How to set your money on fire with social media
As a salon suite franchise owner, especially for a semi-absentee one, we know social media can feel like an unwanted and even unneeded obligation. For many franchisees who haven't seen the effects of excellent social media management, the benefits may not appear commensurate with the investment. After all, how can posting photos with a sentence or two underneath it make any tangible impact on your business' success? Beyond that, is there a significant difference in outcomes when you spend $1,300 a month vs. $4,000? Is it truly worth it?
As premier social media managers in the salon suite space, we can answer those three questions with a firm yes, yes, and yes. We've seen many salon suite franchise owners allocate bare-bones budgets to stand up an extremely basic social media presence online, and in all honesty, they are usually better off setting their money on fire. A poorly-run, sloppy, inconsistent, and flat social media presence can be worse than no social media presence at all.
The way your social media accounts operate directly represents how potential clients perceive your business and your brand. So, if your Instagram is dull, overly corporate, and executed in a checkbox-style fashion, it will seem as though you don't invest in the brand, the business, or the clients you are trying to attract. This can be a non-starter for many salon pros looking to start their entrepreneurial careers. They use your social media presence to gauge the quality of the business, the brand, and the operators. So unless you are trying to entice the bargain-hunting “let’s see if this might work” segment of the salon pro market, underinvestment in social media will simply not serve your business goals.
Conversely, if you invest appropriately in your social presence, it can do more than just make it appear like you have your ducks in a row. A strong social media presence can:
Attract top talent by acting as a member of the community and interacting with the rockstars where they do most of their own marketing.
Build a sense of community within your locations - which improves client satisfaction and reduces churn.
Boost morale among your salon pros, so they feel they made the right decision in where to grow their salon business - making them more likely to recommend your salon suites to their peers.
Educate the salon pros with tips and tricks on being better business owners, thus protecting your bottom line.
These direct yet hard-to-measure effects, while seemingly ethereal, make a tangible impact: filling your open suites faster and keeping them full longer. These secondary effects influence your bottom line and can reduce the amount you need to spend on online ads, mailers, and other forms of advertising. It also has one priceless side effect - peace of mind. With a specialized social media team and a high-performing operator, you can know that your business is taken care of both in-person and online.
If you’re tired of what seems like throwing your money into what seems like the “black hole of social media” and want to start seeing the upsides it can provide, contact us today through the button below!