Featuring Cynthia Baker, CEO of Saga Haus
It doesn’t matter if you’re a tiny one-person booth rental, or the owner of a sizzling urban mega salon: Social media is not a trend; it’s an absolutely essential part of growing your business. Today, marketing genius, Cynthia Baker, CEO of Saga Haus, will show you how take your career to the stars in 2023 and beyond. Read on for the first installment in this invaluable two-part biz-building series….
Social media: Why do I need it?
Well, there’s the standard answer: Having a social-media presence allows you to stay relevant in the community and posting to your target audience leads to more potential clients. But Cynthia takes that a step further with this explanation. “Imagine the social-media concept in a different industry: You’re scrolling through Instagram, and a post showing a beautifully landscaped front yard grabs your attention. You think to yourself, “Those flower beds are exactly what I’ve been wanting!” So you click on the company’s account to find more inspirational posts to save…and, voilà, this landscaping company happens to be in the same city as you!! Now you glance at their bio, and it reads, “DM for a free consultation!” More than likely you’re going to Direct Message (DM), screenshot their Instagram page, and call the number or save it for future reference.”
“All these social steps lead a consumer to make a buying decision based on services and products that align with their wants, needs, and dreams,” she explains. “It’s the same with hair color and hairstyles. Show off your talent to your community (and surrounding areas) and the clientele will flock to your salon or chair. It’s the difference between keeping your chair in demand with a full schedule and having a slow “how am I going to get new clients” year.”
So how do I get started? Cynthia takes you through the first 4 steps today…
✔️ Define your goals
Do you want to gain new clients, increase followers, become a brand educator, or a hair influencer? Maybe it’s all the above. Establishing your social purpose will carry you through those moments of justifying the time and energy spent on digital marketing. When answering this question, write down the first thing that comes to mind; then take a few moments to think about what your deeper goals are.
✔️ Get those hashtags going
If “new clients” was one of your answers, make sure to optimize your social- media posts with community-based hashtags, such as #losangeles, #miami, #nyc or #austintx to attract customers within your vicinity. Big hashtags like #hairstyle are good for views and likes, but they are also global hashtags, which means they’ll attract viewers outside your salon community. Want a brand to recognize or feature your work? Tag the brand on the actual video or picture, not just in the caption. This will allow your content to populate under the brand’s “tagged” content on Instagram and via Direct Messages.
✔️ How often to post?
At the bare minimum, post once a week, but make them LIVE on Instagram Stories. These LIVES don’t have to be perfect, but can keep you in touch and in the minds of your existing customers. Share daily on Stories – i.e., behind the scenes of the salon, customer testimonials on how much the love their hair, feature a product, or give a seasonal styling tip to your audience.
✔️ Now do the math
What’s a normal work-week for you look like on your schedule? 12 clients? 24? And how many of those clients’ hair transformations would you want to capture? 50%? 25%? Time to crunch the numbers: Let’s pretend you have 5 clients a week who would qualify for content creation. That means you’ll have 20 posts for the month. And just like that — your posting frequency is established. (Pro Tip: The more you post the faster you grow and the more clients opportunities you have!)
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