Do You Have a Salon or Spa Business? Here’s How to Use Instagram for Presence and Sales

Released in 2010 and acquired by Facebook in 2012, Instagram has become the go-to social networking site for sharing photos and videos. Similar to other social networking sites, its popularity has remained steadfast over the years. If you’re in the beauty business and you own or manage a salon, you should definitely take full advantage of Instagram’s popularity to reach out to your target customers. How exactly can this be done? Read on to find out.

Using Instagram for Your Business

There are two ways that you can use Instagram to promote your salon or spa business. First, you can use it to establish your online presence. What’s good about being an entrepreneur these days is that you don’t have to spend so much money on advertising. Unlike traditional print, radio or TV ads which require a lot of effort and funds, social media marketing is very cheap. As long as you know how to capture the attention of your target market, you interact with them on a regular basis, and you keep your accounts updated, you’re good to go.

Second, you can use Instagram to boost your sales. Since you are in the beauty industry, your customers are bound to respond more to visuals. Let’s say that you would like to offer hairstyles to your customers that the celebrities are sporting. On your salon’s Instagram account, you can post side-by-side photos of your clients with hairstyles similar to Jennifer Aniston, or a pixie cut similar to Halle Berry’s. The more ‘love’ or like and shares these posts get, the more buzz you can create for your salon.

Here are more tips on how you can use Instagram for your salon or spa business:

• Use your salon’s logo as your profile picture.

No matter how small your operation is as a spa or salon business, you should still invest in a professionally-made logo. Use this as a profile picture for your Instagram and other social networking sites for uniformity. Using your logo as a profile picture also familiarizes your audience with your business name, which is a good thing for marketing.

• Incorporate your website’s URL on your Instagram profile.

Next, make sure to let your Instagram followers know where to learn more about your salon or spa business. Although Instagram does not allow live URLs to be included in individual picture posts, you can place your site’s URL on the caption – or on your profile page.

• Use clear, relevant images.

Instead of a stock image from Google where a woman is enjoying a hot stone massage, why not use actual photos taken from your day spa? Or why not use a before-and-after photo of a client with an amazing hairstyle on your salon’s Instagram page? Although Instagram is an image-sharing site, it does not mean that you can just take any snapshot, slap on a filter and call it a day. Use clear, relevant images that will make clients want to take advantage of what you have to offer as a business.

• Hashtag away!

Don’t forget to include relevant hashtags on each Instagram post. Some examples include #salonname, #beauty, #spabusinessname, #relaxation, #businesslocation, #beforeandafter, #hairstyletrends – the list goes on and on.

• Use your Instagram account for promos and updates.

Finally, you can use Instagram to post updates about your business and any promos that you are currently running. Instead of creating a long Facebook post to let customers know about a contest where they can win special prizes from your salon, simply post a photo with rules on how to join.

Instagram and similar social media accounts have definitely taken the world by storm. As a spa or salon business owner, you can use the site’s popularity to establish your presence online, boost your sales, and interact with your customers.