4 Social Media Rules to Selling Beauty

If you have heard that you should be using social media for your spa business but don’t know what to post, this article was written for you. In it, we discuss best practices to increase your bookings, sell more retail and build a strong brand reputation online.

As we discussed in our previous article, “Want To Win? Here’s How To Market To Win!”, having a strategic approach to your marketing efforts is vital to saving your time and increasing your impact.

Organize Your Topics
Following that structure allows you to categorize and organize the topics you talk about in the treatment room. After all, to keep social media authentic to your brand, it should be repetitious of your recommendations made during a spa visit in person.

Contribution by Richard Merrill

Once you have created the list of topics you want to share with your audience, it would be wise to map out your content to plan how it will encourage your potential guests to work through the buyer’s journey. Are you sure about the steps your clients have to take before committing to an appointment? Review “5 Steps To Sell Products + Services” for a quick refresh. 

Create The Content
Perfect, you have the topics organized to support your client journey now, you are ready to create content to share in your marketing. But, this is part of the journey where many spa professionals and business owners get stuck. You have the ideas, the message, and the start of a strong plan. Where do we find the time to create content, and what content will have the most significant impact on your business?

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 4 Social Media Rules For Selling Beauty

Planning What to Post

Now that you have all the basics of the perfect social media presence started and you have begun gathering sources for your content let’s talk about the actual content planning.

Here are five types of posts every spa professional should be using to capture their audience and engage meaningful relationships based on their expertise.

•  Product-centric. Does your cream cleanser double as a great shaving product? Grab an image of someone shaving, and share this pro tip in the caption. Create a short sixty-second video of you demonstrating how to use the product for even better engagement. You don’t have to speak; add music and post your thoughts in the caption. Use the caption to share the important details, and always add a call to action. If you’ve set up your online shopping to Facebook and Instagram, make sure to tag the products for purchase in every post.
• Client-centric. During a client’s visit, have them share a few words about their experience in a video, and share it before they leave. Pro-Tip: To help you be more efficient in capturing content throughout your natural workday, you may consider setting up a photo-ready space. Equip your space with great lighting and branded tools, so all you have is snap photos or record videos as they organically occur.
• Upcoming events. Are you attending the local concert at the community center? Share photos and bring your community together with a “shop local” mindset. Use events to showcase your side and create conversations with similar interests.
• Continuing education. Did you take an incredible certification class to improve your technique? What about that local cooking class you attended for fun? Make sure to grab photos throughout the day for your social media marketing. This helps showcase your dedication to living your best life and serves as an example for your followers to increase their hippies for health and wellness.
• Ingredient spotlights. Are you a product junkie? What are the top three ingredients in your favorite product? Create a few image posts to share and encourage fans to come in and experience why it’s your favorite. Once you’ve created the still image, use the caption to film a video or reel to share the same content in a new way. How will the specific ingredient help your target client solve their problem?

Before we drop up this social media discussion, I must remind you about branding. You can use content created by your manufacturers to save you time while building but consider recreating content you find and love in your brand. Hire a photographer once a quarter to create content. Plan a staff day where everyone comes in and makes content for upcoming campaigns and work at least six weeks in advance, so you have the content before you need it.

Three Quick Tips for Staying on Brand

1. Take great pictures. Not all of us are photographers, and many of us just getting started cannot afford a professional photographer to capture every moment, but creating flat layouts for product features and committing a dedicated space in your business for a consistent image can be simple. Take a moment to plan your photo strategy. 

2. Recreate content. Sharing someone else’s content can help convey an important message you agree with, but that image can result in your potential client looking outside your business for solutions to their problems. Recreate content you love with your branding, voice, and messaging. This will keep the conversation in your business and build trust from your clients.

3. Give credit where credit is due. When you see a great piece of content from another professional, make sure to tag them in the caption of the post and the actual image, so they are notified of your shout-out. This is a great way to build brand ambassadors that support you in doing your business. DO NOT CROP ANOTHER PROFESSIONAL’S IMAGE TO REMOVE THEIR BRANDING. If you are interested in using the content without their branding, take the time to create the image yourself, following your brand style guide rules.

Following these guidelines will separate you from the shock and awe content created by influencers that may not be based in any reality. It can be frustrating to see inaccurate content based on your knowledge, expertise, and experience, so instead of being frustrated by it, create a professional response and share it with your audience. One Final Tip: Content you make should be reused, so save your images, videos, and captions in a safe space.

Remember, social media is designed for first-time clients, and repetition shows consistency. Consistent proves longevity.

Make sure to follow @RichardMerrillConsulting on social media for your chance to be featured on our pages.