We all know that social media is important to grow your business. But where do you start? How do you prioritize? How do you keep up with all the latest trends, strategies and tools?
The first step is to start doing a few things really well, rather than trying to do everything at once. So in this article we will just focus on some simple tips to optimize your salon’s Facebook Business page. (If you're looking for Instagram tips, Click Here!)
Tips:
1. Social Media is meant to be just that – social. You want your followers to ‘engage’ with your content. Therefore, more important than the number of followers that you have, is the % of your followers that like/comment/share your posts. (Read this to learn how to make your posts more engaging.)
2. Be very clear on who your target market is. Try to be as specific as possible. Not only can you target your Facebook Boosts and Ads specifically to this market, but also, understanding your target can help you establish the tone of your writing and what content to post.
3. Deliver valuable content. Once you understand who your target audience is, then put yourself in their shoes (or better yet, talk to them and ask them what they want to see!) to think about what content would be most interesting and engaging for them. What do they enjoy? Want to learn? Find funny? etc. Then focus on delivering a lot of that content.
4. Keep your content varied. Don’t just post pictures all the time, or only articles. You want to have a good mix of content so that your followers are delighted and surprised, not bored.
5. Questions have the highest rate of engagement. Even higher than images, videos, and discounts. So ask relevant, stimulating questions to evoke conversations. The more people engage with your content, the more likely your posts will show up in their future News Feeds. You can check out this article to see how you can get higher engagement with your social media posts.
6. The shorter the post, the higher the engagement. Think about how quickly you scroll through your News Feed. Think of your posts as mini billboards. You have 1 or 2 seconds to capture someone’s attention. Therefore a powerful image and/or short, powerful headline message is key.
7. Embed videos directly into Facebook rather than uploading via YouTube. Not only does this allow the video to auto-play as people scroll, this feature results in over 6x the interactions!
8. Use like/comment/share promotions to boost your Facebook following. Always think about ‘what’s in it for them’ and provide a strong incentive for people to act. Don't forget to set a deadline and be sure to announce the winner once they are drawn.
9. Research seems to show that images posted to Facebook via Instagram are rewarded in the News Feed. Since Facebook owns Instagram, it's possible that Facebook is trying to encourage cross-platform usage and is improving the chance of your Instagram images being seen on Facebook. Be careful with over-using this feature though, as most followers do not enjoy seeing duplicated content all the time. (Remember tip #4)
10. Don't over-use hashtags on Facebook. The same research has found that use of hashtags on the Facebook platform actually reduces engagement. So while hashtags are very important on Instagram, they should be kept to a minimum on Facebook.
Get started today by choosing 1 or 2 tips and adding more to your marketing plan each month. Be sure to let us know in the comments what's working for you!
Check out our similar article with tips to build your salon business with Instagram.
Looking for more social media tips for salons and spas? Check out the rest of our Resource Library for valuable content to help grow your business!