Educator and salon owner Missy Megginson (@soyoureahairstylist) shares tips you can use to market your salon locally.
There has been talk of “growth” on social media for as long as I can remember. Grow your numbers, grow your engagement and the list goes on. What if I offered an alternative focus for you? This is the part where I would insert a smirking face emoji if I could.
What if instead of talking about growth, we started talking about intention?
How much more intention would it add to your marketing efforts if you started focusing on the community around you versus only what you can see through your phone?
Aren’t those the actual people who come and sit in our chairs anyway?
We often talk about the major impact that stylists have in the lives of our clients, and we have the incredible opportunity to actually expand that impact and influence to our community. And the best part? It actually is a huge catalyst for your business!
Insert my big push for us to lean into focusing on local marketing. Here we go! I have three steps that you can implement NOW to start focusing your marketing efforts with more of a local strategy in mind.
[1] Create an “engagement pod." So, if you don’t know that term, it’s basically where a group of people would join together and all cheer on each other’s social media posts. It’s a pretty big thing in the hair and blogging industry specifically. If your goal is to build your actual business behind the chair, having other stylists who live thousands of miles away comment on your posts while you comment back on theirs doesn’t ACTUALLY move the needle in your local efforts. Does it feel good and feel like you have a community? Sure!
However, if you build a pod with five local businesses around you where you all have similar missions and ideal clients, how cool would it be to cheer each other on online for your community to see? That’s taking age-old networking and turning it digital.
[2] Collaborate with local influencers. One of my favorite things that we did when I first opened my salon was a Valentine’s Day-themed event to promote blowouts. We invited some local influencers who all have their own digital businesses with audiences who matched our target market and spent an evening collaborating. We promoted each other on our respective social channels and created content.
When it can be a win-win for all parties involved, that’s true networking and true collaboration. Not to mention, it can also be a recipe for a good time.
[3] Get friendly with Google. I cannot stress this enough, but Google is your friend. I know I am going rogue now hopping off of the “social media” tip, but marketing should always be about the goal you are trying to achieve and how to spread awareness around that goal.
If our goal is to be gaining new clients, we should be promoting our salon’s brand or our personal brand within our area. The quickest way to get us there is by taking full advantage of every avenue we can. The research that I have seen goes one of two ways, but it almost always goes BOTH ways.
Clients become aware of you on social media, then Google you. Clients Google you and then check your social media.
Just for funsies, I’m adding in a third option where a client was referred to you via “word of mouth,” and in that case, they are very likely to Google you to see what you’re all about.
Don’t sleep on Google. You can actually repurpose your Instagram posts into Google My Business posts so that you have a robust representation of what you’re all about just by being searched.
A Community Focus
My goal this year is to remind us that it’s the community around our spaces and our salons that actually contribute and build to our business. So often, it’s easy to get caught up in paying attention to what’s happening on the other side of the country or the world, for that matter. I’m on a mission to bring us a little bit closer to home with how we think about what we post and market our businesses. After all, my local community is what helped me build a career I am proud to have for 19 years.
