Social media provides good opportunities for business owners, especially in the beauty and wellness industry. It provides a platform where stylists can showcase their products and services with visuals, build their customer base and reach their target customers.
Instagram is a leading social media platform with over 500 million users daily around the world and 130 million of them engaging in shopping content on the platform. The extent to which businesses can benefit from Instagram cannot be overestimated. Salon owners can meet their clients and potential client on this platform, create an impression of themselves, and give their followers a feel of what to expect when they visit their salons or purchase their products using engaging pictures and posts.
Consider these steps to grow your Instagram account, drove traffic and increase sales
Create an Instagram profile
This is the first and most important step when seeking engagement on the social media platform Instagram. Creating an Instagram account is free. Opting for a business account is a better option as it helps to build professionalism. You can also switch from your account to a business account. With your salon business account, you can make posts, get insights and other insights about your visitors and followers, and receive insights about engagements on your post. You can also create more awareness about your brand and promote brand loyalty by conducting contests and giveaways.
Provide your business information
After creating your account or switching to a business account, you need to fill out your business information. To switch your account to a business account follow these steps;
- Tap on the three lines at the top right-hand corner of your profile (the menu button)
- Click on settings and switch to a professional account. OR
- Click on Account and press on Switch to Professional Account
- Click on Continue
- Select a category that suits your business
- Click on Done
- Press Ok and Click on Business
- Fill in your contact details and press Next. Alternatively, you can click on Don't Use My Contact Info
- You can also connect your Facebook account to your Instagram account.
Make your bio fun to read
After creating your business account, you need to update your bio to reflect your business. On your bio, include your business name, phone number, link to your booking website, your business location, and your email. Keep your bio concise and simple and do not add excessive information to avoid boring the reader. The information on your bio would help your visitors know more about your business and book appointments easily with you.
Add Hashtags
Using hashtags is an excellent hair salon Instagram marketing strategy that increases the exposure of your posts and encourages audience interactions. It also helps you to analyse your competitors, measure your share of voice on social media, and help you reach your target audience especially when searches are made with these hashtags.
Develop a Captivating Visual Theme
The theme on your Instagram page not only enhances professionalism but also strengthens your brand message and story. Develop a theme that is in line with your brand and the services you offer to give your customers an impression of your business services. Using a well-aligned theme help to improve your followers and engagement and tell users what your business is all about. In creating a visual theme, ensure to use your brand colours and the right font size, and incorporate your brand's unique value.
Make Posts on a Variety of Topics
This is one of the most powerful Instagram marketing strategies, choose different topics to make posts about to catch the attention of the audiences on Instagram. Marketing on Instagram requires the ability of the business to create different posts regularly to increase visibility. You can decide to make your Instagram business page an educational or an entertainment hub. With this, you can keep the different kinds of audiences engaged at all times.
High-Quality Photos are Essential
Instagram is a photo and video sharing platform and you cannot undermine the effect of a good photo. The Instagram posts of your business services should be clear and simple. Use good lighting techniques, capture the photo from the right angles, avoid the use of excessive filters, watermarks, and other editing features, and limit the use of collages. You should also post high-quality videos with good lighting and sound while also employing creative measures to create a deeper connection with your followers. This helps to build their expectations of the services you render.
Use Captions for your Posts
Using Instagram captions is another Instagram marketing technique. Captions on Instagram give details to posts made and inform the user of details they may not have been aware of. Captions help you communicate with your followers and help them know your business better. Captions Instagram grabs the attention of the reader and helps you to reach a wider audience
Schedule posts on Instagram
Scheduling your posts on Instagram is a marketing strategy that increases engagement on your post and leads to a higher quality of posts. Create a schedule for posts on Instagram and ensure that you stick to it. These posts must be something valuable to your followers to avoid losing followers. You can adopt the use of scheduling apps to schedule your posts.
Other Tips
Try out other Instagram marketing strategies such as hosting contests and giveaways, adopting the Instagram influencer marketing strategy, or conducting discount sales. Make engaging posts on your Instagram stories, participate in trade shows, and build better relationships with influencers, this would help to build traffic to your Instagram page and drive more sales.
Conclusion
Instagram is a social media platform that enables businesses to build their brands and reach their target audience, with millions of active users daily salon businesses can structure their posts to enable them to build traffic and drive more sales. Follow the steps to create an Instagram business account and engage in these Instagram marketing strategies to grow your business.
