3 Simple Social Media Hacks
Managing social media can feel like a full-time job on its own, but the importance of mastering the social media game and the benefits that come with it far outweigh the costs. With more than 3.48 billion people globally (45% of the total world population) now using social media, it is a frontier merchants cannot afford not to conquer.
But that doesn’t mean that social media needs to remain elusive or overly complicated.
These three easy social media hacks will help you master the art of social media without running yourself ragged in the process.
Create a Content Calendar
Proper planning prevents poor performance. To prevent poor performance when it comes to managing social media and to give you some sense of organization, the best method is for you to use a content calendar to plan out your social media posts.
This content calendar should include global and national events and holidays that play into your business narrative and can become extensions of your conversations.
Social media should be used to continue your narrative.
You can use your content calendar to plan out your story in a cohesive way.
What’s Trending?
Keeping track of what’s happening in the industry is a great way for you to easily come up with content ideas. Readers are leaders. You can share industry related news, interviews, tips and tricks to demonstrate thought leadership in the salon and spa space.
Another way you can stay ahead of the game is by monitoring hashtags to see what’s in the social media spotlight. You can do this simply by using the search fields in Instagram and Twitter and looking for words and phrases related to your industry.
You can take some of the legwork out of these efforts by setting up Google alerts to monitor your salon, competitors, and industry related keywords.
Tip: Getting too broad with keywords will return a massive number of alerts. Be a little more specific!
Tools of the Trade
Not all aspects of marketing must be costly. There are quite a few free tools you can use to give your social media a little refresh. You should check out these free tools for creating and scheduling social media posts:
- Canva – easy to use, web-based platform to create graphics and marketing materials
- Pixlr – stock images
- Hootsuite (or other similar social media management tool) – semi-automate scheduling of posts
Tip: It’s important not to overuse stock imagery and graphics or rely too heavily on scheduling software. Images unique to your salon are much more powerful, as are seemingly spontaneous, real-time posts like live videos on Facebook or Instagram.
Wrap Up
Running a business is hard enough without the added pressure of creating perfectly poised social media posts and growing a following. And while using social media marketing to your advantage to grow your business is just as important as their other day-to-day activities, by tracking industry trends, utilizing free tools, and planning social media in advance, you can stay ahead of the game.
