Have you ever tried running Facebook or Instagram ads for your salon? This is an under-utilized digital marketing tool for salons and spas that can really help drive new business. We often hear salons saying "I tried, but it didn't work!". The real question to ask is, were the ads done the right way? Usually the budget that a hair salon spends on advertising is very limited, and therefore the main challenge is to make the most of this small budget and generate the maximum number of appointments,
We want to share the best practices for salons and spas to run effective Facebook and Instagram ads. In this article, we’ll show you some little-known techniques that will help you fill your appointment calendar, all while respecting your budget.
1) Start with an offer: A little generosity will be the necessary ingredient to make your campaigns successful. Whether it's a coupon, discount or something free, your potential customers will need to see an attractive offer to get their attention. Consumers see many ads from other companies in their social media feeds and they become unconsciously interested in ads that contain attractive offers. So the quality of your offer will actually help you to have higher results with a lower cost.
We recommend that the service you promote has a minimum value of $ 70- $ 80, because sometimes the cost per client acquisition could be high so make sure that you're keeping your margin big. 2) Campaign configuration:
Be sure to head to your Facebook Business Manager platform to create your campaign. There are two main options that salons and spas can use to launch a successful campaign:
a) Traffic campaign: this is an ad that contains a link that directs people to your booking site or your landing page. Make sure your landing page is mobile friendly since the majority of Internet users are on their phones. This option works best if you keep the campaign active for a long time (10 to 14 days). Most often, your potential customers won't make the decision to book the 1st time they see the ad, but instead they need to be exposed to it on several occasions (sometimes 5 or 6 times) to finally take action and click the link to book.
For this type of campaign, the main indicator to follow is the CPC (COST PER CLICK). On average, you don’t want it to exceed $ 0.20 per click.
b) Messenger campaign: This option will be the best for you if you want to have faster results, but you need to have some time each day to manage this. The objective of this campaign is to start a conversation with potential customers. This is a campaign that includes a button that directs people to your Facebook Messenger. So the consumer won’t click on a link to directly book an appointment but rather to ask you questions about your offer, your prices, your salon, etc.. By engaging in a conversation with the potential client, it can sometimes be easier to show them the human side of your business by connecting with them in a friendly way and convincing them to book. It’s important to be aware that only a portion of the people that message you will end up making an appointment, not everyone as much as we would all want it to be!
In this type of campaign, the main indicator to follow is the cost per message. On average, this should not be more than $ 3. 3) Target properly:
This point has an important role in reducing the costs of your campaigns. As a man, I often see hair salon advertisements in my social media feeds that promote services dedicated to women. This is a big waste of money for the salons! Good targeting will save you money by avoiding showing your ad to the wrong people. You need to make sure that every person who sees your ad has the potential to be a client. This is one key reason why Facebook and Instagram ads can be so successful for salons and spas – because you have the ability to target people that precisely!
Elements to optimize:
The location: This depends on the size of the city / town you are in. If you are in a big city, it is better to target people within a geographical radius of around 5km², so that your ad doesn’t get lost among competing ads that are talking to consumers who are further away. If you are in a smaller city or town, opt for targeting the entire area.
Gender: Without a doubt, if your service or offer is aimed at women, make sure to uncheck the MEN option and keep only the WOMEN option, and vice versa if you are promoting a service for men.
Interest: this is one of the most important parameters to really help zero in on your potential client who already has an interest in services similar to what you are offering. You will want to target keywords related to the service you are promoting. For example if your campaign features a balayage service, you can enter the related keywords: balayage, hair color, hair colorist, etc... We always work very closely with our salon clients to make sure we are optimizing this setting for them.
Pro Tips! - The ideal audience size should be between 30,000-500,000 people. As you enter more or less targeting options, you will be able to see the estimated audience that Facebook will reach with your ad.
- When you enter a keyword, click on the "suggestion" button and Facebook will offer you a list of similar keywords for your service. 4) The Ad Copy: This part is composed of 2 elements, the image, and the text. Usually a good persuasive text should contain 4 to 5 lines. Here are some tips for writing a good advertising copy: - Always start your text with a question.
- Never mention the prices in your text. It’s better to attract the curiosity of your audience to click on the link to get more information.
- At the end of your text, always put an appropriate CTA "CALL TO ACTION" to direct people to your booking link or your Messenger, for example: "Click below to find out more’. It’s important that you tell people exactly what you want them to do – don’t leave them hanging!
When it comes to your image, always go for an eye-catching picture that catches the interest of your audience. Ideally you will want to use a photo of one of your past works-of-art that showcase the service you are promoting. Pictures are often better than video for this purpose because you can get the message across more quickly. However, a video that is really well done which showcases not only a result but your human side can be extremely powerful. We always spend a lot of time perfecting this aspect with the clients we work with as it has such a large impact on the end results of your ad campaign. 5) The Budget:
How much should a hair salon or spa spend on Facebook / Instagram ads? The good news is that it doesn’t have to cost a lot and you are always in control of your budget because you can set your maximums and then let the Facebook algorithm optimize the spending for you. We recommend salons and spas start with an average of $5/ day, and leave the campaign active for a minimum of 5 days. If you start to have the desired results, you can increase the daily budget a little and/or continue to extend the campaign. If you are not seeing results after 5 days (remember, that’s only $25), you must optimize your campaign, either by changing the text, the image, the targeting, or a bit of each. It can often be a good idea to run a few versions at the same time to test the results as it makes it easier to optimize in the long term. 6) A / B testing: If you are willing to spend up to $ 10 / day; you can test multiple ads within the same campaign, that is, you can test multiple text, multiple images or multiple audiences at the same time to find out which works best and generates more results. If you choose $ 10 / day and you want to test two different ads, Facebook will distribute the budget over the two ads equally, after spending $10, Facebook starts optimizing your campaign on showing only the Ad that performs better.
If you have any questions, feel free to message us!
Fore more Facebook marketing tips for salons, check out our blog Tips to Build your business with Facebook