Establishing a Facebook business page for your salon or spa is a great way to spread the word about your brand, and offer next level customer service that starts before guests even walk through the door.

In fact, 79% of American internet users are on Facebook, making it the single most popular social media platform.

This makes Facebook an essential tool for local marketing and connecting with clients where they already spend their free time. A Facebook business page is also a great way to provide an online community to connect with guests in more personal ways, and share content that resonates with locals including special offers, community-specific events, and trends.

More than 50 million small businesses currently use Facebook to connect with clients, which means your competition may already be building interest and growing their client base through social media strategies.

To help showcase what sets your salon or spa apart from all the rest on Facebook and improve overall engagement, here are a few tips:

Establish Facebook Goals

Move beyond the basic goal of simply increasing visibility with current clients and generating repeat business. How can you build interest with new customers and inspire current clients to engage their friends and family, too?

Another example of a goal is to create an editorial calendar to post certain days of the week at specific times, and to share a picture of a new client’s image or testimonial each week to offer a “personal insider” sneak peek.

The ultimate goal for any Facebook page is to share updates regularly that vary in type and style, and to make it a regular part of your business day, just like logging sales into your point-of-sale system.

Make updates short, sweet and personal

There is an art to creating a social media post, which includes the balance between text, image, audio and video content per post. Short posts that include a variety of content types throughout the week creates an experience that is engaging for every type of client, and keeps it easy to read on a mobile device. Win-win!

In fact, 71% of consumers who have had a good social media service experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others.

Maximize conversational tone in content

To encourage commenting and shares among users, try to engage clients in interesting conversations. It’s not about the number of replies as much as it’s about the quality of the conversation so that people have a reason to return and share their thoughts.

Feature topics that are industry relevant, introduce new trends, or share conversation topics that mirror what clients talk about in the salon day-to-day. Keep questions or content focused on a purpose that’s important to your salon and clients, and definitely respond to any customer complaints or feedback as quickly as possible.

63% of customers actually expect companies to offer customer service via their social media channels, and 90% of social media users have already used social media as a way to communicate with a brand or business.

Feature relevant, personalized images and video content

Most people are very visual. When scrolling through their Facebook timeline, they are attracted to images and video first. Upload photos from your salon using a tablet or phone to offer personalized view of a “day in the life” of your salon and encourage clients to do the same after their style appointments or treatments.

Featured content should always help build a conversation about what happened in the salon that week, or share insights on the most popular treatments or seasonal trends. The more you can “show” rather than “tell”, and engage customers to join in, the better. People also love “behind the scenes” footage, so try out a Facebook live event to feature something going on in your salon and engage curious potential customers.

Share customer feedback and testimonials

Don’t be shy. Treat followers to some great before and after photos, while also showing off your stylists’ skills. If you can tag the customer (with their permission of course) they are likely to share with their friends, while marketing your salon or spa directly in the process.

Keep content light, fun and interesting

Think of each post on social media as a way to strengthen and support the voice and overall vibe of your salon and spa. Keep it light, conversational and share things you feel are aligned with what your clients would find fun, funny, or interesting to share. It can also help to assign one or two people to create and post content to ensure messaging stays on brand and the writing style remains consistent between posts.

Determine how often to post

Most salons post two or three times a day; some have success with posting more often. If you are unsure, start with less, and build to more while monitoring overall engagement as you change the frequency of posts. See how your community responds. In general, less is more, especially when it’s high quality content that gets a lot of engagement. It’s also helpful to research optimal times of the day and week to post on Facebook, as they change frequently.

Don’t ask for likes specifically

Posts along the lines of “Like this if you love that post-salon feeling” are too obvious. These types of page updates don’t really benefit the salon or customer, and offer no motivation to take action. Simply skip the direct ask and share content clients will want to comment on because it’s engaging and relevant.

Remember, stay content positive and engage with your community

Had a frustrating day with problem customers? Your Facebook community doesn’t need to know about it. Had an inspirational day and feel moved to share it with your community? Go ahead. It can help brighten someone else’s, too.