Facebook and Instagram for Salons
Intro, tips, guides & examples

Social media marketing for salons

Facebook and Instagram are the best free marketing tools for salons, spas & clinics.

But many salon owners do not recognise the amazing potential of social media in increasing income and attracting new clients.

salonguru has been working with over 220 salons, spas & clinics and has 20 years of experience in social media marketing for salons.

This page provides useful information on how to effectively market your salon on social media, giving you social media marketing tips, and links to detailed salon social media guides, with examples of how to market your salon or spa using Facebook and Instagram.

Salon marketing using Instagram - a guide for hair & beauty salons

Instagram is simple to use and allows you to showcase your work, inspire others, be inspired, keep up with industry trends and keep an eye on what your competition are up to!

Before you start setting up or improving your salon's Instagram, ask yourself these questions: "If your perfect client were to browse the pictures on your Instagram feed, would they feel your salon is a place they'd enjoy? Would they be excited by the images, products, team pictures, salon images you have posted?"

If you are sadly shaking your head, then you know it's time to improve your salon Instagram page!

The best images for Instagram - Make sure you crop into the image so there is not too much background on show. This will give your image more impact.  When using before & after images, do NOT combine those images into one shot. Let the audience scroll between two or more images.  

Encourage salon team engagement - Instagram is a great opportunity to motivate your team.  If one of your stylists has created a stunning haircut or colour, share it on Instagram, making sure that you mention them personally and tag them in. Many of our Salon Guru clients incorporate Instagram within team pages on their websites to help potential salon clients identify with a particular stylist.

Encourage clients to share their hair images on Instagram - Is there a way to encourage your clients to #snapaselfie in your salon,  place it on their Instagram feed, and then tag you in?  This is the perfect way to grow your following within your local community.  Think of incentives to encourage this - maybe offer a free in-salon treatment as a reward or perhaps run a competition.

Use your best salon images on Instagram - Instagram offers inspiration for stylists and clients, so think about image quality and make the most of filters and cropping tools when necessary.  Whilst suppliers that you work with will be happy to provide professional model images, your clients will also expect to see #snappedinthesalon style visuals and before & afters. Read our guide The Rules For Taking Salon Before & After Photographs.

Reflect your salon brand & personality on Instagram - Whilst Instagram should certainly be a place to showcase your work and products - remember not to bombard your followers with advertising material. There needs to be a mix.  Consider adding some fun or inspirational sayings or memes too, or reels and videos! 

Be fun, informative & educational - Enhance the client experience and build your reputation as an expert.  For example, why not be a ‘hair doctor’ and show DIY 15-second videos, weekly blow-dry tips, or share product knowledge for specific hair types or problems?

Be #hashtag savvy - Hashtags are a fabulous social tool that allows us to become part of global communities ( #wella), global conversations (#balayage), or help you to be found locally (#yourlocaltown).  Try not to over-use hashtags and always make sure they are relevant to the image or video you are using.

Facebook for salons the basics

While Instagram only allows you to post photos and videos, Facebook lets you post photos and videos, articles, quizzes, website links, and longer videos.  You can respond to client comments and generally be more engaging on Facebook. 

Set up your Facebook page - Create a Facebook page for your salon. Add the basic information including the name of your salon, a photo of your salon, contact details, online booking link.  To find out how to set up a Facebook page, click here.

Encourage followers - Promote your new Facebook page to your clients.  If you have lots of email addresses, send out a newsletter with a link to your Facebook page, asking them to 'Like' and 'Share' your page with their friends and family. 

Add great videos, photos & captions - Showcase your salon, before & after hair images, videos of team members having fun working, hair or beauty tips, products, memes,  inspiring or fun quotes.  Make sure your captions are clear and include a Call To Action on many of the images along the lines of 'Call our salon on XXXX to book now' or 'Book Online here'. 

Before & after images - Make sure you get the client's permission before sharing their hair images. 

Hashtags - Hashtags turn topics and phrases into clickable links in your posts. This helps people find posts about topics they're interested in. To make a hashtag, write # before the topic. Here are some examples #balayage #Wella #blondes

Encourage people to comment - Think of captions that will encourage people to comment and share the image.  Ask a question such as Pixie Cut, Bob or Layers?  What's your favourite look?

Geotagging - Geotags share your location which could send people to your salon.  To geotag a photo you already have on Facebook, browse to the photo, click "Options" near the bottom of the picture and select "Add location." Fill in the "Where Was This Photo Taken?" box on the right and click "Done Editing."

Post testimonials - Create a lovely image using your branding to showcase your client reviews.  Add up to 3 a week.  

Post regularly - Post at least once a day, preferably twice daily.

Make a note of your followers - Keep an ongoing check on how many followers you have from day 1.  You'll soon have a growing network of  followers.  While you're there, check out what your competitors are posting!

Attract new salon clients & recruit staff

Advertising on social media can generate impressive results, particularly if you are looking for new salon clients or want to promote a new service or stylist with an impressive hair or beauty offer. Recruitment advertising can also work well as it allows you to get the message out to all Facebook and Instagram users in your location that you are looking to recruit new staff. 

Salon Guru has won awards for the social media adverts we run for salons.  One award-winning New Client Social Media Campaign generated £276,000 ($340,000) over 12 months - bringing 4132 new clients into the salon.  The cost per client acquisition was just £3 ($3.70), which makes this an incredibly effective use of your advertising budget!