Leverage the power of your blog to take your beauty business to the next level!
Every beauty business owner wants their business to be seen. And with the power of social media, this has become easier than ever—just write a blog.
Yeah, “just write a blog” they say.
Sure, you’ve thought about it. And you’ve witnessed how quickly word spreads through social media. You’ve imagined what that kind of profound influence can do for your business…and then you came back to reality and realized WHY you’ve never done it.
You don’t have time. It’s too much work. You have no clue on how to blog. Your writing sucks.
All perfectly valid reasons. Writing a blog can be so intimidating—but it doesn’t have to be. What if we told you that even YOU can have this powerful advertising tool in the palm of your hand? And all you need to get started are the top tips and tricks and you’ll be well on your way to writing your own masterpiece.
Keep reading to learn why every salon should blog, what you need to start blogging, awesome salon blog post ideas that your clients will love, how to advertise your salon blog post to grab the most attention, and how to get Google (and everyone else) to notice you.
Why EVERY Salon Should Be Blogging
Running a salon blog alongside your social media marketing strategies is a powerful way to advertise your business. When you blog, you want to have a clear goal in mind. What’s your endgame?
Most successful salon owners want to use their knowledge to inspire their customers. If you keep this in mind when writing, your inspiration will naturally flow.
Still not convinced?
Here are 3 quick reasons you should start writing your blog yesterday:
- Blogging boosts your salon brand by getting you noticed by Google: Think about it. Where do people go when they’re searching for salons? Google. Imagine all the people looking for answers to their beauty questions, and your salon shows up on the first page of Google search? Don’t miss out on this organic traffic.
- It makes you look like an expert in your beauty niche: OK, yes—you likely ARE an expert, otherwise you wouldn’t be in the trade. So why not show off what you know? Your commitment to sharing your wisdom establishes trust with new clients.
- Generate more repeat bookings: You’ll increase your chances for reaching new customers and get repeat bookings from current ones since your company looks active, fresh, and on the pulse.
3 Things You Need to Start Blogging for Your Salon
Proud owners and managers of nail, hair, or beauty salons—listen up! Ok, stylists, hairdressers, and clinicians, this is for you too.
Blogging is an easy, creative way to connect your business with new and potential clients. You worked hard to get to where you are, take that pride and show off your skills and talent in your blog.
Ready to start your first blog post? You’re gonna need a few things to get you started:
1. A Website, Blog Page, and Social Channels
As you read through this article, you’re already learning HOW to blog. Now, you’re going to need a website. If you’re not ready to shell out your hard earned cash on a paid domain, there are tons of free websites available that can help you build your site. Check out Wix, Squarespace, or Weebly.
Once you’ve got your site up and running (it’s easier than you think), incorporate a blog page. Your website builder should have a section dedicated for blogging, make sure you activate it.
Social channels. Without these guys, your blog will go nowhere. If you haven’t already, set up a Facebook and Instagram account for your business. These popular social channels are essential for promoting your blog posts.
2. Content Ideas
Next, you’ll need some content ideas to make your salon shine. Whether you’re writing about product reviews, ideas or opinions, hair, nail, or beauty treatments, style, color, or the latest hip trends, be sure to include your personality in your writing.
If you’re talking about your team, include their personalities as you talk about ‘em. You want your readers to want to come to you. Be friendly, upbeat, and down-to-earth. Readers will feed off your positive vibes and this instills a sense of trust and confidence in your salon.
We’ll go into more detail about content ideas later, but here are a few to get you started:
- Anything trending in the hair, nail, or beauty industry (style, color, products)
- Introduce your salon team, tell your readers what makes them sparkle
- Q&A articles are a great way to grab your audience’s attention
3. Commitment
Blogging is exciting, but at the same time, it can be a lot of work. Prepare to dedicate at least 1 to 2 hours for each blog. Go in motivated, with a clear head, and work without distraction.
You’re busy, we get it. It may not be realistic for you to set aside more than 1 to 2 hours. But it’s a start. Commit to doing this regularly. After a few months, you’ll have some great reading material for your followers. The more you write, the easier it’ll become—promise!
5 Tips for Writing an Awesome Salon Blog Post
The worst part about writing a blog post is when people start reading, and abandon the page as quickly as they started. Here are a few ways to write an awesome salon blog post that won’t make them wanna run:
1. Choose the Right Topics
This is so important. You don’t want to bore your reader, or make it sound like all you’re trying to do is sell, sell, sell.
Most readers are waiting to see what the benefit is for THEM. So, let them know! How can your salon make them happier, look and feel better, keep them informed on what’s trending?
This is your hook. They want answers, and you’ve got ‘em. Push your hair, nail, and beauty knowledge to the limits. Show your readers how ahead of the game you are. Be confident, not conceited—there’s a difference.
Understanding goes a long way. Pregnant moms worry about stretch marks. Ease their mind by offering them a solution.
Take advantage of all the holidays and special days throughout the year—fancy up-do’s for weddings or New Year’s Eve parties, soft pastel colors for Easter or Mother’s day.
Thanksgiving is a great time to remind them how thankful you are for them, your clients. Remind them of how special they are. Be grateful.
You can also target certain age groups. People are always looking for ways to look and feel younger.
2. Make It Easy to Read
Notice how easy it is to read this blog?
Probably not.
Most people only notice when the page is crammed with stuffy sentences and waaay too long of paragraphs that take forever to read. And that’s usually when they’re only about a paragraph in and ready to leave the page.
Most blog readers are skimmers and scanners. Here’s how to write an attention-grabbing salon blog post for your ideal client:
- Use bullet points to break up your text
- Headings and subheadings do the same
- Keep your sentences short
- Keep paragraphs to a few lines or less
- Remember your target audience as you write
- If writing a shorter blog (less than 500 words), make sure you have strong content that gets to the point fast
3. Include a Visual Element
This may not be the first thing you think about when writing a blog, but people love seeing pictures. It’s best to use your own photos wherever possible. And we don’t mean just photos of yourself. We’re talking photos of your staff, your salon, your products, your styles, and your work!
Got videos? Use those too! People love seeing what YOU can do. If you’re looking for that certain picture to pair with your blog, and don’t have one of your own, there are sites for that!
Check out Unsplash, Pixabay, or Stockvault for some cool free options.
4. Review it Before Posting
You’ve done your writing, and you’re ready to go live. Wait! Don’t hit publish yet!
- Read your entire blog once again, out loud, from start to finish
- Then start at the bottom and read to the top
- Run a grammar and spelling check like Grammarly to avoid any sloppy mistakes
- Let a friend or colleague read your blog to see what they think
Following these simple steps before you publish will ensure you haven’t missed an obvious mistake. Reading top to bottom helps you catch grammatical errors and reading bottom up helps with finding spelling mistakes.
Having any of these blunders in your blog can reflect negatively on your salon business. Remember, your aim is to show knowledge, trust, and respect.
5. Share It On Your Socials
It’s time to share your masterpiece!
When promoting your salon blog on Instagram, USE PHOTOS to capture your target audience’s attention. People aren’t interested in reading text. Use gorgeous, eye-catching pictures. They should be photos of you, your team, new and up-coming products, hairstyles, or anything that ties directly to your blog post.
Use the caption to talk briefly about your post and tell the reader to click on the link in your bio to read more.
Facebook is a little different. The attention-grabbing trend here is to post videos. Authentic, personal videos that tell a quick story. Set your camera shyness aside and make a short video (less than 1 minute is perfect) telling your audience what the blog is about and why they should read it. End your video with a call to action(CTA) telling them to click the link to read the entire blog post.
There’s another option for all you go-getters out there—Facebook ads.
Don’t have time to learn?
Social Wonder specializes in creative genius—melding our crazy obsession with technology with our deep beauty expertise. We collect your salon marketing materials, create your fascinating story, get your feedback (before going live, of course), upon approval we go live, and analyze and keep improving on the results. Schedule a meeting today.
6 Blog Topics Your Salon Clients Can’t Get Enough Of
Salon blogging is fun and inspirational. But it can be challenging to find creative topics to write about. So, what do your readers wanna hear?
We’ve all read something in a magazine that caught our attention while waiting in line at the supermarket—here are some of those can’t resist topics:
1. Popular Trends
At home DIY’s are very popular these days. Anything your clients can do for their nails, skin, or hair themselves will be a hit.
Trends change with the season. The blogging topics are endless for wedding beauty prep.
Blogging about popular trends is the perfect opportunity to share photos. Let your work sell your skills—before and after cuts, styles, and colors, mani/pedi colors, shapes, and designs, and subtle or dramatic makeup ideas.
2. Client Questions
You’re in a business where clients ask a lot of questions. We’re sure there are some that have been asked hundreds of times.
Put those popular questions in an FAQ blog! If your clients are asking, so are a lot of others. Have the answers ready when they come a knockin.
Use your clients as inspiration. Include questions related to your expertise:
- Sugaring vs waxing—what’s the diff?
- What the heck are balayage highlights?
- Is there any way to reduce this annoying under-eye puffiness?
- Anything “how to” is always a popular read
Sharing your blog as an FAQ page will give your readers a sense of comfort, knowing other people have asked the very same questions they’ve had.
3. Product Reviews
Let your clients know about the latest products available from your salon. Make it sound conversational, like how you would talk about the benefits your friends would receive from using the product.
Pairing your product review with a video of the product being used in your salon can go a long way! Show, don’t tell. Your clients trust you to give them only the best advice.
4. Special Events and Local Stories
Special events are the perfect opportunity to network your business. Anytime you attend a special event, blog about it. Include all things interesting:
- The lessons you learned
- What inspired you
- The speakers you listened to
- New ways of doing old things
Show your commitment to your community and stay-up-to-date with everything in the business by attending and sharing information at community events. Share your local stories and don’t forget to include photos and videos!
5. Introduce Your Team
Here’s your chance to show your readers what makes your business awesome—your team! This not only makes your employees feel great, but it shows the world that you care about your staff and your business and you’re proud to share.
Make it fun and have staff members write about other staff members. Talk about their strengths, awards, certifications, family, and extracurricular activities. People love reading feel-good stories. Oh, and don’t forget to mention some funny ones, too.
When you have staff get-togethers outside of work, use these team-building opportunities to take photos and videos to post alongside your team blogs.
6. Beauty Hacks
Everyone loves a good beauty hack.
Make your title so irresistible that it piques the reader’s interest. This entices them to have to click for more. Every time someone clicks to read, it brings more traffic to your website, and Google loves this!
Here are some catchy titles:
- You’ll want to share THIS beauty trick with your friends
- Do this simple trick to cut half the time from your morning skincare routine
- Have you heard about the latest fall hair trend?
Be sure to have interesting information for current and new clients to read when they click for more on your blog, otherwise, it becomes clickbait—nobody likes that.
A Few PRO Tips to Optimize Your Salon Blog Posts
When we talk about optimizing, what we really mean is: how to make your blog posts more search engine friendly.
Use the following tips to take advantage of all the benefits that blogging can offer:
Optimize Your Posts for SEO
One of the biggest reasons for writing your blogs is to get your business to show up on Google.
When people want to know something, they usually turn to Dr.Google. Electrician Google. Carpenter Google. BEAUTY Google.
When professional Google of whatever brings up the search results, you want YOUR business to be there, front and center. This will generate traffic to your website. There are many things you can do to improve your Google ranking.
Enter search engine optimization (SEO). Follow these best practices:
- Use internal links to other pages on your website
- Do keyword research and use those words or phrases throughout your blogs
- Use geographical keywords
- Use your keywords naturally otherwise, Authoritative Google will raise some red flags
Include a CTA (Call to Action)
At the end of your salon blog posts, TELL your reader what you want them to do. This is called a call to action (CTA):
- Include a link to your scheduling page
- Give the reader a coupon or discount for signing up for your emails
- Encourage people to comment on your blog posts just by asking them to introduce themselves
Anyone who takes action on one of your CTA’s, is one step closer to becoming a client. This is a great way to increase your bottom line.
Promote Your Posts Through Word of Mouth and Social Media
Your blog is nothing without digital marketing. And word of mouth is more powerful than you think!
Anytime you’re chatting with someone about your services, refer them to your salon blog posts. This is completely free, and can go such a long way. Every time you share your wisdom with someone through your posts, you’re building the foundation for trust and expertise in your salon.
There are a few things you can do to increase your chances at getting your beauty business noticed through social media marketing strategies:
- Make a plan for your target audience
- Advertise on the right platforms
- Optimize your profiles
- Create amazing, irresistible content
- Post often
- Engage with your readers
That last one is the heart of any business. Without a strong social media marketing strategy, you will waste valuable time and money. Your goals will be harder to achieve, and you’ll struggle to reach the prime audience for your business.
Marketing strategy goes hand-in-hand with content strategy. You want your content to be in front of the right audience, at the right time. Every time.
Social Wonder makes this happen. It’s what we do! We’re an end-to-end social media management service who specializes in the beauty industry, so we know what matters to your clients.
Build an Email List
Aside from sharing on social media, you should promote your salon blog post through an educational email that matches your brand’s personality.
Anytime you write a new blog, send out a teaser email through your salon marketing list. Include the link to the entire article and share personal stories, pictures, cool facts about the beauty industry, and anything else your audience can relate to. The more personable you can make your emails, the better.
Post Consistently
Aim to post at least 1 blog a month. This is super do-able. These 2 hours will be an incredible investment for your salon business.
Posting blogs once a month keeps your blogging regular, without needing to struggle to keep up. If you aim higher and try writing for consecutive weeks, and then nothing in between, it’ll be harder to make any progress. Consistency is key to blogging success.
Ready to Take Your Salon’s Blog to the Next Level?
Anyone looking for an amazing way to promote their salon should dedicate just a couple of hours monthly to blogging. Seriously.
Then, invest in the best social media marketing to help keep you ahead of the game. Social Wonder does so much more than tell a story. We make your message come alive:
- Bragging rights. Show everyone how much of an expert you are
- Remind current clients that it’s time to pay you a visit
- Convince those potential clients who’ve already heard of you but haven’t committed to your services yet
- Becoming BFF’s with Google brings in tons of business
Looking for more inspiration? Check out our blog page!
See? There really isn’t that much to blogging when you have great support. When you’re ready to put YOUR salon out there for the world to see, schedule a meeting.