Have you ever heard of Influencer Marketing? Basically it’s a collaboration between a brand and an influential figure in the industry—most likely a celebrated online personality that your target audience engages with and listens to.

It’s also one of the fastest-growing online customer-acquisition channels available—in 2020, Influencer Marketing is projected to become a $10 billion industry. 😱

So, the question is: What is the best way that your salon can benefit from this opportunity?

The simple answer is that we combine Influencer Marketing with this industry’s most powerful platform: Instagram. And we embrace this opportunity through a very popular trend that brands are doing with Influencers: The Instagram Takeover!

What is a Salon Instagram Takeover?

It’s when a salon gives the reins to their Instagram Account to an Influencer for a set period of time.

The benefits of this kind of campaign are:

• Access to an Influencer’s vast audience

• Fresh content from qualified Instagram specialist

• A chance to drive a new young audience to your salon

Now that you know what it is, how can you organize and run a successful Salon Instagram Takeover?

First things first: Let’s find the right Influencers to do it!

Research the most influential bloggers, vloggers and social media personalities in your area -

A quick Google search might come up with an article listing them (Alternatively, you could ask your audience on social media who they follow or admire).

Once you have this list, check out their social accounts and see what types of following they have and what kinds of reactions they get (Views, Likes, Shares, Comments).

Now that you have a shortlist of candidates, the next step is to contact them. See if they would be up for/available to do an Instagram Takeover in your salon.

First Contact

When submitting your proposal, it is best to be very clear about what you are asking for.
Clarity is the key here:

• What is it that you would like them to do:

  • Takeover your Instagram account on a regular working day?

  • Takeover your account during a VIP event?

  • Takeover your account as they serve as a guest receptionist in your salon?

• What is your proposed compensation/incentive?

  • We are looking at leveraging their time and audience for your benefit, so it’s best to have a clear understanding that you are hiring them for their skill and service.

  • If you don’t want to submit a price, that’s okay. You could ask them for what their rate is.

What Will The Salon Instagram Takeover Be Like?

In order to ensure a successful campaign, it’s important to decide beforehand what the guest host will post during the takeover. The better they understand what you are looking for, the better their performance will be!

Will it be a client-based takeover—where they document the amazing service and treatments you provide? Or will they interview clients & team-members, sample/review some of your products?

If you are struggling to come up with ideas for what they should post, then you could always ask the Influencer. It’s their area of expertise, after all.

Also, make sure that you agree upon how the Instagram Takeover will be promoted ahead of time (Create a specific hashtag of the Takeover event). It would be best if they could market the Takeover on their account to their audience. Agree on how many times they will post about it, as one of the main goals of this campaign is getting access to their audience. So ensuring that they market the Takeover is key!

And finally, once the Takeover is finished, make sure that you analyze the results. Find out how many new followers, views and reactions you received on Instagram! Oh and a bonus tip would be to create an exclusive offer that your Guest Host can promote during the Takeover. Then see how many clients took advantage of the special!

And there you have it: How to organize and run a successful Salon Instagram Takeover.

As a special gift, here is a downloadable Salon Instagram Takeover Checklist, to ensure that your next campaign is a smash hit!

Oh did you know that superstar salon owners from all around the globe have recently been Taking Over the Phorest Salon Software Instagram account, providing tips, ideas and fun to like-minded professionals in our industry? To check it out or to chat about doing your very own Takeover of the Phorest Salon Software Instagram account, please click here and drop us a DM.

Thank you so much for reading! And until next time: Let’s Grow!

About the Author:Chris Brennan is a salon marketing specialist and expert speaker for Phorest Salon Software. He travels the world helping salon owners get their clients back in more often, and spending more at each visit. If you would like to discover more about Phorest Salon Software’s reporting suite and how it can help grow your business, simply visit www.phorest.com today and request a demo!