Facebook:
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Live Videos Facebook now offers each business page and personal page the ability to broadcast live (it was only open to celebrities, previously). This means you can offer even more great content to your audience. With live broadcast, you can show your skills in action, record real-time customer testimonials or capture the shenanigans in the salon. Now, that will make for great TV.
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#SponsoredAds If you’re wondering whether or not you should ever advertise on Facebook, the answer is yes—especially since they are expanding their Facebook Audience Network to reach people who are not Facebook users. But be strategic about it. You can test the waters during slower months with a nominal budget of $5 per day. Create an ad using short clip videos (from your Periscope or Facebook Live accounts) or galleries (from Instagram) and target local audiences. Adjust your plan to increase your investment once you measure how early tests have performed.
Need help with Facebook content?
- Matrix has got you covered for content. The hair color brand has announced its new Matrix Social Content Factory, a one-stop shop for participating salons to get relevant, business-building content for their social media pages. To register, visit mymatrixfamily.com/social-studio to complete a brief survey about your salon business. The tool then helps to customize posts to specific service offerings and product assortments, and will create posts for your Facebook page, which you can then edit or further customize before it goes live. “One salon, that never had a Facebook page, is now up and running and reaching more than 2,000 people per week,” says Chandra Miller, Matrix Assistant Manager of Digital Marketing.
Getting Emoji-tional
- Want to be more current and creative with your salon’s communications? Try adding emojis into your email messaging and social media posts. “Emojis are no longer the preserve of texting teens,” says Oxford Dictionaries. They named the “tears of joy” emoji as the word of the year in December. Oxford partnered with mobile tech company Swyft Media, which found that the “tears of joy” emoji was the most used in 2015. Emojis, says Oxford, “have been embraced as a nuanced form of expression, and one which can cross language barriers.” Use them on Instagram and on Twitter posts to convey your message—and see our Hair Emergency!
Snapchat:
- Snapchat is the fastest growing social media app out today. And with its growing popularity—over 10 billion videos are being watched daily on the platform by 136 million users—it’s safe to say that if your salon isn’t snapping, it’s out of the loop. “Snapchat can be fun because I get to show real-time snippets, like when I’m traveling to teach a class or to highlight ‘befores’ and ‘afters’ inside the salon,” says Jaclyn Harwood, Redken Artist and owner of Elle Et Lui Salon and Boutique in Danville, CA. The platform is evolving rapidly, and some of its newest and most beneficial features include 1) the ability to share links within chats; 2) sending multiple photos; 3) seeing others in your chat at the same time; 4) saving videos to your phone and uploading them to Instagram. Download the app on iPhone and Android phones.
Periscope:
- Periscope, the live broadcasting app owned by Twitter, is another option to connect with fans and followers in real-time. With the ability to broadcast longer than on Snapchat (Snap stories are recorded in 10-second intervals unless you use an app to extend it), you can stream educational seminars or how-to broadcasts at your leisure. You can also save the video and then repurpose it on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.
3 Social Contest Ideas
- Selfie: Matrix Celebrity Colorist George Papanikolas has been an early adopter of social media. Initially, to help build his bicoastal client base, he ran an Instagram contest.“I created a selfie contest and offered a complimentary gloss or conditioning treatment to clients who used my hashtag and had the best one. The more people posted on their channel, the more followed my page,” he says.
- Caption This: Engage your fans on Facebook or Instagram with a “Caption This” contest. Offer a discount on a service or give away a retail product.
- Ask A Question: Want to reward your long-term clients? Post trivia questions about your salon or your stylists. The winner can receive a complimentary cut or color.
Do’s and Dont's for Social Contests
- Do include the word “contest” in your hashtag; it’s required by law.
- Don’t make your graphicstoo busy. Less is best when itcomes to contest designs.
- Do use a third-party company like Wishpond (wishpond.com) for Facebook contests; it will help you organize and track properly.
- Don’t make the process too complicated. If they have to do too many things, fewer people will participate.
- Do know the difference between a contest and a sweepstakes. The former requires skill (i.e., the winner has to show or do something and there is a criteria to win), while the latter randomly chooses a winner.
- Don’t ignore the rules. You’ll need them listed plainly, along with contact number, on your salon or spa’s website.
Many thanks to our program sponsors Matrix, Redken, Pureology, L'Oréal Professionnel, Baxter, Decleor, Essie, Mizani and SalonCentric for making this Digital Supplement possible.