As the online world continues to develop, salons must adapt to frequent changes. Facebook has been an important marketing tool for many salons, but how much time should you invest in Facebook now?
The past few years of changes in the social media market have led analysts to say that Facebook advertising may no longer be worthwhile (gasp!). It seems many people are growing disinterested with this form of socializing due to the increasing number of people who only use Facebook to whine about what’s wrong in their lives. But this doesn’t mean you should give up on building a group of Facebook fans or a community around which you can create awareness. The key is to find balance in the amount of time you spend on Facebook, based on what you know about your target market.
Let’s say you have a good number of Facebook fans. Did you know that only about 16% of them actually see your posts? Analysts believe it is because too many businesses post “spammy” or uninteresting updates, which may cause fans to simply tune a brand out. Before looking at ways to improve the visibility of your posts, let’s look at how people use Facebook.
How users are putting Facebook to work
Facebook is not a marketplace (yet). Instead, it is a controlled way for people to connect with existing friends. Most users I know completely ignore the ads, and use Facebook to interact with people they already know, not to look for new contacts. The point is that Facebook is a relational tool, not so much an advertising platform. So you should plan on spending time building connections and rapport, not just blasting posts with your latest specials.
Generally, news breaks first on Twitter because it is accessible and simple. Instead of only connecting with established friends, users can tweet with famous people, organizations and businesses that they would otherwise be unable to have a personal connection with. If the goal is fast exposure, Facebook lacks the speed and accessibility that businesses need to reach customers.
The investment decision
To decide how much time, if any, to invest in Facebook, study your salon’s target customer. Ask them. Do they use Facebook? How often? Do they use another social network more often? Do some soul searching. Has your salon seen any benefit from Facebook? Review your marketing strategy to see if your time and resources could be spent more effectively elsewhere.
The key lies in determining whether you should use Facebook as a relationship builder or just have a simple presence where people can find you if they search for you. There really is very little in between – either you build aggressively or let it sit. If you try to build a Facebook community halfway, it will be a huge waste of time.
If you do decide that Facebook can benefit your salon, the following are some keys to making your efforts more efficient:
- Post updates that are completely unexpected or different – take people by surprise with humor or another specific brand voice that will stick with and interest people.
- Not all posts need to be related to your salon. Facebook is about building relationships, remember? Figure out what info your customers love to see or read about and share it!
- Make certain discounts and coupons available only on Facebook to encourage users to keep an eye on you.
- Make sure every update includes an image or video, if possible.
- Do not post every day. Update consistently but not as frequently as you would on Twitter. As a salon, you may only need to post once or twice a week.
- Post when people are on Facebook! Statistically, the best times are weekends by far, followed by evenings and early mornings.
- Use the Promote button for your most important posts to push them to the top of the news feed. Yes this does cost money, with the exact rate depending on your geographic location and how many users you wish to reach, but can be worth it for certain posts.
If your target audience is engaged on Facebook and your salon is about building relationships before and after the sale, then Facebook could very well be one of the best investments of time you could make. But if you’re looking for quick, non-relational advertising opportunities, you’ll likely find other sites and social media platforms offer more effective means of connecting with customers.
