Why Your Barbershop Needs A Strong Online Presence, And How To Create One By Mario & Dion Fallace

With google search, websites, and social media, clients can (and want to) find out everything they can about your business before they step foot through the door.

They want to see your work, what your shop environment is like, how much you charge, whether they need to book in, the hours you are open, and what other customers have had to say about their experience.

Most barbershops will have their Facebook and Instagram set up and posting quality content about your work and shop. This is the first step, but to really have a solid online presence, it is important to cover all bases.

This is the difference between a decent online strategy and a well-rounded one. These steps are how to ensure your barbershop maintains a really good social strategy, and it starts with venturing beyond social media (facebook & instagram) itself.

BRANDING

One of the most important factors nowadays to truly stand out from the crowd and have a recognisable barbershop is to have quality branding.

What is branding? It is the perception of your barbershop – who you are, the look, feel, and vibe. It is a customer’s first impression of your business, so you need to make it count. Branding can be customised to suit the type of barbershop you are, as well as your target clients. For example, an old school vibe barbershop, or an ultra trendy modern barbershop.

Your branding is brought to life starting with a quality, unique logo designed with your look, feel, and overall vibe in mind. This is then paired with a colour palette using selected colours to add to the feel someone gets when looking at it (classic, modern, quirky, etc). It is also important having a brand font that typically gets used in your logo but on any other marketing material: website, social media posts, business cards, pricelists, etc.

This is what makes up your branding, and should be used not only online, but also physically at your barbershop, for example on signage. By creating quality branding, the consistent use of this across all platforms will ensure you stand out online. Having a professionally designed logo & branding for your barbershop makes a world of difference compared to a homemade logo, and makes your barbershop appear so much more professional. Getting a graphic designer to create a custom branding package for your barbershop is what you need to effectively do this.

WEBSITE

With the rise of social media, sometimes your website can be left behind, or not even considered at all. However, a website is really important for barbershops. This is because many potential customers search on google for barbers shops in their area. So if you don’t have a quality website, you are missing out on popping up in these search results in your area.

Your website is an extension of your barbershop and is the perfect opportunity to showcase who you are and what you do. It is like your own platform - you have control over how it looks and functions and what is on there. By using your barbershops branding, you can have an amazing looking website that compliments your brand. Your website should have everything clients need to know about your barbershop, such as your story, services you offer, client testimonials, booking info, contact details, pricing, as well as links to your social media.

It is worth the investment to have your website professionally designed and make it sure it gets done properly.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Your social media is the perfect compliment to having quality branding as well as a website in place. This is where most barbers already do a great job of posting their work and gaining exposure. Posting pictures and videos of your work, as well as your barbershop environment will put the icing on the cake for a potential client who is looking for a new barbershop. It is also a handy way to showcase your retail product range and even posting handy tips and tricks for your clients on how to care for their hair at home. There is an endless amount of content ideas for social media!

Your socials are best monitored and maintained by the barbershop itself. Outsourcing may seem convenient but social media works best with authenticity - coming from within your team.

By approaching your barbershop marketing in the steps above, you will have a much more well - rounded strategy that increases your online presence, making you one of the most appealing barbershops in your area. Remember - you don’t need to compete with the whole of Australia, just your local area! That’s where your clients are.

In addition to using social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, ensuring you have solid branding and a quality website for your barbershop will increase your authority, credibility, and make you stand out.

The best way to do this is to have a graphic & web designer to create this for you. Here at New York Barbers, we were lucky that, my son, Dion, who is also barber himself, took an interest in learning how to do this for our salons and was able to create us awesome branding and a top quality website - and has in fact just launched an industry first, a digital marketing agency for hair salons and barbershops, called SalonDrive.

SalonDrive specialises in branding and website design for barbershops.