Why a Responsive Social Media Strategy Matters: A Case Study
Bliss Salon Spa Boutique is a privately owned, small business located on the west side of Lansing. Over the last several years, Bliss has grown into a well-rounded business by adding a variety of spa and salon services as well as adding a boutique. Through the leadership of their business owner, Dallas, and their stylists, Bliss has created a captivating and welcoming environment that makes you feel pampered and loved!
While Bliss is owned by Dallas, they also have their own power team of stylists that help shape and mold the future of the business. Dallas utilizes the many unique talents of her staff to help take the business to the next level. Along with her power team, she enlisted in Elevate Marketing Co.’s services. We started by helping them revamp their website, which then expanded into training, digital advertising, consulting, and team collaboration.
Bliss is the definition of a responsive social media strategy.
During “normal times,” Bliss uses their social media platforms to showcase the work done by their stylists, to educate their clients about products and self-care, to announce new products and services, and to relate to their clients. Bliss has grown its following and engagement steadily over the last several years. Their following interacts regularly on all their channels. They know what to expect from Bliss and can easily recognize their content.
A Test in Responsiveness
Two months ago, when COVID-19 rocked the nation, it was cause for a drastic shift in social media strategy for many businesses. As businesses were forced to close for an extended period of time, much of their planned social media strategy went out the window.
For Bliss, this extended closure meant a lot of things:
No new service content – the hair, nails, facials, or lashes and brows they normally shared
No “book an appointment” call to actions
No “visit the boutique” call to actions
No appointment availability content
No team selfies and behind the scenes photos
So, what happens when all of your “normal” planned content is no longer available or relevant? You change gears. The question is this: how quickly can your business do that?
The week that the state mandated salons to close their doors, Bliss leaped into action. The Bliss power team hopped on a conference call to talk strategy. During that call, we actually joked “How many other salons are actually calling emergency team meetings to plan their Instagram stories right now?” While we joked about this, it’s actually pretty true. So many business owners underestimate the power of social media, but that is not the case with Bliss. Together, we planned out content for the next several weeks that would be helpful and encouraging to their followers:
At-home styling tutorials
Haircare tips and tricks
Self-care tips
Salon products available for shipping
Boutique inventory available for shipping
Checking in with their stylists
We planned feed content and story prompts for each day to make sure they continued to put out good content, even when they couldn’t be in the salon. As the mandated shutdown has been extended several times now, we have continued to meet and adjust strategy as needed. Planning a few weeks at a time, since that’s all we were able to do, has worked as a great method for Bliss and their team.
Why is this so important?
If Bliss continued to post their originally planned content that was full of “Book your appointment with your favorite stylist,” “Visit the boutique to try this on for yourself,’ and “We have openings for three cuts and a color today,” their following would not be feeling the love and support that they are now. Bliss’s team also wouldn’t be feeling the love and support. Had we not taken the time to meet and strategize, they would likely have run out of content by now and their page would sit dormant (which is very hard to recover from on an analytical basis). By shifting their strategy on a dime, they’ve been able to continue to authentically engage with their audience and have maintained strong in all KPIs.
In Conclusion
We can’t always predict the future of our businesses. When we’re hit with hard times – pandemic or just good ole economic hard times – you have to be able to shift gears quickly. Growing your business might look different during these times, but when you lean on your staff, empower them, and enlist in other creatives, you can easily turn lemons into lemonade.