Your Guide to Social Media for Spas

With spas slowly reopening across the country, many spa owners are wondering what’s the best way to rebuild a connection with guests who may still hesitate to come in for treatments or who have lost touch during closures. One of the many lessons to come out of this time is the importance of a digital strategy to support the in-spa experience. Whether it’s building an e-commerce strategy as an additional stream of revenue or as a means of building brand awareness, a strong social media presence is non-negotiable for most industries, including today’s spas. That’s why we’ve invited holistic marketing expert Tiffany Tang for some top tips for optimizing your social strategy.

Invest in Channels Where Your Audience Spends Time
On average, Canadians spend one hour and 46 minutes on social media, and 32% of them actually look to social media first for brand information — so we know it’s important to invest in these channels. However, with limited resources and the ever-changing digital landscape, it can be confusing to figure out which channels we should be prioritizing. Our top tip for this is looking at your guest demographics and pairing that information with their social media channel of choice.

For boutique spas with a younger audience, TikTok is a great opportunity, but not the best choice for those with a more mature target audience. Luxury spas can try channels like Instagram and Pinterest to communicate with an older audience that has the spending power for deluxe service. Instead of trying to keep up with trends, let your guest data guide this decision and your efforts will be much more impactful on all fronts.

Pre-schedule Your Grid
Social media is today’s equivalent of a billboard and you get only two seconds to make an impression! Pre-scheduling your content allows you to build a cohesive grid that showcases your brand so anyone who lands on your account can immediately get a sense of what you stand for. Additionally, pre-scheduling allows you to post at a regular cadence, which is important for the algorithm to showcase your account to potential new followers. At Allegory, we schedule at least a month in advance for the above reasons, but this also allows our team to be flexible throughout the month — in case any relevant topics or last-minute campaigns need additional bandwidth.

Add Value First
E-commerce spending on personal care has increased by over 30% since the start of the pandemic, so it can be tempting to post only about revenue-generating avenues like gift cards, e-commerce, and gifting options. However, unless the content actually adds value to your audience, being overly salesy can backfire and hurt performance. Build in key themes you want to communicate, and always write content with your consumers in mind for an authentic and community-first approach.

Video, Video, Video!
If it seems like the algorithm is always changing — that’s because it is! It doesn’t matter which social media platform you’re focused on; all platforms are constantly updating the algorithms and it can feel overwhelming for someone who’s not in the industry. The most recent change? Video has become king. This is great news for spas, since it’s the perfect format to showcase the experience of coming in for services and treatments. Even better news? Content doesn’t have to be shot professionally. In fact, a more authentic video from clients can sometimes do better, so start encouraging your community to tag you and share their experience.

Think Holistically
Lastly, a strong digital presence doesn’t just start and end with social. Making sure you’re showing up strong in other channels like email marketing, content marketing, and paid advertising when it comes time to scale is key to capitalizing on all the amazing brand awareness and community-building efforts social is perfect for. By not thinking in silos, you can build a digital strategy that mimics how your community experiences your marketing efforts as a whole, which makes for a much stronger end-to-end customer journey.

For information and more tips, go to allegoryco.com or follow them on Instagram at @allegory.co