How to use Instagram Stories to showcase your salon or spa services | Email Marketing
Instagram Stories are taking over the social media world. In fact, according to Business Insider, Instagram Stories boasts over twice as many daily users as Snapchat, clocking in at 400 million. With this much daily usage, you can bet there is a place for you and your salon or spa service business if you learn how to use Instagram Stories. In fact, 80 percent of social media users follow at least one business on social media. Why not make that business yours?
How to use Instagram Stories to stand out
How do you stand out among the 400 million users and make sure your social media content gets to the people who need to see it? Read on for five easy ways to use Instagram Stories to showcase your salon or spa services.
Make engaging content and actually engage.
Understand analytics to make informed decisions about how to use Instagram Stories.
Tag your Instagram Stories.
Use Instagram Stories highlights.
Maximize your words.
Ready to get started? Follow these five steps to create standout Stories.
1. Make engaging content and actually engage
No matter the social platform, content is always king. That means the first step in any social media plan is to always have engaging content.
Think about what sets your spa or salon apart and show that to your customers.
Do you have the best nail art designs in town? The most relaxing foot massage? Blowouts that turn every woman into a supermodel? Show that off with pictures and videos.
Make short video clips of your products and services in action that will entice your users not only to watch your Instagram Stories, but to actually buy your services. Every day, behind-the-scenes shots of your salon or spa make great content. Just make sure your shots are clear and well lit, and leave your viewers wanting more.
Also look for outside tools to make your story more visually appealing. Unfold is an app that helps you create simple and beautiful Stories. Or, if you are really creative, Canva is a free online and app-based tool for making polished graphics yourself. These tools, along with photo and video editing apps, can help you achieve a custom look that you can’t get with the standard filters.
Engagement is a two-way street. If you want more people to engage with your content, engage with others’ content first.
That’s the social part of social media!
Use your brand page to comment on related posts and Stories in your community. The more your name is out there, the more traffic will come your way. But make sure these are impactful comments and not generic spam messages that will be deleted. Just a few minutes a day looking through and genuinely connecting with customers can make a big difference in your own engagement.
Related: Why Instagram Stories makes sense for small businesses
2. Understand analytics to make informed decisions about how to use Instagram Stories
Instagram business pages (versus personal pages) come with powerful built-in analytics tools for posts as well as Instagram Stories. Each day, you’ll get a notification with how many people viewed your story, but take a look deeper. In the insights page of your profile, there is information about how many people exited or forwarded that particular post.
Keep an eye on these statistics and look for patterns.
Do people respond well to your boomerangs or behind-the-scene videos of you talking, or are they most interested in finished looks? Use this data to create the content you know your target audience will love.
Also, take a look at the audience tab. You can learn important information about who is actually seeing your content — down to the gender, age and location of your audience.
Additionally, and most importantly, Instagram provides data on the best times to post.
You don’t want to spend the time recording and uploading content to social media, just for no one to see it. Plan on releasing your content at peak hours for the most engagement.
Related: How to use digital content marketing to grow awareness, trust and sales
3. Tag your Instagram Stories
Did you know that Instagram Stories using with location and hashtags receive more engagement? By simply adding your location or a relevant hashtag, users will be able to find your content through the search function. Instagram may even select your content to be featured in an aggregated hashtag or location posts which means your salon or spa service content will be seen even further.
With Instagram constantly adding new social tools, there will always be more ways to engage creatively.
When a new feature is released, try it out — even if it turns out to not be your thing. Right now, try adding a few animated gifs to your story, ask a question, mention a brand or person, or even let people know what music you are playing. And then dig into your insights again to see how they performed.
4. Use Instagram Stories highlights
The highlights feature allows your Story content to live on past 24 hours. This branding tool allows you to group and save your Instagram Stories for easy viewing at any time. For example, you can save your posts about your spa’s or salon’s new fall line or customer testimonials.
Highlights live at the top of your page, so they are one of the most important pieces of your profile. Customize your cover image and use a short, descriptive title, so viewers immediately know what they are looking at. Be sure to only highlight your best content.
Social media users have short attention spans, so your highlight Stories shouldn’t be unbearably long.
Content also should be kept new and fresh. Since your Instagram Stories are automatically archived, it’s easy to add or replace content.
5. Maximize your words
Aside from the actual pictures posted on Instagram Stories, the few places for words you have are powerful — starting with your bio. You only have 150 characters to tell people why your salon or spa service business is the best, so use them wisely. This GoDaddy article suggests you don’t use full sentences. Instead, choose a few industry keywords, your product/service differentiation and the ever important call to action to include in your bio.
A call-to-action leads people to actually interact with your service in real life.
Think about the purpose of your social media presence. After someone finds your page and is blown away by your Instagram Stories content, what do you want them to do?
Call to book a consultation? Visit your site to shop? Walk in for a service? Address that purpose in your bio and direct them to the best way to contact you. Make sure your website, email, phone and any other contact options you use are listed in your bio for easy access.
Related: Why it’s time to revisit and revamp your website contact page
Try it out
Instagram Stories are a fun way to engage with your customers. Used in the right way, you can constantly remind your current customers and clients how amazing your products and services are, and obtain new ones. Now get social!
Editor’s note: Want to show off your relaxing services without all the stress? Let the experts at GoDaddy Social take over. Not only do they manage your social presence, but they can also help turn a one-time fan into a loyal customer.
The post How to use Instagram Stories to showcase your salon or spa services appeared first on Garage.