DAYSPA is the business resource for spa & wellness professionals! Each issue covers the latest in skin care, spa treatments, wellness services and management strategies.
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PLUGGED IN 72 DAYSPA | AUGUST 2016 reports that 81% of millennials have an account. It's a platform dominated by a younger market, there- fore if your clientele skews older, Twitter may not be worth your time. A current downside to Twitter is its low interaction rate. According to marketing fi rm Socialbakers, the av- erage interaction rate on a tweet is only 0.07%, mean- ing the vast majority of followers don't interact with the content they see posted. As a result, it's easy for your page to become stale, or to let your account fall by the wayside. "Untended Twitter accounts may inadver- tently come across as unprofessional, disconnected or uncaring, none of which are good for business," says Felicia Brown, owner of spa marketing fi rm Spalutions. As easy as it is to use Twitter, some spa and salon owners may struggle to use it effectively. But, accord- ing to Jon-David, it pays to persevere. "Most salons and hairdressers copy the profi les of other service industry individuals. However, a majority of those profi les are unimpressive; the way they tweet may even turn away prospective customers," he hypothesizes. "Alterna- tively, the service provider or salon owner who takes the time to learn how to make a proper profi le and to tweet correctly will attract new customers. Take a class. Watch the tutorials. Then you'll be the tiny minor- ity who succeeds because you learned how to market properly on Twitter." ABSORBING AN AUDIENCE An easy way to begin gaining traction on Twitter is to follow other accounts. But don't go overboard— following thousands of people when you have fewer than 100 followers yourself may make your account look like a spam bot. So who should you follow? Search for other spas in your area, and local newspa- pers and bloggers. @TwitterTips features regular up- dates from the Twitter team; @NYTSmallBiz provides tips for running a small business; there are many more specifi cally for the spa and salon industries. You can also link other social media platforms to Twitter. If you're more active on a different platform, you can set up your account to automatically tweet your Facebook posts. This can be an easy way to drive clients who already follow you on Facebook to your Twitter page. As for how much of your day (or week) to devote to Twitter, the plus side of its character limit is that it should generally take much less time than Facebook. However, brainstorming posts and staying engaged isn't a nominal task. "We're continually listening and observing trends—that helps us think about our next tweets," says Finn, who runs Sanctuary Day Spa's account with another staff member. The two spend about an hour a day on the site, including devising tweets and reading posts from other industry leaders. And remember: start small. "I always advise busi- nesses to pick one social media platform at a time and then take three months to master that site," says Jon-David. To help owners and directors manage their time, he suggests handing the accounts to trusted staff members, who can post tweets and help a busi- ness stay on pulse. Claire Swinarski (claireswinarski.com) is a freelance writer living in Milwaukee who covers technology, customer service and other topics. Need help developing your Twitter presence? Here are some suggestions for building a following and ramping up customer interaction. • Create a hashtag. It can be simple: just the name of your business, or your spa name and city. Post a sign with that hashtag at the front desk or in your locker room, and encourage guests to use it if they post about their visit. • Share valuable information. Instead of only generating information about your own business, share spa-related content too: a listicle of beautiful spas around the world, funny memes, or relevant articles about why spa visits are great for clients' health! • See what's being shared. By searching for a particular hashtag, you can interact with people interested in a similar topic. Try searching for your city's hashtag to see who's tweeting about your area—this could be a great way to attract tourists to your spa! • Run a poll. In Twitter's compose box, users can click the "Add poll" icon to type in a question and answer choices. A poll's duration is automatically set to 24 hours, but can be adjusted. Ask anything from "Which services do you want every spa to offer?" to "What kind of seasonal special sounds most tempting to you?" • Post photos or GIFs of new hairstyles or nail art. Images are ideal because they automatically capture the attention of anyone scrolling through their feed. • Reply to every tweet. Even a simple "Thanks for sharing!" or "We love this!" will help users see that you're active on the site. Connecting With Clients Looking for a list of popular spa-related hashtags and Twitter accounts to help get you started? Head to dayspamagazine.com.