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104 DAYSPA | JUNE 2014 MARKETING SAVVY Instagram badge to your website's homepage and announce that you've joined it on your other social media sites, your newsletter, blog and any other place you communicate with your clients. Kick off your Instagram journey by following some like-minded ac- counts, such as your vendors, the product lines you carry, wellness companies, and any local companies that fi t your brand. GETTING IT PICTURE-PERFECT With Instagram, it's really all about the image. Most agree that posting one great image a day is ideal, but if that's too hard to squeeze into your schedule, shoot for three to four posts a week. Better yet, hire a social media manager or delegate the duties to an employee. "Empower your employees to contribute their best photos. Employees are brand ambassadors. Find the ones who are already social—your reception- ist, for instance, who can do it in her down time," says De Young. That said, it's a good idea to have the em- ployees send you the photos fi rst for approval before posting, at least to start with. What constitutes a great pho- to? Consider composition, texture and sharpness. Of course, make sure it's an interesting shot (the more creative or artsy, the better). And, most important, it should match the tone of your spa. Gloss Nail Spa (gloss-nailspa .com) in Silver Lake, Califor- nia, received 184 "likes" for a photo of the spa's nail polish bottles arranged in the shape of a heart for Valentine's Day. It included a few emoticon hearts, which is acceptable on Instagram but deemed a bit too casual for other social sites. The poster tagged the nail polish brand, and added hashtags such as #nailpolish, #glossnailspa, #valentine, #silverlake, #heart and #chemicalfree. The Dragontree Spa made good use of the 15- second video option that Instagram offers with a glimpse of live musicians playing the sitar and drums for a product launch party that took place at the spa. The caption: "Why yes, we know how to party!" There were more than a dozen hashtags, including #livemusic, #magiccarpet, #sitar, #thedragontree and #party. "It was a fun way to illustrate the vibe of our spa," says Grant. "You can pack a powerful message into just 15 sec- onds," points out De Young. "You can have your lead esthetician apply a masque on a client and explain why it's great for the complexion, or give a tip on how to hydrate the skin. These brief videos show what's going on at your spa, humanize your brand and supply the user with helpful information." ENTER TO WIN! Giveaways and contests are a valu- able tool in growing your Instagram audience. Even a small idea can yield huge results: "We asked our follow- ers to use our hash tag, tag us in their photo, and repost the photo to win a nail polish or a candle," says Tina Nguyen, owner of Gloss Nail Spa. "Clients reposting images is the most powerful thing. That's how our audi- ence has grown to thousands in just six months." Live Love Spa has fun with its on- going #FreebieFriendshipFriday con- tests, in which users who tag their friends in the comments section are #BonusApps You can enhance your Instagram presentation by adding a few apps to the mix: • Regram (regram.me) to repost a photo • VSCO Cam (vsco.co) for editing tools and fi lters for your photos • A Beautiful Mess (abeautifulmessapp.com) for personalizing photos by placing copy over images (see above example) • Statigram (statigr.am) to view your Instagram account and key metrics info online ▲ The right hashtag can inspire months' worth of participation from Instagram users. ▲ The A Beautiful Mess app enables you to customize images with carefully chosen copy. ▲ Peaceful images subtly communicate The Dragontree Spa's message. M k g t S a v v y 6 1 4 . i n d d 1 0 4 Mkgt Savvy 614.indd 104 5 / 1 / 1 4 3 : 4 6 P M 5/1/14 3:46 PM