How to create a healthy relationship with social media!

By Kayla Zigic

“I hate social media! I always get off it feeling worse about myself and my business than I did before!” Sound familiar?

These thoughts happen far too often, and I must admit I feel this way occasionally too. One minute I’m happy and content scrolling my feed, cheering on my fellow beauty besties for hitting their goals and promoting their life’s best work.

Then next, I’m in a downward spiral, wondering “how” they’ve done it, how they seem so confident in front of the camera, or wondering how there are living this fairy tale life while I’m slowly building my business when we started the same time, or I started every before them.

This dark cloud of comparisonitis can come up in many forms, leaving you feeling deflated and frustrated and making you question everything about yourself, your life, or your business.

So, how can we minimize this intense feeling when we open an app?

It’s all about creating healthy relationships with social media. Social media is not the problem. Yes, social media is addictive; however, just like any form of addiction, social media is to be used as a tool, but it is up to us to decide how we use it.

How can we use it for good? Good for our business and keeping our mental health front of mind? Here are some of my top tips for creating healthy relationships around social media.

Limit your time spent on the app

Did you know you can set limits on your phone to limit your time spent on social media? You can do this by creating an alert or a lock. You can select your max time spent on a social media platform per day via your phone, and once that limit has been reached, your phone will either alert you or close down the app automatically.

Helping you to spend less time scrolling, comparing, or working and more time focusing on what is essential, whether that is other aspects of work, family, or quality time to yourself.

Create boundaries and systems

Social media may be 24/7, but we are not. I understand you want to give your customers and followers seamless customer service, but this isn’t worth your mental health.

Treat your social media inbox the same as your business. Have designated hours you are happy to provide support to your followers and client. You don’t need to reply to a client messaging you at 11pm on a Friday night, asking for an appointment tomorrow.

You can also set automation on your social media platforms that can be keyword focused. You can set up multiple automatic reply messages based on what keywords you are sent.

For example, if a client sends you a message and there are words included in the message such as “book or make an appointment” these can be created as keywords. That means, when a message is sent to you containing the selected keywords, an automatic reply informing them that you are currently unavailable can be put in place. All appointments or bookings can be made or rescheduled via your online booking system.”

You can also create automated FAQ questions inside your Instagram accounts which can help streamline your inquiries process and save you time.

Alternatively, you can also set up an automated message that notifies the sender that you are outside business hours or currently with clients, and you will reply asap. Alternatively, if it is urgent, please call the salon directly.

These steps help streamline your social media inquiries and help your followers understand that you will return to them at a time that is convincing to you and your salon.

Stop Comparing

Stop following accounts that do not serve you or make you feel, for the lack of a better word “s*@t”

Remember, not all is what it seems in social media. Insert filters, bring followers, bring engagement, and smart marketing techniques such as FOMO (fear of missing out), designed to create a sense of urgency in the client that, unfortunately for you, makes their business look better than what they seem.

Remember, if it usually looks too good to be true, it more than likely is. Determining genuine accounts from accounts that have brought followers can become quite easy. Not to say that many accounts have built a successful and organic following, but if an account of 20’000 followers is only getting a few hundred views on their video content or minimal likes on a post, chances are they have either brought followers or have a very disengaged account.

It may look all rainbows and sunshine from the outside, but generally speaking, they aren’t doing as well as you may think. So, stop comparing. This is why it is important to unfollow accounts that aren’t serving you.

Alternatively, if you don’t want to “unfollow,” you can simply select “mute” accounts on both stories and posts, meaning you will not see them on your feed or stories unless you are actively searching. The best part? They don’t know you’re not consuming their content, and you can get on social media knowing you will not go down the comparison rabbit hole.

Follow the right accounts

It seems pretty simple, right? Take away the accounts that are not serving you personally and professionally and replace them with accounts that will add value to your life and your salon. You want to follow accounts that will motivate, educate, and inspire you. There are so many uplifting and genuine accounts whose purpose is to inspire and motivate you. Maybe even ask your community who they follow to brighten their lives.

Creating a healthy relationship with social media is essential in today’s digital world. By understanding the impact of social media, building a foundation for a healthy relationship, implementing strategies, and nurturing your mental well-being, you can transform your social media experience from comparison and negativity to empowerment and inspiration.

Remember, social media is a tool that can be used for both personal and professional growth. By taking control of your social media usage and focusing on what truly matters, you can harness its benefits while preserving your mental well-being.

The Social Media Hub Socials for Salons www.socialsforsalons.com.au