Digital Direction
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Social success As beauty salons prepare to re-open when they’re allowed to do so, social media editor Chris Halpin shares some tools and ideas to help you stay on top of your social media plan
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t’s likely that the first few weeks back in the salon will be some of the busiest. This hectic period is, understandably, likely to limit your ability to plan and post content on your social channels. Most clients will likely understand that you might be too busy to respond straight away. At the same time, if you’ve got lots of people asking questions or looking for appointments, then you don’t want them to think you’re ignoring them.
Get ahead Thankfully, there are some in-built tools to help with this. If you’re not already taking advantage of away messages on Facebook, then definitely look at setting these up. This sends an automated response (that you can personalise) when people message your page at designated times of the day. Use these messages to explain the current situation and why you might not be able to respond as quickly as you’d like – but also, try to set a realistic timescale on when you will be able to reply. Instagram’s “quick replies” function can also be helpful here. While not automated, it can speed up the process of replying to questions about appointments, safety and other topics. You can also pin relevant posts to the top of your Facebook or Twitter page to keep people up to date.
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Making sure that clients feel safe and confident in coming back to salons is obviously going to be important as well. This is another case where social can really help you get that message across quickly and easily. Show the changes you’ve made to your systems to fit in with the guidance available. A walk-through video of the “new” salon experience can explain that brilliantly. If you inject your own personality in to that video, it will also remind clients that while some things may have changed in the salon, the people behind it have not. If you’re not confident with video, photos will do the job too. What’s important is that you’re showing clients what you’ve done, as well as just saying what you’ve done in text.
Set the date And just as salons might be too busy to respond to questions on social media, creating content might also be a task that’s pushed to the side. If you can take a bulk set of “safe re-opening” photos or videos early on, make use of scheduling tools to fill out your calendar for the first couple of weeks of re-opening. Just remember, no matter what kind of content you’re putting up, make certain that the guidelines are being followed with good PPE and social distancing (where possible) on show. If you upload content that doesn’t show this, it could undermine clients’ confidence. PB
