Hi Emma,
A long, but hopefully useful reply:
Posting on your Facebook page is a great way to market to your existing customers that follow your page. It allows you to build your relationship with them and keep them coming back.
Of course, this means that you need to encourage your customers to follow your page.
In terms of how often you should post to your Facebook page, the key is consistency. For example, it could be once a week on a Tuesday, or 3 times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (whatever is manageable for you) but keep to it. This helps you because you know
'I've got to do one post each Tuesday' and it's good for your followers because they know what to expect from you.
Start off by committing to post once a week on a specific day.
In terms of what you post, there are a few categories of posts, and you could aim to do one of each, every week or every month. The key here is understanding your audience and what they value.
- Informational or 'Value' posts - this is where you provide value to your page followers. You should do more of these than anything else - your followers don't want to be 'sold to' all the time! It might be a quick guide to nail care for example, or other 'how to' guides.
Don't know what information to post? Ask your customers what they want to know! Like most salon owners, you'll be asked questions by your clients all day long, so always make a note of the questions you get asked, and then write a quick post about it.
See which of these posts gets the most engagement (likes, comments, shares) and then 'boost' that post (i.e. pay £10 to Facebook so that more people in your local area see it!)
- Showcase posts - this is where you get to show off your work. Choose one client per week (with their permission of course) and take a photo of the results (you don't need to show their face necessarily, so it's great for nails, brows for example). The posts should also aim to provide inspiration and ideas to your followers, so they might see a nail design they love and ask you to do it!
- Business updates - these should be fewer in number than 1) or 2) but still important! This is where you get to share the ongoing story of you, your team and the business, with your customers. For example, new hires, someone on the team gets a new qualification or the team Christmas night out! 'People do business with people' so sharing your story of the people in your business is a great way to build that relationship and grow loyal fans.
- Seasonal posts - Christmas, Easter, Valentine's day, Mother's day, Father's day etc! Fairly straightforward but always worth doing...wishing everyone well, no need to sell!
- Contests & giveaways - contests and giveaways are a great way to keep your fans engaged, but also to get more page followers and hopefully new customers! Choose a prize, and make it good, a free treatment for example, then create a post asking people to enter for a chance to win it. Don't forget to tell people when the winner will be announced.
Be aware though, Facebook doesn't like it when you ask people to like your page, share the post, tag a friend or even ask people to comment, in order to enter a competition. Facebook will actually restrict the reach of your post if they see that, so fewer people will see it, so it's best to say something like 'For your chance to win, tell us what your favourite XYZ is!' People will know they need to write their answer in the comments.
If the giveaway is good enough, you'll find that people will always share the post and tag friends, so your post will get in front of a lot more people, particularly those that don't already follow your page (i.e. potential new customers!)
Once you've picked a winner, ask them if they are ok with being named and, if they are, tag them in a post announcing it! If they don't want to be named, that's ok, but post anyway without naming them.
Then, and this is really important, go through all the comments, likes and shares on the original giveaway post and 'invite' all those that commented, liked or shared to like your page. You'll find that most of them will do it.
You might choose to do a giveaway once a month, or once every 3 months, but be consistent.
So..for example, you might decide that you will: Post 1 'informational' or 'value' post per week on a Monday, and post one 'Showcase' post on a Thursday, and run one giveaway every two months, and a 'Business update' post as and when they happen, and 'seasonal posts'...as and when they happen.
One thing to note, however, when you post on your page
only 10% - 20% of your page followers will actually see the post because Facebook wants you to pay....so to reach all your page followers it's worth spending a few pounds (start off with a couple of £) to boost each post.
The best way to get new customers on social media is to run Facebook ads but takes a lot of expertise to be effective. Start with building your FB page followers by posting as above.
Instagram hashtagging etc would be a whole other post in itself...But remember, anything you post on Facebook, particularly showcase posts, can also be posted on Instagram. There are some tools out there that will publish your posts for you on multiple social media sites and accounts.
Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any questions.
Henry
