education and Entertainment.
Then for each of these pillars different types of content will naturally fall under them, such as:
Optimise your profile for maximum impact
When a potential client hits your profile page, you want to make it as clear as possible what you’re all about, how they can benefit from following you and what action you want them to take. Here are 5 simple ways to do that:
- Use a keyword in your name relevant to your business so it could be: Business Name | Face & Body Aesthetics
- Use a clear photo/logo that is recognisable to your business – ideally match this across social channels, Google My Business, and your website.
- Write a short bio that speaks to your customer
- Add a link in bio – Link Tree has a free option where you can direct users to your booking page, treatment pages, anywhere you want.
- Keep your story highlights simple, using just 3-5 categories, for example:
Know your Audience
Take 10 mins out and create a profile or avatar based on your clients. What are their interests, where do they shop, what magazines do they like? Really try and get in their mindset. You can have more than one customer profile, it’s very likely you’ll have a few.
Again, write it all down and keep it so you can add to it the more you get to know your audience.
Keep these in mind when you get down to creating the content. It will help you create something appealing to their needs and interests.
Start Creating
At this point you have your mission statement, your profile is ready to go, you have ideas of what kind of content to post, now you need to think about your audience. Ultimately everything you do is about them; your mission statement should reflect that.
Next, create yourself some templates in a platform like Canva (there is a free version) and keep adding to these, adapting slightly to keep things fresh. That way you’ll never be starting from scratch wondering what and how to post.
We have created 5 Free Instagram post templates to get you started. You’ll need a free Canva account, so sign up first and then go to our free templates link – play around with the fonts, colours, logos etc and switch out to match your brand.
- Post at the best time for your audience (Facebook Business Suite tells you this information!)
- Share your Instagram grid posts to your stories
- Reshare user-generated content
- Engage on your followers’ posts for 10 mins before and 10 mins after you post
- Experiment with Content Types – Carousels, Reels, Stories
Lastly, be social! It is called social media after all. If you can be supportive and build relationships with other local businesses, with your clients and other organisations, they’re more likely to support you back. Remember behind every account are real people with the same stresses and struggles you have with social media. The more you can support each other the easier it will become.
Captions and Hashtags
Within your caption use keywords that describe your post and what it’s about.
Align the captions with the hashtags you use. To help you think of different hashtags, think of a few per each of the below categories:
· Main tags, general hashtags describing what you do, eg. #beautician #aesthetist #skincarepractitioner
· Niche hashtags, think of a few tags that are more specific eg. #microdermabrasion #lymphaticmassage #plasmafacial
· Location tags, these are important! Take your location and combine with more specific tags, for example: #bristolskincareclinic #bradfordaesthetist #torquaypersonaltrainer· Customer hashtags – #skincaretips #cosmetictreatments #noninvasivetreatents
Finally…. Paid Ads
These can be an amazing way to generate leads directly to your business. However, they take time and knowledge on how to run campaigns, to get set up. We’re guessing once you’re done all the above, getting into paid ads might be too much to take on right now.
That’s why as a partner of Artemis we do this for you – for the first six months after you onboard with us, we run and fund Facebook paid ads for you. Driving leads directly to your inbox for you to book into Cryostar or Plason Treatments.
Our mission statement is “to build a community of successful entrepreneurs who empower their clients to be confident in their own skin.” Which is why we support our partner in every way we can to help them run successful businesses. That way, you can focus on delighting your clients.
If you’re looking to take your business to the next level with the future in aesthetics technology and the support of a team with over 50 years’ experience in aesthetics and marketing, complete the form below and talk to one of our team now.
