5 Impactful Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Social Media Funnels

Hello, my friend. Welcome back to the Modern Hairstylist Podcast. We're gonna be talking about some social media today, honey. And most importantly, we're gonna be talking about how to actually drive traffic to your social media channels and funnels.

We're gonna be talking about how to actually get eyeballs on your content, on your profile, and on your business ultimately, right? Like, you might be working so hard to create a social presence to grow your business. You might be posting consistently. You might be writing beautiful captions.

Your Instagram profile might be absolutely stunning and gorgeous and amazing. But if you have no eyeballs and if you have no traffic running through it, then it's a waste of time, right? And so it's gonna be really important that not only are we focusing on optimizing your Instagram bio, your Facebook business page, your Google My Business, but we're also making sure that we're focusing on efforts to raise our awareness and actually drive traffic to those channels. And so we're gonna be talking about five impactful ways to do that today, and if you're ready to go, if you're ready to get it popping, then let's go.

Let me guess. You are a hustling, bustling hairstylist behind the chair, working so hard to build a beautiful career for yourself, one that gives you time, freedom, and energy to spend with yourself, your family, and your friends. But you feel like you're always working in your business even when you're not behind the chair. My name's Hunter Donia, and I help you automate your systems and implement really beautiful strategies so you can grow your business without the overwhelm, and this is the Modern Hairstylist Podcast.

What the f- is up, Katelin? I don't even know how to respond to that. Oh, man. I'm just...

I'm, like, having flashbacks to the Vine days, like, "What the fuck is up, Kyle?" Is up, Kyle? Um, uh, Katelin, I'm so excited to ha- talk to you today about this topic. Likewise.

Likewise. Anything marketing, I'm so here for it. Yeah, girl. Okay, listen.

We are... Like, the, the next couple weeks, my friend listening to this, we are about to go so crazy ham talking about everything that has to do with marketing. So, those of y'all who came here for, like, automation and, like, streamlining and guest experience and shit, check out the last, like, what, 50-plus episodes, okay? Because the next couple episodes are gonna be all about growing that clientele, nurturing that clientele, becoming a marketing guru, and we're gonna make it happen for you.

So, I hope that you're excited for that. So, I think a great place to start this conversation is to first talk about active marketing versus passive marketing, okay? I think it's really important that we understand the difference, because oftentimes, we spend a whole lot of time on passive marketing because it's sexier, it's probably a lot easier, um, and it's what is sold to us, um, a lot of the time when it comes to, uh, using social media. And it's important to understand this because one of them is going to drive traffic, and then a w- another one of them is going to catch traffic and then nurture that traffic, right?

So, active marketing versus passive marketing. So, active, active marketing is efforts that you make to push the traffic into your funnels, and it's, it's very, very direct. It's very much you are putting yourself in front of other people very literally and also, like, directly. So, for example, this could be something like you are doing...

And we're gonna talk about this as one of our s- uh, strategies today. An example of that is direct outreach, right? So, when you are actually going onto other people's profiles on social media, and you are commenting and you are making relationships and you're having conversations and you're in DMs, right, of maybe local people in your area who could be potential new clients. That is active marketing because you are putting yourself in front of the other person.

You are wedging yourself into that person's awareness and their life. You are making somebody aware of you, instead of passive marketing, where somebody becomes aware of you from their own efforts, through their own journeys. So, let's say somebody found you through a hashtag, and that, that is then passive marketing. Hashtags are a passive marketing strategy because you're hoping that somebody, through their own efforts, comes and finds you through that type of strategy, right?

It's about how the, how somebody gets to be aware of you in one way or another. Active is you are making somebody aware, and then passive is somebody is becoming aware of you through their own efforts. Katelin, did I break that down well enough? Yeah, perfectly.

Stunning. Okay, so now that we know that, right, and, and now that we understand the difference, because again, we focus much too much on passive marketing. Posting a little Instagram post to your, to your feed is 100% passive marketing. Going on your Instagram Stories is 100% passive marketing, because you are hoping that somebody will find those things, instead of active marketing, where you're actually going out into other profiles or you're going out in the world and you are putting yourself in front of other people.

So, it's really important that we understand active marketing for thi- for this strate- for these strategies specifically, because I really do believe that that is, that is the most impactful and... It's the most impactful way of getting traffic to your, to your gig. It really truly is. I, I'd rather...

But, but it takes more work, right? It definitely takes more work, and I think that that's why we of- all too often rely on passive marketing tactics, when in reality we should be focusing a whole lot on active and, and having a good balance. So, we're gonna be talking about this five, these five impactful ways. Number one is a giveaway.

So, way back in the day when I was building my clientele, I did this cute little giveaway gig, all right?And I collabed with, um, five other small businesses. Actually, I think it was four other small businesses, and then I was, like, the fifth in the giveaway. And we did this, like, big Instagram giveaway, where, like, if you, if you commented and you followed and you shared to your story and, like, followed all five of us, then you would be entered into a giveaway to earn prizes from all of us.

So, I did, like, a $100 gift card. We did a f- a local boutique furniture store. They, and, like, decor store, they gave a $100 gift card. Um, my nail tech, she gave a $50 gift card.

We had a cleaning service, um, they gave a free cleaning, I think. Um, and then we had a local boutique, and they gave a $100 gift card. So, it was, like, a really stacked up deck of, like, giveaways, right? Like, that's, like, that's like an irresistible giveaway prize set.

You know what I mean? And these were other small businesses in the area that ranged between, like, having a little bit of a smaller following versus, like, having a larger following. Like, we had, like, two, like, bigger sharks in the area, versus, like, the other three, who were, like, a little bit smaller, you know? And it was such a beautiful mix and blend of, like, people, and it was very different niches.

So, like, there was not, there was not much competition between each of us, which was fantastic and great. And what the beauty of this giveaway is, is that every single one of these businesses are in the local area. So, we can assume that the majority of the followers that are following each of these Instagram accounts are people who are living in that local area. Therefore, they are people that you probably want to reach.

And on top of that, these services also align with m- uh, w- they aligned with my ideal client. Like, my ideal client was shopping at this type of decor and furniture store. It was a little bit more modern vibes, right? And, like, the same with the boutique, like, the style of clothing, right?

It was that my ideal client would be shopping at this boutique. And so it was very strategic as to who I decided to partner with, and those, those stores and those, um, businesses were also businesses that I knew that I wanted to create relationships with ever since I moved to the area, because I knew that, you know, they were, they, they had my ideal clients as well too. And I freaking loved them. They were a great set of women and business owners.

They were fantastic. And so this is, this was, like, a very, very, very helpful, impactful strategy, not only for me, but also for these other local small businesses who wa- also wanted to grow. And we were all down for it, and it went super well. I wish I had the numbers.

It was so long ago, and I didn't record what happened. But we definitely got a lot of entries. We got a whole lot of followers, and I could guarantee you that it definitely turned into butts in my chair in the long run, 'cause now I had these followers that I nurtured and I posted, um, and, and they were in my s- they were in my algorithm, right? So, now I was able to nurture them into being, becoming new potential clients with me.

So, I love me a good giveaway, as long as it's done right, as long as it's done with the right people, and what I would suggest to you is maybe if you haven't created, like, a, at least a little bit of a relationship with your local small businesses yet, I highly recommend that you do. And even if it's not just for the purpose of this giveaway, right? Or even if, you know, you, you start that relationship before you pitch something like this, I think it can really raise your chance and opportunity of having beautiful alliances moving forward that can really help you grow your business. Number two, direct outreach.

We talked a little bit about this in the beginning. Direct outreach would be finding digital spaces where your ideal client is living, where they're hanging out, and making sure that they are regional to your area, right? Because it does, if, if you are living in Pennsylvania and you're reaching out to somebody in California, honey, they ain't gonna come take a six-hour flight to get their hair done with you. You know what I mean?

So, you wanna be directly outreaching to people who are in your local area, right, in these digital spaces. So, this could be Facebook groups, this could be, um, NextDoor app, this could be LinkedIn, this could be mostly Instagram, right? And this is also gonna depend on who your target market is. We're gonna be talking a lot about your ideal client profile in future episodes, and I find that oftentimes we don't get this right, and so I'm looking forward to speaking about that with you in a different episode.

But you wanna make sure that you're showing up in spaces where your ideal client is actually living and not wasting any time where they're not. And then using local geotags, right? So, geotags are, like, when you tag your location in Instagram or Facebook, or the hashtags, right? So, #lancastercity, right?

Lancaster City, PA, something like that. And going through, finding your ideal client's Instagram profiles, commenting, giving them genuine comments, genuine, um, reactions, asking genuine questions. So, like, if somebody, like, posted a picture of their dog, I would comment and be like, "Oh my God, your dog is so beautiful. How old are they?

Oh my God, your dog is so beautiful. What's their name?" Like, s- things like that, right? Starting to create relationships.

And what happens is when you comment or when you post in a Facebook group, people start to see your name. People start to become aware. That's what this is about, raising your awareness. People become aware that you exist.

It's important that you get people to, to become aware that you exist, right? Otherwise, all of your passive marketing efforts are gonna go to waste. And so direct outreach is an active marketing effort in which will drive traffic to your social media funnel. So, you're gonna comment and you're gonna be like, "Oh my God, your dog is so cute."

Like, "Love your dog," whatever. Or, you can even comment about somebody's hair if it's relevant to your gig, right? And then other people, everybody else who commented might get a notification that, that you commented, right? Um, anybody who stumbles upon the post and goes to the comments is gonna see your name and, of course, the person who posted the, the picture is gonna see your name, click on your profile, be like, "Who the hell is this random person commenting on my shit?"

See how amazing your Instagram profile is and be like, "Oh, shit. I wanna do business with this person."And then maybe they click your Follow. Maybe they won't just do business with you immediately, but maybe they'll click the Follow button, and I would suggest that you follow back.

And I would suggest that you continuously nurture, you continuously like their pictures, you continuously comment. And that's the thing, that is the thing I'm gonna... Okay, here's another thing that I did when I was, um, when I was building my clientele Behind The Chair. I unfollowed everything that had to do with hair, okay?

Besides my business mentors, I unfollowed everything that had to do with hair, including other hairstylists who I wo- was not close to or who did not inspire me. Here's why. I wanted to fill up my feed with local regional clients who I could nurture and who I could make, make an impact with when it comes to my marketing, right? Because the more I see them coming in through my feed, the more time and the easier it is for me to just comment, like, comment, like, comment, like on people in my area.

Social media, I would not be on social media, besides TikTok probably, if, if it was not for my job, or if it was not for the chance to make an impact on other people and give people information that I believe that they need to hear to, like, make them successful. Like, this is, like, an impactful thing, like, job for me. But because it's a job, that's why I'm showing up. And so I want you to ask yourself, I w- I w- and I talk about this all the time with intentionality, I want you to ask yourself, like, what is your intention with how you're using social media?

And think about it from a really literal perspective as to, like, how you are interacting with that scroll. Like, how, like, what is your intention with opening up your Instagram? Is it to make money or is it to just, like, gain inspiration? Is it to get educated?

Whatever it may be, stop doing anything that, that, that is outside that scope of intention, outside of those goals, and you will reach your goals a lot faster. And so I highly recommend that you unfollow anything or anyone that isn't a- in alignment with your goals. And I made sure that I did that, and it made me doing this type of outreach a lot easier. So, that's my motherfucking tea on direct outreach.

Number three, hashtags, bio optimization, SEO, search terms, the title of your, um, of your account or your page or your profile, whatever it may be, okay? What you have to understand about hashtags, eh, the words in your bio, um, or the title of your account, or the, uh, the h- uh, the handle of your account is that they are all search terms. What I want you to do is is I want you to go to your Instagram and I want you to type some sort of search term. Just type hair.

Just type hair. And you're gonna see, you'll probably see me if you interact with my Instagram account, because my, literally, my first word in my gig is hair, right? You're gonna see that everybody with titles and everybody with a handle that has the word hair in it comes up. So, the more that you can step into your ideal client's shoes and you can think about and understand what they would be typing into their search bar, and you can take those words and you can put them into your bio, into your title, into your handle, or whatever it may be, into your hashtags, right?

Especially hashtags as well, too. That is when you can really have effective passive marketing that passively does catch traffic and raises your awareness. Because passive marketing can definitely 100% work. I mean, I see it all the time.

Passive marketing can 100% work to actually catch clients as they're in a search. But if somebody's not necessarily in a search or they don't know how to find you, that's where active marketing comes in and it's really helpful, right? But making sure that your bio is optimized when somebody comes onto your profile, making sure that the hashtags that you're using in each of your posts are all hashtags that don't waste any time or space, that is precious real estate. Use all the hashtags that you need to to catch as many people as possible who are looking for a hairstylist in the local area, and use the shit out of local area terms in multiple ways.

I used to just do #lancastercity, #lancaster, #lancastercitypa, #lancasterpa, right? Because people are gonna be searching different things in different ways, you know? So, make sure to definitely optimize your search terms when it comes to how you're using social media, and you'll be able to catch more people when they're in the search for you or somebody else in the area. Okay, number four.

This grew my motherf- clientele honey. Okay, this grew my clientele. My clients posting and tagging me on social media. You know, the, the, the old school way of getting people into your chair was a referral, right?

Like, it's, like, it's all word of mouth, it's, like, asking your clients for word of mouth. I think referral programs today, nowadays, and I think asking your clients for referrals organically, it doesn't work as much as it used to at all. I think it feels really forced, I think it feels like a pressure to your clients. And I would rather your client give you a referral, not because you asked, but because they wanted to.

And that comes back to your client experience and making sure that you're offering something that is absolutely next level. That is where you will naturally get word of mouth referrals, right? What I teach too, is creating a, kind of, like, a brand ambassador program or, like, a referral program that is based upon your clients posting on social, actually putting your name out there for you, right? Instead of, like, badgering and texting their friends.

'Cause I know if somebody, like, asks me to give them a referral, I'm not just gonna... Like, if somebody tells me to do that, I'm not just gonna start texting all my friends and annoying them to go see you. Like, that's just weird. Like, it's just, it's just not the tea, right?

People just aren't naturally gonna do that in today's day and age. And so instead, it feels a lot more comfortable and it can be massively effective if your clients are...... tagging you and talking about you and shouting you out on their own social channels, because they can reach their entire follower list, their entire friends list so quickly and so easily, and people are gonna ask them where they got their hair done, or they're just gonna click on your tag and then go check you out and they're gonna see you, right? So I have 100% gotten so many referrals because my clients have posted pictures of themselves on their feeds or wherever it may be, and tagged me and shouted me out.

And, uh, I can't tell you the amount of times that people were like, "Oh, I know you from Lauren because she posts on her stories all the time and her hair always looks so good." Like, it happens all the time. So if you can incentivize 'em, we're gonna, we're actually gonna be doing a training in Modern Stylist Movement about this soon enough for my membership program. Try and see if you can create some sort of incentives around your clients actually posting on their own feeds and shouting you out.

And you might not even have to incentivize it. You might just have to ask them to do it. Maybe send, maybe systematize a way where you can, um, send them pictures of their hair after every appointment and be like, "I would really appreciate if you posted this on your feed and, like, shouted me out." And, like, they probably will do it if you give, if you make it easy for them, right?

If you make it easy and you just give them the picture and then it's good to go. So very effective strategy. Highly recommend. Number five, video marketing.

And here is the mother mm-mm tea, okay? Here's the tea. We have to understand, and we have to go back to active marketing versus passive marketing. You have to understand how each video marketing tool or possibility actually impacts your audience and h- and who it actually reaches, and who it has the capability of reaching, right?

Right now, Reels are on and popping right now, right? And the cool thing about Reels, and this is something that Instagram really never gave us the opportunity of, for the most part. We've always had the Explore page, but it was, uh, it's really painful and, and it's competitive to get on the Explore page. What Instagram Reels do is they push you out to other people that don't follow you.

And even static posts nowadays, some static posts are even getting pushed to people that don't follow you. So you have to, you, eh, so that's Reels, right? And that's some of your static posts now. Still it's, like, iffy with static posts, but definitely Reels are pushing you out to people and getting you in front of people's faces, right?

Versus if you post on your stories or if you go live on Instagram, right? And this is Instagram specifically, then only the people who follow you are gonna be able to see that stuff. Not, not gonna be able to see it, but the majority of the people who see your stories or see those live, uh, live Instagrams, right, they're gonna be people who already follow you. And so I think that using those channels is impactful to make sure that you're nurturing the people who are following you and your existing clients and your new potential clients 100%.

But if your goal is also to be driving traffic to your channels, then using Reels as a video marketing, as a vi- video marketing tool can really help you because it'll push you into people's feeds that otherwise may have not seen them. And TikTok, I mean, we could talk about TikTok too. I'm, I'm consistently furthermore seeing more, like, local video and local posts and local people coming up on my feed more than ever, and I'm really seeing TikTok take, like, a little bit of a turn towards being able to use it to speak more to your region. They ni- they, they now have geotagging too, and so if somebody's on TikTok and they're looking for a hairstylist, they might go on that geotag of, like, your local city and be able to see all the posts from their local city, and you might wanna be on there, right?

And so video marketing right now is being ve- very favored by people and social media, but I want you to remember your active marketing versus passive marketing and what the purpose of each of those are. What, the cool thing about Reels, though, also I, I wanna throw in here too, the cool thing about Reels, and, and when I teach to this, I, I, uh, I always put Reels and, like, TikTok in, like, kind of, like, a middle category between active and passive marketing, because your current clients are seeing your, your, your Reels too. So not only are you nurturing your current clients, but you're also having the potential of reaching new ones as well. And so next episode, I think, I think the episode after this, um, we have Caitlin with me right now, we have Caitlin who's gonna be spilling all the tea about Reels.

Caitlin has her own Real Hairstylists Academy and she is absolutely brilliant with Reels and has a lot o- of experience growing her own clientele with Reels. And so we'll be diving deep into those next week, so make sure to, um, stay tuned for that. But these are my five ways of driving traffic to your social media. These are all things that I did when growing my own clientele Behind The Chair.

Caitlin, do you have anything to share about any of what I've said today before we close this puppy out? Honestly, yeah. I could probably sit here and talk for another 30 minutes about it, so I will leave it as what it is because you did a beautiful job of, like, quickly and, like, very, like, what's the word I'm looking for? Like, s- Effectively.

Effectively. There you go. Effectively really spoke well about each category. So I won't go any deeper into them, but next week we will absolutely be going deeper into Reels and I'm really, really excited about it.

I'm freaking hype, dude. It'll be great. So my friend listening to this, thank you so much for joining us on The Modern Hairstylist podcast. Go drive more traffic to your social media funnels right the hell now.

Keep listening to these episodes because we're gonna be talking all about marketing in the next couple weeks. Stay tuned for next week's episode. Leave a five star review if you enjoyed this. Peace out, girl scout.

So much love to you. Bye-bye.

End of transcript. © 2023 Hunter Donia LLC.