How to Promote Your Salon on Social Media in a Half-Hour a Day

As you probably know by now, social media is one of the best ways to promote your nail salon and attract new clients to your business. On social media, you can showcase a portfolio of your work, introduce yourself to new clients, share behind-the-scenes videos, and announce your promotions and offers.

However, it can be a double-edged sword. Business owners know how important it is, and yet it’s challenging to find the time to post regularly. When you’re busy doing nails and running a business, Instagram and Facebook tend to get ignored. But if you stay organized and plan it out in advance, you can ensure that your salon’s social media profiles stay fresh and are consistently bringing in appointments.

Here is what your nail salon should be doing on Facebook and Instagram daily, weekly, and monthly in order to make the best use of your time and make the most impact. 

 

Daily Social Media Activities

I recommend that you don’t post to social media daily, which is not what you’d expect. Instead, I recommend that every day you take photos and film videos which you can then pick from and schedule out once a month. I’ll show you how to do this later. 

In total, you don’t need to spend more than half an hour each day on social media activities. Here are the most important things I recommend you do each day:

Take client photos. Try to get into the habit of taking several photos of each client that comes in. This should only take one minute per client. For the best results, get photos from different angles and make sure that you have good lighting. Once you’ve taken the photos, store them in Dropbox or Google Drive for safe keeping because you won’t be posting them until later.

Respond to comments and messages on social media. Check in once a day on your social media comments and messages; it’s so important to be responsive. Respond to comments on your Facebook and Instagram posts and check your direct messages. If you allow clients to book an appointment via Facebook Messenger, which I recommend, check your phone regularly to respond to booking requests promptly. This should only take two minutes per day. 

Take a few photos around your salon. Your social media posts shouldn’t just show your work on clients. Every day, try to take a few photos of you and your staff, details around your salon, your retail products, and more. 

Do short videos for Instagram stories. This is the only type of content I recommend you do post “spur of the moment” instead of scheduling it. Fun little videos that show the “behind the scenes” of your salon are perfect to post on Instagram daily. 

If you have Facebook ads, check up on them. Advertising on Facebook is hands down my favorite way of attracting new clients through your doors. If you’re running Facebook ads, you need to check in on their progress daily to make sure that they’re working effectively and you’re making appointments and money from them. This should only take a minute or two.

 

Weekly Social Media Activities

If you’re focused on your own social media on a daily basis — which you should be — it’s also important every once in a while to see what other beauty businesses are up to.

In addition, make sure that you’re regularly learning and upgrading your social media skills. When it comes to business and marketing, there is so much to learn!

I recommend spending one hour per week on these extra activities which will boost your overall knowledge and inspire you when it comes to Facebook and Instagram:

Get inspiration from other Instagram feeds. Go ahead and spend half an hour each week to see what other nail salons, nail educators, or fashion bloggers are posting on Instagram. You’re sure to get a bunch of ideas to use for your own posts. 

Read, watch, and educate yourself about social media and marketing. I recommend you get in the habit of learning new marketing strategies and techniques on a weekly basis. Spend one hour reading a blog post, watching YouTube videos, or attending webinars about marketing. My Sunnystorm Marketing blog (sunnystorm.marketing/blog) has a bunch of salon marketing articles to get you started. 

Create a “valuable” piece of content like instructional videos or longer educational posts. Once a week, create a piece of content that becomes a regular habit. You could do a weekly Facebook Live video where you film yourself doing a client’s nails, a weekly “style update” where you discuss what’s hot for nail designs right now, or an educational post about nail health. 

 

Monthly Social Media Activities

Pick a day of the month — try to keep it consistent — and put it in your calendar to get your social media content done and out of the way for the upcoming month. Scheduling out your content for the next 30 days is the best way to keep your social media consistent, beautiful, and thoughtful, instead of rushed at the last minute. 

These activities should take between two and four hours per month: 

Come up with a calendar of what you’ll be promoting this month. This could include special monthly offers you’re running, services related to that season, or special holidays coming up. You’ll want to include these in your scheduled posts. 

Pick out your top photos from the past month and edit them if necessary. I highly recommend that you use Adobe Lightroom or Snapseed on your phone to brighten up your photos, crop them if needed, and make them look beautiful.

Schedule your Facebook and Instagram posts in advance. This will not only save you a ton of time, it will actually make your social media profiles stronger. Your Instagram feed will look more intentional with photos that complement each other. Your captions will flow better, and you’ll also avoid last-minute social media panic. I recommend using the free app Later.com to schedule your posts on Instagram and Facebook. 

Send out messages to clients asking if they can review you on Facebook. Apart from scheduling your posts in advance, it’s important to gather positive Facebook reviews on a monthly basis. Social reviews on Facebook and Google help new clients find your business and decide to book with you. Once a month, send out an email to your top clients from that month asking if they would leave you a recommendation on Facebook or Google. 

Plan out your Facebook ads for the month. Just like your regular social posts, it’s important to plan out your Facebook ads for the month (if you plan on investing in advertising). If there are any special promotions you’ll be running that month, or special holidays coming up, why not plan a Facebook ads campaign around them to bring in even more appointments? 

 

Between Appointments

When you have some free time between appointments, here are even more activities you can do to boost your social media:

• Find your clients on Instagram and follow them.

• Refresh your Instagram bio to reflect your monthly promotion.

• Post your special promotions in local Facebook groups (if allowed by the admins).

• Update your Facebook “About” section to make sure it’s current.

• Invite your friends, family, or clients to like your page on Facebook.

• Update your Facebook cover photo to reflect your current promotions.

• Research new hashtags to use on Instagram, particularly local hashtags that will get more local viewers of your posts.

 

Stephanie Mitchell is the owner of Sunnystorm Marketing (www.sunnystorm.marketing), which specializes in helping beauty businesses grow their client base and brand themselves online. You can find more advice on her blog at www.sunnystorm.marketing/blog.