
Welcome to the Salon Ownerโs Podcast, Phorest FM Episode 18. Co-hosted by Killian Vigna and Zoรฉ Bรฉlisle-Springer, this show is a mix of interviews with industry thought-leaders, roundups of our most recent salon owners marketing tips & tricks, all the latest in and around Phorest and what upcoming webinars you can join. Phorest FM is produced every Monday morning for your enjoyment with a cup of coffee on your day off.
Phorest FM Episode 18
Having an Instagram page is really important for businesses today, but getting people on your page is not always easy. We have some tips to increase engagement on your Instagram business page, and help users become more aware of your brand name. In addition to that, host Killian Vigna has written an ebook that covers the basics and essential information a salon owner needs to know about SMS marketing. The highlights are covered through this episode, and youโll find out how you can get your hands on a free copy.
Related:
- 10 Tips To Perk Up Engagement On Your Salon Instagram Profile
- Get Your Copy: The Ultimate SMS Marketing Gameplan eBook
- March Salon Marketing Ideas To Please All Clients & Tastes
Audio
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Transcript
Killian Vigna: Welcome to the Phorest FM podcast, episode 18. Iโm your host, Killian Vigna, and today Iโm joined by cohostโฆ
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Zoe Belisle-Springer.
Killian Vigna: In this weekโs episode, Zoe will run through 10 tips to perk up engagement on your salon Instagram profile, and how to get your copy of the ultimate SMS marketing game plan ebook. Weโll run through some last minute marketing ideas to get your clients in more over the St Patrickโs weekend, along with your salonโs marketing prep for Motherโs Day. And, as always, we top of the show with our upcoming Phorest Academy webinars. This podcast is produced every Monday morning for your enjoyment with a cup of coffee on your day off. Now, letโs get into the show.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Good morning.
Killian Vigna: Good morning, Zoe. How are you getting on? Your voice is getting a little bit better, itโs not as rough as last week.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Itโs all right. Itโs all right. Yeah, exactly.
Killian Vigna: Still a few coughing. So I suppose weโll just jump straight into it. The 10 tips to perk up your engagement on Instagram.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Instagram. Yeah. Well, it is a topic that comes back on pretty much any social media platform, so whether youโre on Facebook, on Snapchat, on Instagram, on Pinterest, on Twitter, the same question-
Killian Vigna: Pretty much anything. Yeah.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: The same question always comes back. How do I get more engagement or, how do I get better engagement. Itโs not something that will ever happen overnight, no matter what platform youโre on. We did this blog because Instagram, there is quite a few tips that you can put out that will help out rather quickly, like, withinโฆ Obviously, like I said, not overnight but over a period of six months, youโll see a constant increase in your engagement with these.
Killian Vigna: So what is it they say, itโs a marathon not a sprint? I know itโs actually a hurdle or a steeple chase not a sprint.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: There you go.
Killian Vigna: Because itโs up and down, up and down.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: So, tip number one. We recommend switching to an Instagram business profile and if youโre not really familiar with what that is, basically, itโs the normal โฆ When you sign up for an Instagram normally, you have a normal page, a bit like a Facebook profile, right, for your personal self. An Instagram business profile is something you can add on, itโs only been released a few months ago now, basically, instead of having that regular profile, on your page, clients can contact you through email, they can call you through Instagram or they can check out your location as well, it has like your littleโฆ Your address for your business and you still have that normal website button as well and thereโs space for you to write a spiel of what your page is about.
Killian Vigna: So with that one, is that a case of if you have been using kind of, I suppose, your own personal Instagram page, can you convert it over like Facebook or do you just create a new page now?
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Well, you could but if youโre usingโฆ Like, as first of all, I think you would always use your salon name, so even if it was a personal page with your salon name, itโs just aโฆ
Killian Vigna: Itโs almost like a brand anyway.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, it is a brand so you just convert it and it takes literally 10 seconds, itโs really not that long. You just have to input your personal, like, your business personal information and youโre grand.
Killian Vigna: And theyโve made it easier for you to switch between accounts instead of having to log out, log back in, not anymore.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Itโs so easy now. Yeah.
Killian Vigna: Cool.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: So tip number two, post consistently but make sure itโs quality. Thereโs nothing new there. Thatโs pretty much like on every other platform but Instagram does kind of prefer polished content, so the better quality on Instagram, the more engagement youโll get as well.
Killian Vigna: Yeah. Well, itโs all about image, itโs making your images look good and stand out, I suppose.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Killian Vigna: Oh, and if youโre going to do it consistently, make sure you mix up the content as well so donโt be repetitive.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, exactly. Tip number 3. Interact with other users. Respond to comments. I mean, thatโs nothing new as well but Instagram is kind of like a mix between Twitter and Facebook in a way, so it is a very content driven platform but thereโs more to it than that. Thereโs also, like, a conversation thatโs supposed to happen so you have to be mindful of that and itโs not just about interacting with people that are engaging with your page, but also just go through other peopleโs page, other people, like, if itโs โฆ I donโt know, for instance, if youโre going to a trade show, go onto that trade showโs page, look at their things, interact with them, because some people on their page will be interacting with that page and might see your name and then click on your name and go, soโฆ
Killian Vigna: Yeah, and that could benefit in loads of ways.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Exactly, yeah.
Killian Vigna: So, you could beโฆ If youโre seen engaged into several different conversations, youโre going to be seen as the industry leader, youโre going to start gaining new clients because people areโฆ I suppose you become a regular on Instagram for people that donโt know who you are, they see you all the time, they go check you out and then thereโs a new salon.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, exactly and if, you know-
Killian Vigna: So thatโs brand awareness, exposure, stuff like those.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Because when you comment on things, youโre obviously giving a notification to whoever youโre commenting on, so by giving that notification, like, for instance, if Iโm on just my personal feed and just my personal Instagram, Iโll be like, โOoh, whoโs following me nowโ and I just click on it automatically just because Iโm curious, you know?
Killian Vigna: Weโre nosy. Weโre going to go check it out, yeah.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Exactly, so if you do that, more people can be aware that you exist on Instagram, so keep on with that kind of idea, advertise and use relevant hashtags. So, it is a fact that if you use hashtags on Instagram youโre going to reach more people or at least appear in more kind of differentโฆ
Killian Vigna: These arenโt just your standard #nofilter or #sunnyday, yeah.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Try to go for hashtags that are relevant to you or your industry or your salon, so if youโre doing reviews and quotes, excuse me, you could possibly leave #review or something like that.
Killian Vigna: Mix them up. You can alwaysโฆ Quick search on Google, you can actually see what the trending hashtags are at the time and try and get your salon on board with them.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. But you can also use hashtags to research those conversations like I was telling you earlier.
Killian Vigna: Yep.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: If youโre in the research bar and you type in, I donโt know, trade show hair or something like that-
Killian Vigna: It would be just like Twitter.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: And you haveโฆ Exactly.
Killian Vigna: Follow the conversation.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: You can check out a conversation and just kind of interact with that and so youโre not waiting on people to interact with you, youโre actually engaging as well.
Killian Vigna: Yep.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: So thatโs one thing, and then tip five, post during opportune times. If you have switched to a business profile already on Instagram, you have the analytics in there. Thereโs a little insight thing that you can click on and youโll have basically analytics on pretty much everything that can happen on Instagram but the cool part is they show you when your followers are engaging most, so if you see thereโs a massive drop at 3 p.m., perhaps donโt post at 3 p.m., try and post when itโs higher.
Killian Vigna: Yeah, thatโs a really big one there because we always have salon owners coming to us going, โWhenโs the best time to send out this email, this instant message, this Facebook adโ, whatever it is. Itโs all the same. We can only give you a guideline. Think about it, all right, if youโre traveling to work, so, I suppose, 8 to 9, youโre going to be on your phone.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah.
Killian Vigna: Little break, quarter past 11, lunch and then after work hours. Theyโre going to be the peak times when youโre off your phone but you need to use your analytics because your clients are different to our clients.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, exactly.
Killian Vigna: So when you, yourselves, are on social media, so for us, thatโs the good time, but then your clients will be on different times, if that makes sense. You need to use your analytics and work it out yourself. We can give you guideline but everyone is different.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. And if you needed to schedule posts, if you know your opportune times are at times that you canโt actually be on social, you can schedule posts to happen as well, save drafts on Instagram now as well. So tip number 6, tag brands and customers. Itโs becoming kind of a trend in more so the fashion and any kind of clothing industry, right, so, if, for instance, a model would wear a piece of clothing, theyโd tag the brand that made the piece of clothes but you can do this as well for things that you create or looks that you make in your salon. You can just tag the brand that youโve been using, the products that youโve been using because that way, if other people that donโt know you follow those brands, then theyโll know, โOh, this person, oh, this salon uses this brand and I like this brandโ, so itโs just once again creating the conversation and putting yourself out there.
Killian Vigna: It comes back to your brand awareness, as well, yeah.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah.
Killian Vigna: Youโre tagging the brands, youโre seen to be using the best products.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah.
Killian Vigna: The bestโฆ Yeah.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Exactly. And if ever you do anything with models or even any kind of morphโฆ I donโt know how to sayโฆ
Killian Vigna: If you have a sponsored guest treatment or a model or something.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: If you have models in or any kind of eventsโฆ Yeah, something like that, tag everyone.
Killian Vigna: Yeah, tag them, tag everyone.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, exactly.
Killian Vigna: Itโs your opportunity to get out there and especially get them involved as well.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tip number 7, show off your customers. Kind of like the same thing here but show, instead of just putting up, for instance, quotes or just, I donโt know, a picture of products, using your customers, showing that theyโre in your salon and they look happy, people are going to react way more to that than just product images or something like that.
Killian Vigna: Yeah, and like we said, you know when a client comes in to have an appointment with you and then you send that review SMS, thatโs a good chance to, I supposeโฆ
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Get that salon selfie.
Killian Vigna: Get theโฆ Yeah, get the salon selfie, because otherwise youโre just going to have posts of written content and thatโs very heavy looking, especially on your Facebook newsfeed, so if you have the actual image of your client and their review, that would be even better. Or even, we saw one the other day, where someone got the reviews and just put them into a little graphic.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, into a little graphic and it was super cute.
Killian Vigna: Yeah, it makes it open, it really stood out.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Tip number 8, run contests and giveaways. Thatโs always a winner way to do it. Excuse me for the pun there but it is. So Instagram actually doesnโt really punish people like on Facebook when you do likes and shares or tag a friend and like this page and this and that, so you can do that, you know, itโs easy, it takes two seconds and youโre done and you will get traction out of it because who doesnโt like a contest or a giveaway?
Killian Vigna: Well, exactly. Yeah. Free stuff.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, exactly.
Killian Vigna: And this the last one then, is it?
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Well, you skipped one here-
Killian Vigna: Did I skip one?
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Soโฆ Yeah. So, 9, using Instagram stories. Instagram stories actuallyโฆ You know, theyโre kind of a copy of Snapchat when you think of it but they are working.
Killian Vigna: Yeah, I didnโt like them at the start and now Iโm kind of getting there.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah. Yeah.
Killian Vigna: I still havenโt posted one but I will be soon.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: And they will drive more engagement to your page as well because you have a following that you probably donโt necessarily have on Snapchat and because youโre in the app already, you donโt have to go out and do another live on some other platform, so people if they donโt know you and they watch your story and theyโre interested in it, they can click your profile, go straight away and then if you have that business profile, they can contact you straight away.
Killian Vigna: Iโm doing way more nosing around ever since the Instagram stories. Like I said, I havenโt posted one but there would be guys that I wouldnโt usually notice in my newsfeed and now the minute I open Snapchat or Instagram, theyโre appearing straight at the top of it.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah.
Killian Vigna: Itโs like you canโt miss them.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah.
Killian Vigna: Theyโre straight there.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: And thereโs something thatโฆ Iโm still investigating this but, for some reason, if I watch, personally, a story more than a few times, theyโll constantly pop up in my first stories appearing, so if people watch your story more than once and on a regular basis, thereโs quite a good chance that when they open their app, youโre going to pop there as soon as you have a story up.
Killian Vigna: Yeah, it will be just like Facebook, youโre only kind of really showed to your most engaged fans.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, the people youโre engaging more, yeah, with. And then the last tip, creating Instagram ads through Facebook. I canโt really go through that all here because it takes, you know, it takes quite a while and we do have a webinar on this. Well, not just on this, but on Facebook in general and ads and how to create them and such, but Instagram ads run through Facebook, basically. You can create them on your Facebook page and just have them straight away on your profile and that will definitely drive more engagement to your page.
Killian Vigna: And I think you can make an Instagram ad with a video as well, as long as itโs below 60 seconds.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yes. Yeah, exactly.
Killian Vigna: A little top tip on those ad ones there, always use the mobile view.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah. Yeah.
Killian Vigna: When youโre creating them, because that covers you for mobile and Instagram. The desktop, I canโt even remember the last time I was on Facebook on my desktop soโฆ
Zoe Belisle-Springer: There.
Killian Vigna: There you go. Thereโs my tip. So, finishing up on that one and now weโre moving over to the ultimate SMS Marketing Game Plan soโฆ
Zoe Belisle-Springer: The ebook that you wrote.
Killian Vigna: I wrote it with the email SMS guys in Grow, and I wrote it with the training team, so a lot of inputs in there, a lot of content as well. It works for both clients and non-clients. There is a section at the back for clients of Phorest, so how they can actually create SMS campaigns using the system.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Right.
Killian Vigna: But like I said, the majority of this is just the benefits of SMS.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: So, in a nutshell, could Iโฆ If someone had never ever sent an SMS campaign, would they understand a hundred percent of whatโs going on or you kind of need to have a basic knowledge of it?
Killian Vigna: Oh, no, completely. The idea of this book is beingโฆ Itโs stripped right back. Itโs like writing stories for kids. This is basically my attitude. Keep everything simple, short, to the point. Like, it is a big enough ebook but like I said, thereโs a good chunk of that where itโs kind of step by step how to use it through the system, so a couple of things to expect. Weโll highlight the benefit of SMS for your salon, weโll identify the difference between email and SMS, why would you use SMS over email or vice versa, weโll demystify the marketing and transactional SMS or text messages, so your marketing ones, theyโre like your promotional ones or โOh, Iโve a couple of empty spots, Iโll send out an SMS to some clientsโ. Your automated ones, then, they are like appointment reminders, thank yous, review SMSs, so theyโre ones that youโd send out automatically. Thereโs no real promotion, theyโre straight to the point. The client knows exactly what the message is. Weโll explore a client reconnect, so, again, thatโs another feature for our Phorest users, and the idea behind that is if you have a couple of outstanding clients, you just click a button and weโll send an SMS straight out to them to get them back in.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Right. So clients that havenโt been in in a while?
Killian Vigna: Yeah, so it takes, likeโฆ It could beโฆ It takes, like, six weeks worth of data andโฆ Or it takes at least six weeks worth of data, so every time I go into your salon and make an appointment, that gets recorded and the category of the appointment, stuff like those.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Killian Vigna: So it will put me back intoโฆ So, sayโฆ
Zoe Belisle-Springer: So I you havenโt come back in that six weeks thenโฆ
Killian Vigna: Yeah, Iโm just looking at my nails here, covering those sets. So, say I went in for a manicure, six weeks later I havenโt gone in for a manicure since, client reconnect will tell you that Iโm overdue a manicure and send an SMS to get me back in.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: I think heโs due here.
Killian Vigna: So thatโs a little hint, I think I need a manicure. So weโll also understand SMS salon advertising and what it means for your salon, so with thatโฆ Thatโs actually a good section because we have some template SMSs that I actually robbed from Zoe, that sheโd done in a blog, so a couple of templates kind of give you an idea, so, like, Motherโs Dayโs coming up.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: What you can do, yeah.
Killian Vigna: Yeah, even happy birthdays or some cheeky questionnaire campaigns.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Killian Vigna: Then we have โlearn the true value SMS can bring to your salonโ, because it is โฆ People say, โOh, Iโm not doing SMS marketing, itโs going to cost me a fortuneโ. Weโre not sayingโฆ Like, you have 2000 clients, not a hope would I send an SMS to 2000 clients. Iโd send an email to 2000 clients. Iโd probably send them three of them in a month, but with your SMSโฆ SMS is all about targeting and filtered and thatโs what this ebook is really about, so we have two case studies from salons in here and theyโre saying basically they just didnโt understand the true value of it because they were sending out to a couple of hundred and it was costing them an absolute fortune, so the return on investment, they didnโt really see one but they were just sending out one service offer to loads of different people, so it wasnโt actually targeted, if you get me.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, yeah, whereasโฆ Yeah.
Killian Vigna: So now they start doing campaigns, so, like I said, the manicure example, they get 50 clients that are overdue a manicure and they go, โRight, letโs send the SMS out to 50 of themโ. Like SMS, a couple are sent, your return on investmentโs less than a tenner there, or I mean itโs cost you less than a tenner. If one person books, youโve already made over a hundred percent.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Killian Vigna: So we go through how to target and filter and kind of understand that a bit more and then we determine how to structure and create an actual campaign.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: But thatโs all like a walkthrough of if youโre using Phorest System.
Killian Vigna: If youโre using Phorest System. But, again, if youโre a non-client, we have the four golden rules, so personalize, keep it clear and concise, include a timeframe and a strong call to action, give and offer monetary value, so instead of discounting, we flat out refuse discounting, itโs all about offer value, because youโre not going to ask your doctor for a discount so why should you, youโve spent enough years in school for it, and then include an opt-out, so what that is, thatโs going through the spam. So, I suppose, if youโre living in the US or if youโre living in Canada, you have to actually ask your client can you opt them in for marketing and a lot of our US and Canadian clients will understand that now because we have told them to start doing that, or weโve asked them to do that in November, so a lot of people will have three months worth of client database built up there if you started opting your clients in for marketing. Itโs because if you send a marketing campaign to a client in the US or in Canada and they have never given you permission, you could be fined and if you do it again, youโll be fined a hefty amount, so, again, the CAN-SPAM Act 2003 is the US one and then thereโs a Canadian one as well, which is essentially the same.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Just a different name.
Killian Vigna: Just a different name, yeah. So, yeah, check those out.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: So, yeah, and thatโs all available, I mean, thatโs on the blog since today so thatโs all available now and for free, you just have to fill in that little form and get your copy.
Killian Vigna: Yeah, and just before I go, like I said, itโs not about moving from email to SMS because 81% of our highest performing guys actually use SMS and email. Think about it, SMS has a 99% open rate. Use it but use it wisely, Iโd say maybe one, two SMSs to a client a month, with your email, send as many emails as you can usually because we look at the emails as your brand awareness. About 30, 40% of clients are going to open that. For an SMS, nearly a hundred percent. Basically a hundred percent of your clients are going to open that.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, because everyoneโs on your phone anyways, all the time. Yeah.
Killian Vigna: Yeah, so highly recommend that book for everyone. Yeah.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah. So, if we move on to theโฆ Basically we hadโฆ I think we were talking about last minute ideas for St Paddyโs and Motherโs Days in that intro earlier and so basically, like we said before, itโs always best to start promoting things in advance, so, I mean, Motherโs Day is coming up real soon, St Paddyโs as well, St Paddyโs is next weekend, isnโt it?
Killian Vigna: So, yeahโฆ No, St Paddyโs is this weekend.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: This weekend? So you have [crosstalk 00:19:02] oh, Jesus.
Killian Vigna: Exactly, itโs Friday 17th.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah.
Killian Vigna: So, we have here some salon St Patrickโs day ideas.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, like, if you go onto SMS, yeah.
Killian Vigna: Again, more SMS templates.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, we had one here, โWeโre going green this St Paddyโs day. Book now and get whateverโ, a treatment or a service that you want to add on, your link to book and an opt-out, just simple things like that and you can roll competitions and if you havenโt downloaded the March marketing toolkit yet, thatโs on social media and itโs on the blog as well, but thatโs a free marketing toolkit with ideas, voucher designs, quotes and graphics, SMS templates, so that, you know, youโve got loads of content there that you can use if you donโt really have an idea or if youโre just kind of running out of time to put something together on your own, you know?
Killian Vigna: Yeah, and if anyone is using Phorest Salon software, we have a Motherโs Day email template uploaded there and we have a March newsletter one, which is essentially a St. Patrickโs day email, soโฆ
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, youโve covered both, basically. Yeah.
Killian Vigna: So if you want help with those, again, theyโre just templates, so you need to go in and kind of tailor them to your salon, but if you want a little bit of help on those, you could always give the Grow team a call, and SMS and email guys, and theyโll be able to work through those templates with you.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah.
Killian Vigna: They can even set it up for you, yeah.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: There you go.
Killian Vigna: So, weโre just finishing off the last section and this is you, Zoe.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: The Phorest Academy webinars. So this week we have two. We have one today going outโฆ Well, both of them are at 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. UK or Ireland time, and if youโre in the US tuning in from the east coast, thatโs 10 a.m. So todayโs webinar is Becoming a Client Retention Expert and thatโs run by Chris Brennan and he also runs Wednesdayโs one, and that one is the Online Reputation Masterclass, so definitely check those out, theyโre really worth it. Theyโre an hour long and if you miss it, you can get a recording out of it but, you know, itโs really worth being there live because there are Q and Aโs at the end of those sessions so if you have particular questions, Chris will take the time to answer you live, so definitely check those out.
Killian Vigna: Thatโs just wrapping up the show today. As always, weโd love to hear your feedback so let us know what you think about the podcast.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Should we interview someone? Should we, likeโฆ
Killian Vigna: Yeah, actually. Who would you like to hear on the show? What topics would you like to hear on the show? Leave us some feedback on Podbean or iTunes, and if you enjoy the show, weโd love to see some ratings.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, exactly.
Killian Vigna: But, yeah, so thatโs all from me andโฆ
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Well, listen we wish you a wonderful week and a wonderful St. Paddyโs day coming up, and weโll catch you next Monday.
Killian Vigna: Oh, yeah, Happy St Paddyโs. Have a great day.
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