...tweet, tweet tweetly-tweet!

That's not Robin rockin' out in the tree down the street, it's the sound of the social media tool that is fostering conversations between customers, businesses and friends all over the world. Twitter has made quite a racket in the social media world, but it’s also a powerful conversation tool for salons and should be considered for a well-rounded online strategy.

To effectively utilize Twitter for your salon, much like any other social media platform, it’s all about strategy. Because there are very specific reasons for Twitter outreach you must first make sure this time-intensive platform makes sense for your salon – and you have the resources to jump and continually be engaged with the conversations that are happening.

If and when done properly, there are many opportunities to outreach to both industry influencers, bloggers, media and your customers via Twitter. At Evoke Brands, we utilize Twitter as a PR tool – something we call ‘Social Media PR.’ It’s a new way of connecting with influencers and both introducing our company and clients – as well as joining important conversations in a social, instant way. We look at it as a conversation resource in a way that other social media, even the almighty Facebook, can't.

When you join in that conversation you earn the respect of the customers and earn a place in their daily media diet. From daily updates on salon happenings, photos of unique styles and services to exclusive rewards and contests when done right a twitter account will have "all the little birdies" psyched for their next visit to your salon. To start with Twitter, you must first understand the anatomy of the platform. Then, we’ll move on to discuss best practices and how salons across the country are using this powerful tool to drive business.

Here's a quick tutorial on the ins and outs of Twitter:

This is a screen shot of my twitter profile let's check out each step.

Tweet: A tweet is a 140 character status update. Professionals use tweets to promote specials, create buzz about their salon, have conversations with industry leaders and customers, and keep up with the latest trends.

Number 1: The Handle/Avatar

As you can see there are three different ways to identify a twitter user. The first is their twitter "handle." My handle is @kellyehlers. A twitter handle will always have the @ sign before it in order to connect with a user. It is how users send tweets "to" your account, and how they will see when you tweet at them. Your twitter handle should be something related to your salon (or stylist) and will most likely be the name of your salon--@yoursalon.

The second way to identify an account is the avatar. An avatar is the image that will attach to every tweet you send. I suggest using your salon logo as your Twitter avatar just as you would your Facebook profile picture. Finally you have your account name (Evoke Brands). This should be the name of your salon.  

Number 2: Twitter Bio

Twitter allows you 160 characters to describe the account. Here you should define your salon, listing the services you provide, including impressive accolades, adding your salon website and phone number. This will appear on your twitter profile for other users to discover who you are.

Number 3: Follow button

Following Twitter accounts is similar to "friending" or "liking" Facebook pages. You should "follow" your friends, stylists, industry leaders, and information sources. It is also good Twitter etiquette to follow accounts that follow you, this builds your following and your information sources.

Number 4: Following

I am following 1,920 Twitter accounts. This means that my "feed," or dashboard on m account will show every tweet sent by all 1,920 accounts. If you click on this number you can see which accounts you are following.

Number 5: Followers

I have 2,376 followers who have clicked the "follow button" (number 3) on my account and are automatically fed ever tweet that I send. These are the people who I can influence with my tweets. For a salon this will be your clients, stylists, business partners, sales reps and friends who want to receive information, specials and fun insights into your business.

Number 6: Mentions

Here I "mentioned" Premiere Shows in my tweet. When you would like to "mention" or "tag" someone in a tweet so that your followers may click on their name and they can see you tagged them, you must simply add their twitter handle to your tweet. For example to mention me in a tweet you would add @kellyehlers.  

Number 7: Retweeting (RT)

Here I have "retweeted" @thehairnerds' original tweet that said "#HairNerd Awesomeness: A Look Inside the RAW Awards with Fabio Sementilli." I liked their article and I wanted to share it with my followers.

You can also retweet a good post by clicking the button at the bottom tweet that has two revolving arrows. This will post the tweet to your friends’ feeds directly from the source and will include a small caption that says retweeted by @kellyehlers.

Number 8: Hashtags (#)

Hashtags are links that create a new feed related to that topic. Here I have hashtagged #MrMoon. Hashtags are very useful when you want to create a twitter page with all of the tweets containing the same hashtag. For example, when I tweet about my blog posts on Modern Salon I might add the hashtag #StyleSync at the end of every tweet. Than if my followers clicked on the word "#StyleSync" it would pull up all of my tweets about my modern salon blogs! This can be useful for organizing information, creating campaigns, and participating in national or global conversations.

Number 9:

The final way to communicate using twitter is called a direct message. Direct messages are tweets that only you and the recipient can see. In order to Direct Message or (DM) click this button: choose "send direct message," and write your tweet.

Phew! Now that you know the ins and outs of Twitter it's important to remember to remain professional. This is your chance to engage customers and lure them into your salon, remember to also remain upbeat, join the Twitter conversations and have fun!

Happy Tweeting! To follow Evoke Brands go to: www.twitter.com/KellyEhlers.

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.