Instagram and Creating “The Dream”

 

A lot of hair salon owners consistently ask me: “How do I acquire more followers on Instagram?”

I have many salons ask me how to increase their growth on Instagram.  My first question back is, WHO do you want to follow you?

There are over 5,000,000 Instagram accounts in Australia.  These accounts are a mixture of business accounts and personal accounts.  For each account, there is a human behind the scenes “driving it” – everyday people creating content for respective pages and learning about others and the world around them.

With this vast amount of people on Instagram in Australia, there is opportunity to grow your business. However, growth occurs when we post the right type of content and have the right type of people following our accounts.

One of the most frustrating things I see frequently on salons’ Instagram pages is Hair Salons following Hair Salons; Hairdressers following hairdressers.  This of course has its own intrinsic value for keeping up with trends, education and hiring however it does NOT bring ideal client through your door.  There are NOT 5,000,000 hairdressers in this country, so why are hair salons mostly attracting others within their own industry to like and follow their page?

In a perfect world, a salon would have followers in a desired demographic and geographic location.  But this is a common dilemma for most salons.  They can’t seem to acquire the followers they ideally want to be walking through their door.

With so many salons and hairdressers following each other, it’s easy to fall into the trap of copying what other salons are doing on Instagram.  And so, a vicious cycle begins to churn.  Hair Salon A copies what Hair Salon B is doing…Hair Salon A acquires other Hair Salon and hairdresser followers.

Make sense?  You and your business is worth more than the following of other hairdresser/salon accounts.  It’s time to shake up the energy on your Instagram account.

With this in mind, think about what sets your business apart from other salons?  The first thing I think about as YOUR POTENTIAL CLIENT, is what change is going to occur to MY day, MY week, MY year after experiencing a haircut at your salon?

Personally, I want to exude confidence in front of my work colleagues and ex-boyfriends, confidence when I awake in the morning and look in the mirror and radiance in front of my girlfriends and family.  I want your salon to scream to me that you are my fairy godmother ready and waiting with all your weapons to make me into the Cinderella I need to be for my very own daily ball.

Newsflash: I don’t get this feeling when I stare at Instagram portfolio photos focusing on the back of someone’s head.  I don’t get this feeling when I see the post “FRIYAY”.  I don’t get this feeling when you present to me a BOOMERANG.  I don’t get this feeling when you show me mirrored photos of someone’s head.

I DO get this feeling when you present to me “the dream”.  Luxury living, confident women, eye contact, smiles, full body shots, the surrounding neighbourhood culture, jewellery on necklines and ears that play beautifully with hair, quotes that INSPIRE my work ethic and life, education of quality products that inspire my at-home hair care….etc.

Everyone’s ideal client is different.  If you’re not sure on what “the dream” is for your potential clients, ask your existing clients.  Or if you have the time, have a look on Instagram and see what pages your clients are following.  You will find “the dream” will surface through different pages they follow.

It’s really important for Hair Salons to start looking outside the Hair Salon Industry to find inspiration on what to post.  Break through the bubble of copying what other hair salons are doing and start creating beautiful posts that resonate with your ideal audience.

In turn you will see your Instagram growth will start to move towards more client-like followers.

Want help? At Hairpin Digital we can help you find “the dream” that resonates with your target audience and help you create beautiful posts.  Whilst we work within the Hair and Beauty Industry we constantly seek, explore and test ways to grow followers and sales by looking outside the industry. We want you to WIN.

 

 

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