Social media newcomer Pinterest receives over four million unique visitors every day. Jealous? Us, too. Pinterest has grown very quickly since it started in 2010 and people from every corner of the world visit the site to find fun recipes, style ideas, and workout inspiration.
So what IS Pinterest, anyway? The basic concept of the social network is that you find something on the Web that strikes your fancy. You “pin” the image from the Web page to a virtual bulletin board with similar pins that you have already created on Pinterest. Some popular types of boards are food, clothing or hairstyles that you like. When followers visit your Pinterest boards, they can “repin” your content to their own boards. Remember when you were a kid and you tore pictures out of magazines to paste up all over your room? It is like that, only virtual!
So now you are probably asking, what the heck can Pinterest do for my salon? Since the industry is based on visualization, a site like Pinterest is a great social media fit. After you have created a Pinterest account with your salon’s name, here are some ideas about how to use the boards to build your business:
Make a board for your style ideas
Pin anything and everything that gives you inspiration for your salon. Pinterest is chock-full of gorgeous haircuts, colors and styles. People also love to pin fresh nail polish hues and nail-painting techniques, like tie-dye or chevron stripes. Take the opportunity to pin anything that represents your personal style, that way your clients can get an idea of who you are before they visit your salon.
Make a board of salon trends
Take your personal style a step further and create a board that serves as a lookboook for clients looking for beauty ideas. Gather the latest trends, celeb snips and seasonal changes and create an up-to-date lookbook for your clients to get some inspiration for their next cut. Promote your lookbooks on your other social channels and email as a pre-visit consultation where they can go through and have a look, sharing the looks with their friends to get their opinions first. Who knows, maybe their friends will start looking through your pinboards, too, to get some inspiration for a potential visit. Can you say ‘viral brand awareness?’
Make a board that shows off your work
You can also pin your own work! Make a habit of taking photos of each of your clients’ final looks. Then you can post those photos directly to Pinterest using the mobile app, or (even better) you can post it to your business website and then pin it to Pinterest from your website. Why go the extra step? Because you not only showcase it in two places, but when it’s pinned from your website it will always be linked to your website so people wanting a similar look will know EXACTLY where to find it.
Keep it Real
Lifestyle content, or information about the personality of your business, is one of the most successful types of pins used by businesses. This is the information that makes you more than a salon and spa to your clients.
There is a reason why Pinterest is so wildly popular – people love inspiration in the form of visuals. Give your salon business a social media advantage through Pinterest boards and motivate potential clients to visit you in person. What have you done that’s worked at your salon?
Author Bio: Valorie Reavis
Social Marketer, foodie, closet geekA marketing professional who has focused primarily on the hair and beauty business for of the past decade, Valorie now runs linkup marketing, a digital marketing agency for the hair and beauty professional. Valorie works to engage clients in the marketing process and help them successfully engage with their clients and community. Energetic and passionate about the industry, Valorie focuses on blending traditional and digital media in order to bring salons closer to their clients.
