Should Your Salon Be Active on TikTok?

Easy to view and share

If you’ve ever used TikTok from the viewer’s standpoint, you know how easy it is to get sucked into the rabbit hole of scrolling. TikTok targets your interests by creating a recommended “For You” page, where there is an endless loop of content that the app thinks you will be interested in. The great thing about this is that it is incredibly easy to gain views as a business owner. If someone is interested in your services or just the industry-specific content in general, you could end up on their “For You” page. The app isn’t complicated, and as soon as you open it, these short-form videos begin to play. Likewise, the share button is right on the side of the screen and follows as you watch. This is just one of many reasons why TikTok is great for salon exposure. It’s easy to watch and it’s easy to share. Minimal effort is required.

Audience is large

TikTok is used worldwide, meaning there are no limits as to who your content can reach. While the app first started out catering to the younger generations, the app has now reached all audiences. People of all ages are both using and viewing TikTok. Of course, not everyone worldwide will be interested in visiting your salon or booking a service locally. That being said, exposure is everything. The more, the merrier, and TikTok is a great way to utilize this.

Paid and organic influencer marketing

Working with influencers has become an effective way of marketing your services/products on nearly all social media platforms. On other platforms, influencer marketing is mostly paid, where the influencer becomes a brand advocate. While this is definitely one way to market a service or product and there are brand advocates on TikTok as well, the interesting thing about this platform is that organic influencer marketing can actually be more powerful than paid influencer marketing. Because the app generally has a more casual feel, it’s easy to watch an average person post about a product and want to try it out for yourself. It feels organic, therefore it is more effective. Someone organically talking about a new shampoo that they love would seem far more approachable on TikTok than it would if they were to post a photo and write a review on Instagram. Intentionally or unintentionally, TikTok is currently on top of the influencer marketing game.

As mentioned, TikTok can be a useful marketing platform for businesses in all industries. That being said, there are many things about this app that give the salon industry an upper hand. The salon industry is very visual, so what better content to create than short-form videos that give viewers a behind-the-scenes, unfiltered, and 360 perspectives of the work you’re doing in your salon.

Industry-specific hashtags

Hashtags that are industry-specific don’t necessarily have to be about what’s in your TikTok creation. Instead, these hashtags are generalized and revolve around broader topics within your industry. In the case of the salon industry, some examples of industry-specific hashtags would look like this:

#hair, #beautysalon, #salon, #hairstylist

These hashtags are ideal for someone who is looking to browse a broader topic and scroll through TikTok, which is another easy way to increase your views. On the other hand, it is also useful in connecting you with your online competitors so that you can see what content they’re creating.

Branded Hashtags

While industry-specific hashtags are certainly detrimental to your success on TikTok, creating a branded hashtag for your salon also has its benefits. Creating your own hashtag, especially if you already have at least somewhat of an online following, is a great way to create a conversation around any of your current or upcoming products. These hashtags are useful if you’re doing a giveaway, participating in new trends, getting a new product into your retail shop, etc. A branded hashtag is not only a way to spark talk amongst your clients, but it is a way to organize your salon’s own exciting content for viewers to browse.

Trending challenge hashtags

Participating in hashtag challenges can easily benefit your salon with an increase in exposure. Challenges are universal across the app and anyone can participate. The challenges are always up to interpretation and in most cases, each creator puts their own spin on them. Since this drives a ton of engagement, the hashtags for these challenges are an easy way to have a shot at going viral.