Salon & Spa Hashtag Etiquette: The Do’s & Don’ts

Posted on the 16 April 2017 by Jennquinn

When posting your salon news, special offers and latest promotions on social media, one way to ensure that you reach a lively, chatty audience is to use hashtags. In fact, we have quite a few salon or spa hashtag ideas right here. But hashtags can be a touchy subject: some people hate them while others love them a little too much. What if you were to create a unique branded hashtag? Well, there are a few areas of salon & spa hashtag etiquette that you should remember. Even the most innocent post can turn into an embarrassment!

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Salon & Spa Hashtag Etiquette

Creating Your Own Branded Salon Or Spa Hashtag

A branded hashtag could refer to your business or a special event you’re putting together. It could be as simple as you’d like – company name, tagline, etc. This kind of hashtag is designed to promote themes and campaigns to your followers.

First off, let’s remember to capitalise each of the words in a hashtag. You don’t have to, of course, but it makes it easier for people to read on social media. Plus, you also ensure that you avoid any awkwardness of people reading it differently!

Take, for example, the moment when singer Susan Boyle’s PR team wanted to promote her upcoming album party! It all seemed harmless enough until they decided not to capitalise each letter like this: #SusanAlbumParty.

Instead, they went with #susanalbumparty.

Many people took this in a completely different way. And not too many followers actually tweeted back in celebration of Mrs. Boyle’s latest album. In the end, the PR move turned out to be a complete disaster. So when it comes to salon & spa hashtag etiquette, cover your bases and capitalise each word!

What Else Are Hashtags Used For?

Another thing to remember to check is what else might be in a discussion under your hashtag of choice. You may be commenting on something innocent and cute. But a conversation could have previously started around that same phrase or word.

Take for instance this tragic moment when the Celeb Boutique thought that their hashtag #Aurora started trending because people enjoyed their Kim Kardashian-inspired Aurora dress.

In reality, a violent incident occurred in the city of Aurora, and that was the reason for the hashtag to be trending. Needless to say, this left the Celeb Boutique not looking in the best of light. Now this one is very unlikely. But it’s just good etiquette.

Current Trending Hashtags: A Quick Reminder

One of the main benefits of hashtags is that you can see what’s popular and join the conversation. In fact, many brands and businesses use trending topics as a way to introduce themselves to a wider audience. While it’s a quite successful tactic – especially if the trending topic is a salon or spa hashtag – be warned. It’s more appropriate to stay focused on the topic at hand than to shoehorn an advertisement into it.

Especially like when Gap decided that Hurricane Sandy would be a great moment to tell people about their convenient online shopping site.

Or maybe, when Kenneth Cole decided to make a light joke at Egypt’s uprising crisis:

As you can see, hashtags can be a fun way to chat to new people and get a little attention back onto your business at the same time. But if you don’t have proper salon & spa hashtag etiquette, then they could also backfire rather quickly. Having the wrong approach to social media hashtagging can be hazardous – your salon or spa hashtag might end up trending, but for the wrong reasons!

Thanks for reading,

#LetsGrow

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This article was originally published on March 9th, 2016 and has since been updated due to 2017 social media changes.