The interworkings of your salon is typically off limits, right? Well, not at The Root Salon in Phoenix. Meet Laurén Hart, owner of The Root Salon and trained stylist by none other than Beth Minardi herself! This accomplishment, along with the salon’s numerous industry and community awards, (including Salon Today 200 honoree two years in a row!) proves that Hart and her team aren’t afraid to push the envelope when it comes to letting their clients in on the nature of their business. We sat down with Hart to find out how she lets clients in on a ‘sneak peek’ in to her salon and shares all of the happenings on her social networks.

 How do you integrate your online/social media presence into the salon experience?

 We like to let our online followers get daily “sneak peeks” into our lives in the salon. When a fantastic hair color is achieved or a notable moment takes place, we’re sure to snap a photo and post it. We truly enjoy our work and daily accomplishments -- social media is the perfect way to invite others to share in the fun!

 How do you use the various social media platforms to promote your salon?

 We are sure to hop onto all the latest online and social media platforms. Facebook, Yelp, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Pinterest, Youtube…you name it, we’re on it. And we’re sure to stay active so we let our team members post on their own accounts about beauty and hair during the few minutes they have as down time.

 How do you develop your social media content?

We ask ourselves one simple question, “What’s best for our clients?” We consider any online contact to be either a current or potential client. So as long as we post content that is helpful, entertaining, and inspirational, we feel we’re doing them justice.

 Are your clients involved in your social media conversations?

We start each day with what we call "conversation starters". We use dry-erase markers to write call to action statements on each stylists mirror to get our clients involved while they are in the salon. Statements like "Do you follow our Pinterest" or, "Have you checked in on Facebook?". This week, with the launch of our new website and blog, our mirrors say "Subscribe to our new blog, The Root Word."

Do you encourage the stylist in your salon to have a social media presence? How do you make sure they maintain the balance of unique and professional?

Absolutely! The first step in maintaining the balance of unique and professional is to make sure you work with creative stylists who value professionalism in the first place. Our team members are original and eager to share this with the world…but they also have the innate understanding of proper presentation.

 You've been doing this for a while and have won a handful of awards (Salon Today200Honoree--2 years in a row, Best of Yelp, AOL's City's Best, Best of Phoenix, etc.), how do you measure the results of your social media? 

We still consider ourselves to have only discovered the tip of the iceberg when it comes to social media. Still, we’re sure to pay close attention to what happens online. How many retweets? What do our Facebook stats indicate? But our greatest measure is how often the phone rings, how many walk-ins we get, and how many new clients book online.

What social media platforms have been the most successful, and how does your strategy change for different platforms?

Yelp has had the most measurable impact on our growth since 2009. Early on, we used Yelp's mobile daily specials that were delivered for FREE to snag potential new clients. Retention of customers came due to our drive to provide the best customer service giving us a sterling reputation on Yelp.

How do you view social media's role in the salon industry? How will it play a part in the future of your business - and the industry as a whole?

We believe that social media is and will continue to be a huge part of the salon industry. After all, half of what happens in a salon is socializing…think of all the conversations that have happened in your chairs! We like to continue the conversation online, so to speak. As far as the future goes, it’s happening right now. We are dedicated to reaching our current and new clientele in any way that we can so we’re able to deliver our quality product to as many people as possible.

 Hart has a great point. That's one of the reasons we love the salon industry, the social atmosphere of our workplace. If there is one industry that the infusion of online and offline should be seamless it's ours!

For more on The Root Salon, and to follow them on social media, be sure to check out the links below. Congrats to Hart and her dedicated team on their social media success!

Connect with Lauren and Root Salon

As always, feel free to contact me at: kehlers@evokebrands.com with any questions or comments.

About www.StyleSync.me:

Style Sync is an on-line social media training, personal branding and business education platform designed specifically for salon owners and stylists to help them magnify their image and multiply their results.

Style Sync, a division of Evoke Brand Strategies, is an on-line, subscription based social media training, personal branding and business education platform designed to help individual stylists and salon owners turn social media prowess into more clients and more money for your salon.

About www.EvokeBrands.com:

At Evoke Brand Strategies we develop digital, social and mobile strategies for salon professional, beauty, hospitality and entertainment brands. As branding and public relations veterans, yet early adopters of all things digital, we understand the importance of creating measurable, buzz-worthy campaigns that generate bottom-line results.