Scissors? Check. Curling Iron? Check. Tweezers. Yup. Nail buffer? Got that, too. Stellar online reputation, share-worthy internet content, and loyal legion of social media followers? Um. Nope.
When it comes to conquering the world of cosmetology, you have all the right stuff–top-notch training, unparalleled abilities, and the market’s finest gear. You’re missing one very important tool. A savvy social media presence.
If you are lacking a glowing social media presence, don’t get your hair in a knot. By following a few easy steps, you can add the most popular social media platforms to your tools of the trade–and watch your business boom.
The “Granddaddy” of all social media venues, Facebook, boasts the largest following, by far, of any of its competitors. In fact, according to eBizMBA’s ranking system, the site enjoys approximately 900,000,000 unique monthly visitors–almost three times that of the second place contender, Twitter.
If you’d like to harness the power of this social media giant, you will want to begin by creating a page dedicated solely to your business and invite everyone you know to “like” your page. Then, you can start generating riveting content designed to attract, dazzle, and maintain a loyal legion of followers, otherwise known as “potential clientele.”
Facebook is an excellent tool for running exciting contests, inciting positive word-of-mouth, sharing images, offering exclusive promotions to followers of your fan page, and linking to informative videos. You can also use Facebook Ads to target specific audiences such as those within a certain geographic region or those who follow industry brands.
If you’re not using Facebook to its full advantage, you are ignoring one of the beauty trade’s most viable tools.
Are you a witty wordsmith who has a knack for being succinct? Twitter and it’s 310,000,000 unique monthly users may prove to be your dream audience. A great way to start is to begin collecting the Twitter usernames of loyal clientele. This will enable you to keep them abreast of new salon services, specials, and products. Plus, you can also tweet fun posts about things like celebrity style tips and trending looks–within the 140 character limit, of course. But, just remember. You don’t want to scare them off with excessive tweeting. Twitter is all about quality tweets, not quantity.
Number three in the countdown of hot social media sites, LinkedIn, boasts a brag-worthy 255,000,000 unique monthly users. As the consummate business and professional platform, LinkedIn is best used as a way to establish industry contacts, forming a valuable network of important connections. Be sure to fill in your profile completely, join groups related to the beauty business, network with professionals from your region, and, if you are able, endorse the skills of others. This will help you collect some quality endorsements of your own.
LinkedIn also provides you with the perfect opportunity to brag about the cosmetology school you attended, special courses you have completed, awards you have won, and any other accomplishment that fills you with an unabashed sense of pride.
Pinterest and its 250,000,000 unique monthly visitors are all about visuals. Every time you post an image to your website, be sure to add a “pin it” button. This will allow your audience to quickly and easily share the image with their followers, leading to more traffic at your webpage.
Furthermore, developing a Pinterest page of your own can do wonders for your brand’s overall image. In Entrepreneur‘s “A Salon’s Social Media Highlights,” the G Michael Salon’s Pinterest account boasts 91 boards and 6500 pins, attracting more than 5000 followers and potential customers.
By adding social media platforms to your repertoire, you will be better equipped to win new clients and blow away your competition. So get posting, tweeting, endorsing and pinning right away. The poorly coiffed masses await.
What is your favorite social media platform? Why?
