8 Ways To Use Social Media To Increase Client Loyalty In Salons And Spas
Are you looking to gain some loyal clients through social media channels? You’re in the right place!
This is a real fact: it costs 5x more to obtain a new customer than to keep an existing one. Many businesses have different ways of measuring customer loyalty. The most common way is to look at the number of purchases over a customer’s lifetime.
Why do you think I say that loyal customers are your most valuable ones? Because they may not be big purchasers, but if you make a clear analysis, the revenue from them is bigger than the one from one-time clients. Not to mention that the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 – 70%, while the probability of selling to a new prospect is just 5-20%.
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, are a great way to engage with your current and potential customers. By being active on socials, you can spread awareness about your services, and build your brand loyalty by making public why you are unique, why they should choose you.
All the industries tend to use more and more social media platforms in order to promote their businesses. Therefore, it is crucial to know how to connect with customers and use those platforms in a way that customers will enjoy.
In this article, you’re going to find out how to use social media to increase client loyalty in your salon and spa business.
- Use Client Testimonials
Testimonials are one of the best ways to show people you care about their voice. It was never easier to promote yourself and make people feel valued at the same time!
Tips and tricks:
You can collect priceless information and people’s opinion about your services, edit them in a design tool like Canva -which is free, by the way-, and post them on social media.
According to Bigcommerce, 72% of consumers say positive testimonials and reviews increase their trust in a business.
Here’s how this salon scheduling app is designing client’s testimonials. Isn’t it pretty? 🙂 By the way, clients who see themselves on your profile tend to create more engagement and to be more loyal to your brand.
- Post Before and after photos
Why are they so important? Because before and after photos are a real proof that you provide quality services.
Just think about the moment you decide to go or not to a doctor: first of all, you search him online to see what kind of results he has and how good services he provides.
Your beautiful clients do just the same. They search your Facebook or Instagram photos to see how close you are to satisfy their needs.
A Vendasta statistic says that 88% of consumers consider that reviews influence their online purchasing decisions.
For example, @portiacreativehair uses to post awesome before and after photos with hair styles they do to clients, and they really have a big engagement on their social media page.
So, if you didn’t post yet some before and after photos in your job, it’s time to start. Here’s how to do it step by step.. 🙂
- Make Giveaways
Online influencers have developed this trend and it is pretty loved by women all over the world. Offering a giveaway with a relevant service or product at your salon or spa is the best. Why? Because it automatically creates a list of targeted customers interested in your business.
Tips and tricks:
Whether you offer them hair products, creams, or some other beauty products, you will know exactly that the majority of people who reach you in that giveaway are your own audience, and your online audience means your possible physical clients.
From there, you can reach out to them directly with relevant offers through targeted ads, even after the giveaway ends. It will be your long lasting “contact book”.
For example, Arx Salon created a giveaway in which they offered to the winner a Free hair makeover. The participants entered the competition by following three steps: like, tag and comment. On the one hand, that created engagement on their social media page, and on the other hand, they attracted on their profile exactly their audience: women in love with beautiful hair.
- Organize Contests
Like giveaways, contests are great for driving high levels of engagement and generating valuable user-generated content for your social media profiles.
In an online contest, winners are chosen based on the merit of their entry. A contest could require participants to do several things such as submit a photo or to complete any other action or task that can be judged on performance for a chance to win a prize.
Tips and tricks:
Contests can be used to increase the purchase of your products in a certain period. This means you can run contests in which you ask users to publish creative photos of themselves with your products, “making-off” videos with your product, etc. Are you ready to run the best content ever on your social media? 🙂 Put your creativity in action!
According to Vyper, a giveaway or a contest is beneficial because it reaches:
- New followers & subscribers on social profiles
- Social traffic from shares
- New awareness from tagging friends on Instagram
- User generated content from people uploading images and video
- New customers as the posts that were asked to share were promotional posts to purchase.
For example, as NBC’s Dateline was close to the million “like” mark on Facebook, it created a “One in a Million” contest. To enter, participants had to say why they deserved to win a special “New York experience”.
- Make Time For Live Q&As
Your clients or potential clients may have lots of questions for you about the service you provide, but writing an email or a DM on Facebook is already out of style and less probably to get an answer to.
Q&A sessions on Instagram stories and How To videos have become more and more popular this year.
Tips and tricks:
Well, you should schedule some time once a week to receive questions and answer all of them on your Instagram story. Clients will be satisfied about that and will be more likely to come to your place sooner than you think. Why? Simply because with some kind of answers, you can make them curious. 🙂
What’s more, constantly communicating with your clients contributes to maintaining a good relationship with them and, of course, brings them more loyal to your brand. So, don’t be shy or lazy to be active on socials. You have all the reasons in the world to do so. 🙂
Surya Spa organized a Q&A session with Martha Soffer, Ayurvedic Panchakarma expert, where she encouraged people to write the questions in the comments section. After that, she provided all the elementary information in the spa industry to her followers. Watch the video below and see what a stunning live Q&A they did:
- Offer Vouchers
Clients aren’t born loyal. They become loyal because you did something to earn their loyalty. Another good technique to increase client loyalty in your business is taking the chance to thank them for their purchase. You can offer them a discount on their next appointment, a gift card, some creative ”how to’s” to use the product, and so on.
Another great way is to promote on social media a “referring a friend” campaign. That means giving a card for two persons, with a discount for the person who recommended
you to someone else.
Tips and tricks:
People love discounts and free stuff, so there’s no better way to make them become loyal than a “referring a friend” discount. You can create the cards too in Canva. Take advantage of the free card templates in the program and get ready to get into a win-win situation. 🙂
This is how Cocoon Medical Spa gives “refer a friend” vouchers: once a referred friend signs up on the website and completes their first treatment, then you will receive a $20 voucher which you can spend on any product, package or service in their salon.
- Buy A Selfie Station
People love to share everything they see on their social media profiles. Therefore, why not make them want to share something in your spa or beauty salon?
Create your own selfie place, personalize it and let people enjoy taking photos in your business place. By doing so, they will not only put in practice a spa marketing idea for free, but they will also show other people they trust you.
Tips and tricks:
By setting up a fun selfie station in your salon, and why not encourage them to use a personalized hashtag, you make them want to take a photo of themselves to share on social media. It costs you almost nothing and it has a huge impact on your salon or spa business. Here’s an idea of how to do it.
- Inform Your Audience
As a beauty or a wellness salon, don’t forget to share on your social media channels useful, relevant information such as hairstyle trends, massage techniques, x ways why something is beneficial for the body, how to maintain a healthy hair, etc.
Those information show that you know gold things in your industry, that you’re a real professional and, most importantly, that you’re generous enough to share them with the others.
As a conclusion…
Don’t forget: one of the most important marketing principles says that “it is cheaper to maintain loyal customers than it is to find new ones.”
There are many ways to increase customer loyalty in your salon and spa business. Don’t forget:
- 72% of consumers say positive testimonials and reviews increase their trust in a business;
- Before and after photos are a real proof that you provide quality services;
- Giveaways and contests help you reach new followers and subscribers and contribute to generating original content;
- Q&A live sessions on social media contributes to maintaining a good relationship with clients and brings them more loyal to your brand;
- People love discounts and free stuff, so there’s no better way to make them become loyal than vouchers;
- People share everything they see on their social media profiles: a selfie station in your salon or spa might be a great marketing strategy;
- Sharing information on social media shows that you know gold things in your industry, and that you’re a real professional.
Last but not least, you’re the little marketer in your business, so do it like a master. 🙂
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Diana Muresan is a Marketing Specialist and Copywriter based in Romania, Europe. She covers small business topics with a focus on beauty and wellness industries. Find her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diana.muresan/ .
