To many people, sunless tanning is still a mystery. An abundance of outdated information, opinions and stigmas regarding sunless tanning is creating a barrier between tanning salons and new and existing customers. Since the 1970s, when the FDA first approved DHA for use in self-tanning products, our industry has evolved and grown tremendously; but many people’s knowledge and opinion of sunless tanning has not.
How can we reach these uneducated consumers, whether they be lifelong sunless users or special event tanners, and educate them about the sunless industry of today? We can utilize the power of social media!
You might be asking some questions right now: Why social media? How can it be educational? Following are some ways social media can be a powerful educational tool for our industry.
- About two-thirds of adults have at least one social media account.* Being on one or more social platforms allows your salon to meet your current and potential customers where they are and be a part of their daily lives. Chances are, most of you reading this already have several platforms and a large following of sunless and UV tanners waiting to be educated!
- Salon operators can be creative, informal and fun when talking about products and services. This comes across to consumers as less selling-focused and more about creating connections and sharing information. When product education is done creatively, people are more likely to read or watch, and then they learn!
- Consumers don’t have to follow your salon account to see and learn about your products and services. When mutual friends or followers like or share your post, it becomes more likely to appear on other’s feeds. So, not only are you reaching your current customers, but potential customers, too!
- Educating the masses is easy. Followers can share your posts with others, ask you questions and refer to information again and again. Now, you might find yourself asking just one more question: What does my team have to do to start educating potential and current customers on social media?
- Start compiling a list. Think of the questions you and your staff hear about sunless; also include information you wish your clients knew before they come in for a sunless session (i.e. shave at least 24 hours prior). Use this list when creating educational posts!
- Use pictures to tell a message. So, you want people to know they should shave 24 hours before a spray-tan? Instead of typing this message out in the “Notes” application on your phone and posting it, try taking or finding a picture of a razor against a fun and colorful background. Followers are far more likely to stop scrolling to look at photos and videos than plain text.
- Monitor. Social media is a convenient and discrete way for people to ask questions, so check all platforms daily for comments and messages. Customers really appreciate how replies are quick and in “real time.” These questions and feedback can be added to your list for future posts.
*Perrin, Andrew. “Social Media Usage: 2005-2015.” Pew Research Center. N.p., 8 Oct. 2015. Web.
*Perrin, Andrew. “Social Media Usage: 2005-2015.” Pew Research Center. N.p., 8 Oct. 2015. Web.
