Turn Your Followers 60
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Strategies to convert followers into clients and bring new business through your door When it comes to social media, it’s easy to focus on the number of likes your posts get and how many new followers you acquire over time, mostly because that number is easy to track and offers instant gratification when people interact with your posts. What matters more than likes, followers, and even comments is how you’re able to convert that engagement into paying customers. Even if you have a couple of thousand followers on your platforms, if they are not booking appointments and becoming clients, you aren’t getting as much out of social media as you should be. Take a look at your current social media platforms and do a quick audit. Are your posts asking them to act? Do your posts promote time-sensitive offers and links to take advantage of? When you consider your social media platforms as vehicles to get your clients to where you want them to go, it’s easier to understand that every single post should have intention behind it. By offering compelling and interesting content to your followers, along with a soft sales technique, you are more likely to get them to perform your desired action or behavior. Assuming you’re a spa or salon, the desired result or behavior is likely booking an appointment or upgrading their next service. Let’s assume you are doing well promoting your Facebook and Instagram pages already; take your posts to the next level by getting clients to book their first appointment and several appointments after that. Thus, converting “likes” to loyal clients.
Anatomy of a Good Social Media Post A Call to Action In marketing, a “call to action” is a term that is used to identify the desired outcome, essentially calling the viewer to complete an action. For spas, the call to action would likely be along the lines of “book an appointment today,” but it doesn’t have to end there. Use phrases such as: • Call now and to receive a complimentary eye treatment upgrade with your next 60 minute treatment • Get your desired appointment time by booking now • Discover what it feels like to have beautiful skin, schedule today As you see outlined above, the italicized words are the action items, offering direction and emphasizing urgency.
Links to Learn More You’re only going half-way if you ask your followers to book an appointment but don’t include the information to do so. Try to make it as easy as possible to complete the desired action. Provide your phone number in the post if you want them to call and make an appointment. If you’d like them to book an appointment online, include the direct link to your scheduling page. If there’s any room for the user to get distracted, you can count on it happening.
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social media Guide
A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself, “What do I want them to do?” If the answer is, “book an appointment” then you want to be sure you include a clear call to action and the link to schedule a service. If you want them to know about your expanded service menu, make sure to include a direct link to your menu of services on your website to explore.
Good Graphics Go a Long Way Since you’re a professional, your posts should look professional. There are plenty of free programs online that can help you create colorful, catchy designs including canva.com and postcreator. com. A good balance of text and graphics are essential if you want your posts to perform well.
A Smart Sales Funnel Sales funnels are like story-telling, where you take a person from awareness to action. As the curator of your brand, it is your job to provide variety in content and consistency in posting to tell your brand’s story. Marketing experts say it can take up to six touchpoints, or interactions before the consumer is ready to purchase. They may see your posts several times before they ever click on your website, and long before they ever show up at your door for an appointment. Don’t let this bum you out, instead, see this as an opportunity to keep telling the story in a variety of ways.
Content is King Your posts should fall into one of six categories and should range in a variety of all six. Entertaining, inspirational, educational, conversational, promotional or connecting.
Mix it Up Using the same graphics and posts over and over again can become snooze-worthy—they also don’t perform well with Facebook algorithms. 62
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No one wants to feel inundated with sales posts. In fact, most people agree that constant sales pitches can have the reverse effect on followers, where they disengage and stop following a page altogether. When done correctly, a good marketing mix of content, calls to action and topics allows you to showcase different professional personas that exemplify your talents as an esthetician.
Why Content Marketing Works Content marketing creates a quick exchange from the business to the consumer by facilitating a trade of information. Content marketing has become a popular vehicle for lead generation and sales funneling, as it allows you to position yourself as an authority on a specific topic, and makes the user feel like they are getting something in return for their information shared. The consumer gets a piece of content in exchange for their contact information. Chances are, you’ve participated in content marketing without even realizing it. A company will offer you a free download of a checklist, or a complimentary consultation in exchange for your email address.
Contact your website host or your email management company to get more information on how to set up landing pages for content marketing. Ebooks, infographics, newsletters, tutorials and other educational pieces tend to do well with content marketing.
Commitment to Comments It is important to engage with your network and respond to comments, questions, and concerns. You can take this up a notch by including, “We would love to see you soon!” or, “Let us know if we can help you book an appointment” in each response, which makes the follower feel welcome and encouraged to complete the desired action.
Track your Posts Consider creating a schedule for social media posting that helps keep you on track and content fresh. Put the type of posts in categories, such as how-to's, product promotion, ask the expert, booking an appointment, and other miscellaneous categories. With this type of organization, you’ll know which you need to do more of and can track to see which do better for your audience.
social media Guide A general rule of thumb is that most of your posts shouldn’t just be about you. You should focus on your audience’s interests and concerns first, and sprinkle sales offers sparingly. Here’s a sample social media post calendar below:
Promotional
Entertaining
Conversational
Connecting
Inspirational
Educational
Monday
#ProTip Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
#FeelGood Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Answer a FAQ via video or FB live
How to properly apply eye cream
Behind the scenes photo of the treatment room, waiting area, products, etc.
Client Testimonial + call to action
Inspirational Quote
Treatment highlight (including benefits, duration, cost, and link to book)
Employee feature
Promotion of current offers/specials
How to clean and care for makeup brushes
Ask a question or launch a poll
Client Testimonial + call to action
Promotion to fill last-minute openings on Saturday (plus link to book)
Funny (and appropriate) meme related to beauty, skin care, or wellness.
Vendor Feature
Answer a FAQ via video or FB live
How to keep skin hydrated during the winter months
Behind the scenes photo of the treatment room, waiting area, products, etc.
Book your Appointment (including link to online scheduling)
Inspirational Quote
Treatment highlight (including benefits, duration, cost, and link to book)
Community involvement feature
Funny (and appropriate) meme related to beauty, skin care, or wellness.
How to keep your skin clean after the gym while on the go
Product/Package Highlight (including benefits, usage, how to purchase)
Client Testimonial + call to action
Promotion to fill last-minute openings on Saturday (plus link to book)
Before and After (with client permission)
Inspirational Quote
Paid Advertising Facebook has come a long way since it limited users to those who attended prestigious universities. With several billion users on social media, Facebook allows you a budget-friendly opportunity to target specific demographics (including age, gender, location, interests, job, etc.). Additionally, it allows your ads to appear in front of users who like other pages, and even take current customers’ information to find more people like them. You can even upload your contact list and directly advertise specific offers to them. You don’t have to upload and offer the same thing to your whole con-
tact list either—you can break them out into segments according to acquisition method or even behavior. Some ideas include those who have downloaded a piece of content marketing or those who are actual clients who haven’t been back in a while. You can create unique posts based on which group you’re targeting, and have many campaigns running at the same time. Many opportunities exist with Facebook, and now Instagram (who operate together), for the eager business owner wanting to increase conversion rates. With these steps and organizational practices, you are able to start turning
likes into leads, and leads to loyal clients in no time! Lauren Snow serves as the Executive Consultant for the Beauty Biz Club and Chief Content Officer for the BestieEstie.com blog. She is a brand and marketing strategist who partners with skin care professionals to help them grow their business, reach career goals and achieve financial success. Snow has passionately supported thousands of estheticians throughout her career and has worked with hundreds of skin care manufacturers across the United States.
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