10 ways to promote your salon on instagram

Everyone loves sharing pictures of great hair on social media, but have you thought beyond selfies and into sales? We spoke to Bristol salon Betties and Baldwins about how to promote your salon on Instagram. From framing your pictures perfectly to making sure those shots are seen by as many people as possible, here are Kadi from the salon's ten tips for showcasing your work and promoting your services through social media. 1. Make sure your photos are of your best work. Makeovers and colour changes work well, but anything you photograph should showcase the kind of work which your salon is - or wants to be - known for. 2. You don't have to be a great photographer, but your pictures do need to be well-lit and in focus to clearly show off the hair. 3. Keep the background clear, with no fuss or messy salon background on display. If you have a spot in your salon that's particularly well-lit and free from clutter, make it your designated Instagram spot! 4. Be sure to use hashtags to promote your work and get it seen. It's always a good idea to include #yourcity as it might help new clients to discover you. 5. Make the most of the hashtags of the day to make sure your work is seen by as many people as possible. For example #manimonday, #throwbackthursday and #flashbackfriday all get a great response. You can see a full list of popular hashtags for every day of the week here. 6. Engage with your clients and followers. Make sure you reply to comments and questions and, if they tag you in their pictures, make sure you respond. 7. Always tag your clients in the pictures you take, if they have an Instagram account. They're more likely to regram your picture and share it with their friends if they know it's there! 8. Like and share competitions always help your account reach a wider audience. For example, we recently posted a picture of a beautiful manicure and told clients that if they liked and shared the post, they'd be entered in to a draw to win a Shellac manicure with nail art. 9. Link all of your social media accounts to Instagram. This means you can share all of your content to Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter etc. in just one click. 10. Finally make sure everyone knows you have Instagram! Linking your Facebook page (see above) will help, but you should also include your username on any marketing material. You could even have it written on the mirrors and in the salon bathroom - no one can resist a salon selfie, so you might as well get some free promotion out of it!