As Salons by JC grows by leaps and bounds, the inclusion of social media has grown along with it. Becoming as proficient as we can be on different social platforms is a valued skill, one that can assist in growing your presence for brand awareness and your location. Meet the energizer bunny of the Salons by JC franchise system, Cyndi Scher, owner of three Florida Salons by JC franchises in Palm Beach Gardens, Hollywood, and Kendale Lakes.
Deciding to take the Social Media Plunge
Cyndi developed a huge interest in investing her time into learning more about social media so she could challenge herself in growing an engaging organic presence for her locations and in turn, for her salon suite owners.
“I had never used or opened the Instagram app when I decided to do this for our salons. I literally spent about 8 hours learning that first day,” Cyndi shares. The corporate marketing team became her best friend as Cyndi embarked on this journey. “ I wanted to keep working at it to get better. My goal was to attract quality suite owners by highlighting life at Salons by JC.” Keeping in mind what she had been taught, Cyndi worked at showing the reason why “Salons by JC is the place to be”, which has become her hashtag.
Cyndi and husband Peter Scher
Cyndi made posting a part of her daily routine. Everyone knows practice makes perfect. “Once I got in the habit, I could re-post or make an original post in minutes. Understanding social media gave me a new perspective into what our suite owners really specialized in – by seeing their photos and reading about how they describe their work, it helps us now direct walk-ins more “accurately” to match the walk-in with the perfect suitable suite owner”.
The time and research also gave her more to talk about with prospective suite owners during a tour. “We always ask about their Instagram and Facebook and then we can see their work and we mention our pages so they can see our work. We love to showcase our suite owners and create welcome posts for those new to the salon in addition to our celebration and special occasion posts.”
Cyndi meets Canva
Now armed with a splendid array of social media best practice knowledge and keeping her posts consistent and relevant to her business and location, Cyndi took it one step further. She took the dive into designing using the Canva app, a commonly used app across the social media spectrum. “I love it! I had never seen anything like it, and I was honestly so perplexed up until this point, as to where all the social media professionals were getting their images.”
Post from Palm Beach Gardens, FL Instagram
Cyndi trained with the marketing team over the course of a month to completely comprehend how to create a quality image. “I love that Canva is a website you can use on your desktop or mobile device and you can post directly from the app. It’s so seamless! This makes our posts look very professional, even from a novice like myself and my concierges.”
Share What You Know and Watch How It Grows
Cyndi took what she learned and shared this with her Concierges. Taylor Leicht, Concierge at Palm Beach Gardens was excited for the challenge, “I did not think it was going to be difficult. If anything, it would allow me to learn more about the business aspect within this field. I like the opportunity to promote our company as well as promoting services for our specialists.”
Taylor, Concierge at Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Hollywood, FL location Concierge, Rachel Ward adds, “ When Cyndi approached me about managing the salon’s social media I was overjoyed! I thoroughly enjoy how it has allowed me to become the photographer of our salon. We are so proud and love all of our incredible stylists and specialists, this allows me to show support and appreciation for them.”
Post from Hollywood, FL Instagram
Cyndi boasts how happy she was that her Concierges took to it so fast and easy. “They picked it up so quickly! They take pictures in the salon, of clients and post and tag for that suite owner on the spot. They love this part of their work, and the suite owners appreciate our concierges taking such an interest in them.
Creating a unique visual experience
“I feel that creating good content is the most effective way to build an authentic audience for products and services. It takes time, consistency, and patience and it is definitely worth it”, states Taylor, Concierge at Palm Beach Gardens.
Rachel, Concierge from Hollywood, FL adds, “What I like the most about creating content for social media getting to support great people and their small business by putting my own twist on photos of their work and creating art with their art, all while helping them gain clients. My goal is always to fill our suite owners chairs and make Salons by JC the best known Salon Suites in the beauty industry”.
Rachel, Hollywood, FL Concierge
Cyndi adds, “ Prospective suite owners see our presence and they love it. Many have told me they never expected this from an owner”. Part of her role as the “cheer fairy”, which is what she dubbed herself, is to always engage with her suite owners she does that by liking posts, commenting on posts and actively engaging with her suite owners. Cyndi and her concierge team appreciate each and every suite owner and show them that daily via social media. “We all work together and it’s a beautiful thing.”
Facebook post from Hollywood, FL
Aside from opening her third location at capacity, she is in the process of getting her third Concierge, Maribel ready to take the lead at Kendale Lakes. “We are so happy to have our newest concierge, Maribel, taking photos each day to show what a day at Salons by JC is like. Maribel opened with a full and very busy salon. She will begin posting to Instagram and Facebook very soon.”
Kendale Lakes Concierge, Maribel with Cyndi and Peter
The Secret to Social Success
Cyndi shares that she gets asked by her peers, what was her secret. So we asked Cyndi as well what was in her secret sauce. “I was able to take a few 1-hour learning sessions with our in-house Marketing team and they really helped me take my salon marketing to a level I never saw possible. Once I learned some basic strategies to use with Canva, I started exploring different ideas with Canva and with each and every question, the marketing team would get on the phone with me and also send me emails with step by step instructions. It’s no secret!”
Social Media training is part of what the in-house marketing team offers at no cost for the franchisee. Cyndi was the first to complete our 4-week advanced social media training course that was designed specifically for those who want to learn and grow their social media marketing. “Marlene and Analissa taught me how to take good videos and photos, tell a story, and also taught me about hashtag importance and how to best use hashtags to market to prospects and also highlight our current tenants to help them reach new customers”.
Reaping the Social Rewards
Having learned so much and sharing what she knows has now allowed Cyndi to evaluate her marketing. “This helped Peter and I take a step back and realize, not only do we now know how to better market our locations to prospective suite owners and highlight current ones, but we know how to manage our overall marketing. There was no more need for me to pay an outside firm to create posts for us, and this was very empowering.” Cyndi was elated to be able to get a good handle on her social media marketing. After handing over the reins to her concierges, she enjoys watching their creativity blossom. “My concierges have their own style and take on posting and I think our subtle differences add a nice variation”.
Cyndi, Taylor, Rachel, and Maribel are a dynamic that distinguishes Salons by JC from other salon suites in the industry. Having the ability to know and work with a team at corporate is unheard of for many industries. The success that these locations have received makes our in-house marketing team work harder to create training programs designed to enhance your social media experience and also advance your location. We are happy that Cyndi volunteered her time to be our test bunny for our advanced course and we look forward to seeing much more success from her in the future.
ABOUT Salons by JC
In 1997, Jack Griffey and Cecil Miller began their journey to transform the beauty industry one salon suite at a time. Like most young entrepreneurs, they started out with a big idea but had to learn how to start and run a business from scratch. After much perseverance and hard work, one year later, they opened Salons by JC in Dallas, Texas in 1998, welcoming beauty and wellness specialists who were ready to break free from the traditional salon model. The company has since moved its headquarters from Dallas to San Antonio, where it continues to grow through franchising. Today, Salons by JC has nearly 100 locations in 26 states and Canada and are looking to develop of 200 over the next several years. For more information, visit salonsbyjc.com or salons
