To stand out on social media today, one must be different. This has always been true, but it's more true now than ever. Yes, it's MORE true.
The goal here isn’t to be that ‘pick me’ salon that’s different at any cost. It’s to be remembered. It’s to create a strong impression on your potential audience, and etch yourself in their minds.
If you’re not doing this, you’ll be forgotten. It’s a cruel world. Yes. However, it’s not impossible to be remembered on social media, even with all the abundance of content out there. After all, we see new faces and businesses popping up every day who have found a way to carve a little nook for themselves in this digital space.
But, before you jump to switch up your entire approach, you have to sit down and have a brainstorm session. Think about yourself, your business, your goals and mission. What is it that you want your salon to achieve? What do you want to achieve? Who is the audience that you want to have in your community? Your ideal client? Who are you talking to? What do you want to share?
When you find all of this out, it’s time to begin your once upon a time… It’s time to tell your story, because people ENGAGE with stories. Not empty posts and pretty pictures. Lack of captions is something only Beyonce has the luxury of affording. And even then, Queen B’s team will carefully craft every image, grid or collage to tell a story, and this is what hooks and reels people in. So, how do you use storytelling on social media?
Think about the ordinary… and talk about it
You don’t have to be a modern day philosopher to have people engage with your story. Day to day things can sometimes be used as inspiration that will start incredible conversations. Think about real life examples, things around you and start telling your stories. People want to be recognised, and it's often our daily lives and struggles that go by unseen. So tap into this and tell about it.
Remember your values and talk about them
Infuse your brand’s values into your story, no matter what the post might be about. How do you differ? Why should someone online align or relate to your values? How are your values unique and helpful to your audience? These are all questions to think about answering in every context.
Be engaging, fun, concrete and colourful
Outline your posts. Don’t have long winded rants. This is a story you’re telling. It needs to be have a beginning, middle and end. It needs to invoke some kind of an emotion. It needs to absolutely be relatable to your reader. Your stories need to appeal to your audience. When they find a part of themselves in your posts, whether it’s a relatable situation, or a problem, they will react.
Support your stories with appropriate visuals
We love a good illustrated story. Remember, storytelling isn’t just about WORDS. A story can be told through images, videos… remember, w mentioned Beyonce? She doesn’t use words, she uses imagery. And you can use both, no doubt about it. Cater to all kinds of different people. Some will react better to visuals, some to words, some to audio, but you have to consider all these factors when crafting your story.
Tell, ask, tease…
Aka leave them wanting more. Leave your audience wanting to follow or subscribe, to know more. Give them content that will tickle their fancy, ask them a question that will basically include them as a character of your story. You can consider your clients as main characters of your story, so why not engage them and invite them to be active participants in your story?
And here’s the ending of our story. Is it a happily ever after?