Stephanie Mero, aka @thecurlninja, has been a Holistic Hair Tribe Partner for about 2 months now. The program has completely changed her salon retail game.
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In the series finale of our Salon E-Retail Business Bootcamp, Stephanie shares her top tips and tricks with us. From social media to product education and creating content, learn how to make the most online salon retail sales possible with our Holistic Hair Tribe Partner Program.
Find the top 5 takeaways from Stephanie's episode below!
1. Educate, don't influence.
If there was one running theme through Stephanie’s webinar, it was the emphasis placed on educating your following and clients rather than posing as a product influencer.
Stephanie said that salon retail sales will come naturally once you educate people about the products. De-bunking some of the myths and questions behind product knowledge breaks down the barrier between client and stylists and allows the clients to really understand what will be best for their hair. This gets them excited about the product and will naturally lead them to want to make a purchase.
Being transparent, honest and open about what you are promoting is key.
2. Try out Facebook Groups.
Stephanie said she leads a lot of discussion in her Facebook Groups. It’s free to use, easy to set up and private to anyone that isn’t in the group.
When you create this group, you can moderate who gets in and what content is shared on the page. As the group creator, you’ll be able to delete posts or comments if necessary. More importantly, this group will virtually gather like-minded people who are interested in your expertise and learning more about holistic hair care.
This page can act as a one-stop-shop for all of your clients questions, concerns and opinions. Stephanie said that she loves having clients ask questions in her group, because it is most likely something someone else was wondering as well and this way everyone can see the answer without having to ask her the same question multiple times.
Set up a Facebook Group and watch as it grows overtime! If you provide interesting education and content, people will love to join and as said before, sales naturally follow education.
3. Put your Partner Link and Partner Code everywhere!
Stephanie emphasized throughout the webinar that having your Partner Code and Partner Link visible and easy to access on all platforms is important to making a sale. The easier you can make it for your clients, the better.
Places that Stephanie includes her Partner Link and Code are her Instagram bio, Facebook page, Facebook group, salon website, education website, Youtube account and in every post. At the end of every post, no matter the content, she puts her Partner Code. This way people become familiar with it and it will limit the confusion and questions you receive about how to purchase.
Stephanie says she prefers sharing her Partner Code rather than her Link since it is easier to remember and more aesthetically pleasing to look at. She often directs clients to holistichairtribe.com and to enter her Partner Code at checkout.
4. Play with the products yourself.
How can you learn enough about the products to educate people if you have never used them yourself? Stephanie stresses that the way she is able to educate and organically promote the Oway products is because she uses them on herself.
In her educational videos, Stephanie either demos on herself or her husband. She suggests showing it both ways so that clients and stylists alike can benefit from the video. Seeing how to do it yourself versus how to treat another person provides a completely different angle.
Stephanie suggests getting a discounted starter package from simplyorganicbeauty.com and using the products yourself! At the end of the day, your clients come to you because they trust in you and your expertise. If you show them and tell them what you are using, your results and your progress, it will naturally fall into place that they want to try these things themselves.
5. You don't have to be a tech guru to get started!
A lot of times, getting started can be the hardest part. You might feel that you have to be a tech guru or social media influencer already in order to do any of these things successfully. However, Stephanie stresses that this is not the case!
You don’t need fancy equipment or a huge following. These things will come naturally as you begin to provide quality content, education and access to products through Holistic Hair Tribe that people love. Stephanie said she records all of her videos on her mobile device. Use a ring light: it’s cheap, easy to get and provides a higher quality aesthetic. She doesn’t edit them or cut anything out (pro tip: Stephanie says not to watch it before you upload it. This way it comes off organic and you won’t be tempted to change it)!
Social Media is also a free tool. You don’t have to pay attention to the fancy analytics or confusing algorithms to be successful at it—she doesn’t! You will begin to field questions and see which posts and videos clients are craving most as you continue to release content.
If you are interested in the top platforms Stephanie suggests, here’s quick list of her suggestions:
- Instagram
- Easy to put code + link in bio
- Can put code + link in captions and in story
- Utilize stories for their extra reach!
- Facebook groups
- You can have a private or public Facebook group based on preference.
- Connect directly, provide value and cross-promote any videos you post on Instagram or Facebook.
- Free access!
- You can monitor and control every aspect.
- Youtube
- Free + Easy
- Unlisted + public videos
- Reach new clients + share product links
- Can create multiple video types like unboxing, tutorials and education
- Podia
- Use for paid online tutorials.
- You can do product spotlights that integrate with Holistic Hair Tribe.
- Easy to use
- You can email clients through this platform as well!
