Reviewing your digital marketing strategy

Following on from his previous article, salon management consultant Ryan Fox, offers some further advice on what to look at when reviewing your digital marketing. The Mother Ship Your web site needs to be your hub or “mothership” that that most of your digital marketing returns to, therefore it must be up to date with information and design, must get your message across quickly and it should encourage the user to make a booking. According to a recent survey carried out by industry software company Salon IQ, the percentage of online bookings at salons increased by 80% in 2015 on the previous year with almost double the number of bookings compared to 2014. It looks like they are only going to increase further, therefore you should also have an online booking facility linked to your salon reception computer. Social Media - managed vs DIY approach Your social media needs to be out there constantly and consistently. It’s a lot of work and takes time to get right but it’s something a modern salon needs to do. Therefore, you need to decide if you are going to do it yourself or pay an expert to do it for you. If you are going to do it yourself, then you might need some training to get it right. Managed approach A social media manager will manage your profiles on different social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and any other platforms that you use. They might help with developing the strategy, creating and posting content, creating paid for adverts, interacting with followers and monitoring campaign effectiveness. DIY approach Social media training will show you how to do these things yourself. Depending on what kind of training you choose, courses can include things like how to brand your company, how to choose keywords, how to create ads and graphics, how to post content across different platforms, how to monitor social media interaction, and so on. If you opt for social media training rather than management, you or someone else at your business will have to put aside regular time to manage your social media presence. The option you choose may depend on how much social media presence you want to have, how much time you have available, and what your budget is. Tools that can help manage your digital strategy

• Salon Software – increasingly salon software has integrated tools so see what you have already available to you before you purchase other tools
• Mailchimp or similar – for email campaigns
• Hootsuite or Buffer – can help you manage your social media content in a more planned and strategic way
• Word Press – great for blogging or as your platform for your main web site
• Google Adwords Keyword Planner – use this for searching key words and coming up with ads

  Reviewing your digital marketing may seem daunting but you are probably doing more than you realise already, it’s often just a case of bringing it all together in an overall strategy and using a few tools to help make it more efficient and effective. If you have any doubts about doing it however, bear in mind, it’s not going to go away. Ryan Fox is a hair & beauty salon consultant who improves salon performance through training and innovation. For further details visit www.umbrellaconsulting.co.uk