Social media is a complex world. We’re told we need to post often but then after putting so much time and energy into creating posts, we get very few likes, comments, shares or reactions. Have you encountered this challenge?
It happens to everyone, so before you decide to stop putting energy into social media, let’s take a look at 6 ways to make your social media posts more engaging. When used, these tips will help you get more from your social media: more likes, comments, shares and reactions!
1. End your posts with a question
Ending your social media posts with a question is a simple way to increase engagement. Remember that social media is social and people like to share opinions – you just have to stimulate the conversation. Give them a platform to give their opinion at the end of your posts. Here are a few examples:
Ask people what is most important to them in their salon/spa experience (this can serve as market research at the same time so that you can ultimately improve your experience)
Ask people to create a name for a picture of a hairstyle that you post
Post 3 pictures of the same celebrity with 3 different hair colors and ask which one people think suits her best
Post a picture of a great hair result your salon has created. Ask people to identify what accessories they would wear with that hairstyle.
You can also personalize the conversation from time to time by asking people what they are doing on a particular holiday (ex: Mother’s Day) or how they are ‘beating the heat’ or ‘combating the cold.’
As you can see, it can be quite easy. Just add a question to the end of your posts. Remember that if you start a conversation, you should get involved with it as well so be sure to reply/comment back on people’s posts. Make sure you're asking questions on neutral topics; no one wants a political war on their brand's page!
2. Host a survey
As a variant to tip #1, adding a survey or poll can make it easy for your audience to quickly share their opinion through a vote (Facebook has a built-in feature for this but you can use other platforms and simply ask your audience to answer one of 2 things. Ex: ‘hot’ or ‘not’, ‘yes’ or ‘no’, ‘blonde’ or ‘brown’, etc...).
3. Use more images
Images are critical to any social media strategy. Facebook posts with images receive 2.3 times more engagement than those without. So simply adding a royalty-free image (either your own or try one from Unsplash or Pixabay) to your posts can make a big difference. On Instagram, since every post has to contain an image or video, the quality of your images will have a direct impact on your engagement. If you are taking the photos yourself in your salon/spa environment, be sure to have lots of natural light and a neutral background that will provide good contrast. For more recommendations on what salons and spas should post on Instagram, check out this article.
4. Video is even better
Using videos in your social posts are even better—in fact, they get over 12 times the re-posts that text and image posts do. Your videos can be as simple or as in-depth as you want. Here are some suggestions of things you can post:
How-to videos that teach your clients a beauty routine
New product review – showcase some of the features and benefits of the new products you carry
Product demonstrations
A walk-through of your salon/spa
Quick testimonials of happy clients
Try a ‘1-minute with’ each staff member where they answer 3 to 5 questions about themselves. This will help personalize your team
The choice is yours, just be sure to give video a shot. Keep your videos at various lengths, but rarely more than 2 minutes. People have short attention spans on social media! It’s good to mix it up by having a few short, fun videos mixed in with some longer, educational ones.
5. Partner with an influencer
Creating a partnership with an influencer in your industry and/or your community can have a huge impact on your social media engagement. Find someone that already has a following with the audience you would like to connect with. Sharing each other’s content from time to time will stimulate a different conversation and reach different people.
Beyond reaching new people, associating with an influencer can build trust with your audience.
Your influencer's following trusts them, so when those followers see a photo of that influencer using your products or services, that trust becomes associated to your company. If the right person sees your content, they may even become a customer.
6. Add hashtags
The use of hashtags to increase social media engagement is highly dependent on the platform you are using. They are not very useful on Facebook, quite useful on Twitter, and very useful on Instagram (this is just based on how people use the various platforms through searching and following). Adding appropriate hashtags to your posts can ‘insert’ you into conversations and make your content more relevant to people that are following certain hashtags. Be sure to stay on top of event and brand hashtags and use them whenever relevant. Check out these tips on the best hashtags to use on Instagram for salons and spas.
Don’t stop posting!
While it’s not always easy, you can see that there are several strategies you can use to improve your social media posts for maximum engagement. So try some out, use a variety and start seeing for yourself which ones work best for you and your audience!
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