We all know that a good Instagram profile is sometimes the best ad.
A good looking profile with a variety of posts that are all connected to the same theme and are aesthetically pleasing is something that everyone likes to see.
Instagram is easy to use and a great way of promoting your business for free, so today we are bringing you 9 tips on how to attract new customers using this popular social media.
- Stories
- Carousel posts
- A consistent feed and different kinds of photos
- Use a visual planner
- Post different kinds of videos
- Post regularly
- Tips and stories
- Descriptions and hashtags
- Schedule your posts
1. Stories
This feature was introduced in 2016, and lets you post videos and images that disappear after 24 hours. But is it useful?
According to statistics, 500 million users use Instagram Stories every day, and 1/3 of the most-viewed Stories are from businesses.
The majority of people don’t have the time to scroll through their feeds for hours every day and this is where stories come in.
More than 70% of Instagram users watch stories daily, which might not seem like a huge deal, but remember, Instagram has 1 billion active users.
Using Stories, you are letting people know that you are active on your Instagram profile and that they can expect a quick response from you.
Also, you are constantly providing updates, which in this case are videos and images of cute groomed dogs, something that people who follow you are there to see.
You can include anything in a Story: a photo or video of a dog during or after grooming, an image of a discount, you can wish people a happy holiday with a festive pic of a cute dog, honestly, you can post anything that comes to mind and is related to your business.
If I was looking for a grooming salon and saw one that had goofy videos of dogs having fun while being groomed in the Stories, I’d probably call them and schedule an appointment.
Here’s two cute Instagram Stories:
You don’t always have to post dogs, sometimes you create a spontaneous Story about yourself buying new equipment which will be even better than your old one, which will enable you to be even better at doing your job.
The best thing about Stories is that you don’t need to pay a graphic designer to make them for you. There are tons of websites with templates that you can edit to your heart’s content, and some that even offer royalty-free images and resources, like FreePik.
2. Carousel posts
Back in 2017, Instagram introduced the feature of Carousel posts, which can include multiple photos (and even videos) you can flip through.
These aren’t only great for people who want to post multiple selfies, they’re also pretty amazing and extremely beneficial for businesses of all kinds. Before and after images are very popular, and people love behind the scenes videos.
Using carousel posts, you can include all three in one, instead of spamming your followers. Use a before photo, then an after photo, and lastly, show a video of the grooming process.
3. A consistent feed and different kinds of photos
This seems like an obvious one, but trust me, there’s more to it.
You want your profile to be uniform, and all images to have the same style, lighting, and coloration. This achieves the effect of unity and is very pleasing to the eye.
When I see profiles like this, I always think of how much effort was put into them and I always stay and keep scrolling for a while. To me, it’s a sign of professionalism and skill.
Take photos of dogs in different angles, because this shows off your skills and tells your potential customers that you can make their dog look pretty from all sides. It’s always good to have images of dogs ‘smiling’ and looking excited, as well.
Before and after images have great success and reception. If I was a potential customer and I saw an incredible before and after pic, I’d be amazed and impressed at the groomer’s skill, which would immediately convince me to book an appointment.
4. Use a visual planner
This tip is directly related to the previous one. All the stunning and successful Instagram accounts use visual planners to manage their feeds and make sure that everything is consistent and that it matches.
Planoly is free and easy to use and it enables you to manage your Instagram marketing campaigns and content before you post it. It allows you to upload not only images, but also videos and GIFs.
Through Planoly, who is also an official Instagram partner, you can plan how to post your content, you can drag and drop images and videos to see where they fit best, and above all, it has a splitter feature that can cut an image into smaller images to create so-called mini-campaigns.
Another useful feature is that it enables you to view engagements for each post, so you can see what kinds of posts people are liking the most so you can post more of them. It has a ton of features, so I warmly suggest checking it out.
5. Post different kinds of videos
Photos of cute dogs are great and all, but what about the person behind the brand? How can you expect people to trust you with their dog if they know nothing about you? Behind the scenes videos are the solution.
Have your assistant take a video of your grooming or washing a dog and having fun or take a video of them.
This way, people can see that there’s a person behind the brand who’s smiling and having fun while taking care of the dogs, an image of genuineness and reliability.
Another great thing to post is slow-motion videos. Today, most phones come with a slow-mo option, which is one of the most useful features when it comes to a grooming salon.
Take videos of dogs while blow-drying them or while they’re shaking off the water from their baths.
These videos always get a ton of likes, and people tag their friends in them, too, because they want to share how cute the dogs are looking in slow motion, something that our eye cannot catch.
6. Post regularly
This tip is related to the previous one, and is so very important for a business. Provide daily updates and images. It doesn’t have to be groomed dogs every time: you can share funny dog related memes, jokes and puns and add some variety to your profile. People love dogs, but they also love to laugh and often tag their friends in the stuff they laugh at. This is a great way of getting new customers.
7. Tips and stories
People, and especially pet owners, love reading about pet care tips and cute pet stories. If I saw a piece of great advice regarding my dog, I would absolutely follow that profile for the more great advice.
Give advice to your followers on the best conditioners or shampoos or how to use them. Share with them some tips that you learned while doing this job, or your story of how you started (in short, of course). Or maybe post a picture of your own dog and tell them the story of how you met your best friend.
This contributes greatly on the aforementioned trust, as well. By being yourself and being genuine, people will feel like they can trust you with their dogs.
Bonus tip: collaborations can bring you a ton of new followers and customers. Collaborate with the local pet accessory shop or pet care store, so they can feature you on their Instagram profiles.
8. Descriptions and hashtags
Both of these might seem useless, but trust me, they matter more than you think.
Using descriptions, you can ask people to capture a funny video where the dog is jumping around in excitement or to tag their friends who have dogs that do that.
You can also incorporate storytelling and tell a cute or emotional story about how someone adopted their dog. Instead of a short or one-sentence description, share the story of your customer (ask for their permission first, of course).
In the end, you can ask your followers if they know a similar story and encourage them to share it in the comments. This is a great way of customer interaction.
You can also tag a customer, thank them for trusting you with their dog and write about how well-behaved the dog was. The customer is likely to leave a comment, which serves as a testimonial in a way.
Everyone else who is friends with them (and maybe even people who don’t know them) will trust their judgment and maybe even call you to book an appointment soon afterwards.
Regarding hashtags, you can tag your city, the dog breed, a product you used, and maybe even the name of the haircut you gave to the dog. People visit hashtags more often than you think, especially the location ones. This is why hashtags are a great way of attracting new customers.
Bonus tip: Engage with your followers as much as you can. Reply to their comments, respond to their messages and answer their questions.
I think we can all agree that we’d rather purchase a service from someone who is active and cares about their customers than from someone who isn’t.
9. Schedule your posts
This is something that most people overlook but is actually quite important.
To get the most out of people engaging with your posts so you can get new customers, it is good to know when your followers are most active.
People are more likely to see your content when they wake up and during their work breaks than during the time, they’re sleeping or driving to work.
According to statistics, the best times for posting are 8-10 am (when people are waking up and checking their phones in bed or during breakfast), and after work hours (4-7 pm), when people arrive home and have some time to relax.
You can also post later in the evening, around 10 pm to 1am because a lot of people check their social media before they sleep.
Do keep in mind though, businesses that post this late are the ones whose target audiences are students, who, as we all know, often pull all-nighters.
Conclusion
Instagram is a great way of promoting your business for free and getting new customers.
Post on the feed and use the Stories regularly and add variety to your profile through multiple kinds of images and videos, including before and after images, and behind the scenes and slow-motion videos.
Hopefully, these tips help make your grooming salon profile even more unique and successful!
