What salons need to know about social media in 2016

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You’ve probably seen (possibly even read!) a fair few articles about which social media platforms your salon should be using over the past decade or so. However, social media is constantly evolving and what’s relevant in 2016 has changed in the past six months, let alone the past six years, says Kate Woods of KOR Digital. So here’s a brief guide to the key things your salon should consider when using social media this year. Facebook Despite the numerous ‘Facebook is Dead’ tales doing the rounds last year, with 1.55billion users its very much alive and kicking! If you use your Facebook as a quasi website, it’s pretty much as you were, but if you’re relying on appearing in people’s news feeds it’s now a, ‘pay to play’ platform so you need to set some budget aside. Unless you have money to burn, use your budget wisely – it’s nice to see lots of likes on your content, but I’d recommend spending your budget on promotions or the posts that are really going to get people talking or bums on seats. That boost button is very tempting, but think about the value you’ll get from it. If you do one thing this year, set up a custom pixel and load it onto your website. You can then target posts (or ads) to the people who have visited your website in a given period. Twitter At best Twitter is plateauing, at worst it’s a platform in decline so it’s worth experimenting to see if your clients are still there. To relight the fire, Twitter is looking at changes to the format to offer long form content, which could happen as soon as Easter this year – watch this space... Tweets with images are 150% more likely to be shared than ones without, so make sure your content is visual and while most Tweeters love a hashtag, go easy on how many you use. Research says that using more than two decreases engagement. Also don’t be afraid to re-use your posts. Like Facebook, as few as 2% of your followers will actually see each post so post it multiple times to get some bang for your buck! Instagram Unlike Twitter, Instagram is growing rapidly with more than 400million users by September 2015. At that time it also rolled out its ads to all users, which you can manage through your Facebook ad manager console. Instagram is the glossiest of the platforms, so think about projecting an aspirational image without losing sight of the need to be true to your salon and being relatable to your clients. Photos showing faces get significantly more likes than those without, making this a perfect platform for client photos. Many salons use celebrity photos on Instagram, if that’s something you want to do beware of copyright laws as illegal usage could land you a fine. If you’re regramming other people’s content, you should ideally ask permission first, and should always credit the owner. Periscope Twitter may be going through some challenging times, but its live streaming platform has made quite an impact since launching last March. There are more than 10million accounts – although how many of these are active is open to debate! Periscope is a stand-alone app that lets you live stream videos to an audience who can like and comment on your videos in real time. Recent updates, mean the videos will play in people’s Twitter feeds, but they’ll need to go into Periscope to comment. Forget Instagram’s portrayal of a rose-tinted world, Periscope is raw and real with no ability to start again or edit your content. As it’s still in its infancy, there’s potential to steal a march on your competitors, but think about the types of content your clients would want to see: how-tos, help decide the style and ask the stylist all have potential for your salon. Other platforms to consider: Snapchat – The attraction of Snapchat is that the content is temporary, so it’s great for creating an air of exclusivity. Snapchat has been a huge hit with fashion and beauty brands, but beware its audience is predominantly young so does that fit with your brand? Meerkat – Very similar to Periscope. Choose which you prefer (or where your clients are) and stick with it. Or make like a celeb and use them booth! Facebook Live – After a trial for celebrities, Facebook’s video streaming service, Facebook Live is now being rolled out across all Facebook pages. Once complete your videos will appear on your page. Whatsapp – The instant messaging platform is a great option for interacting with your clients between visits. With a bit of creativity it can be an excellent free marketing tool. LinkedIn – I’m yet to be convinced of a salon’s need to use LinkedIn, but if you have a personal profile, there is nothing to stop you creating a company page to showcase your salon.   Kate Woods is founder of KOR Digital, a small but perfectly formed Digital Consultancy for businesses in the hair and beauty industries. Follow her at @KORDigital or visit www.kordigital.co.uk