Terry McKee, co-owner (with James Amato) of Nuovo salons in Sarasota, Florida, remembers a time when he did not allow his staff to carry smart phones and tablets on the floor when they were seeing clients.

Times have changed though, and so has McKee’s outlook on technology—especially social media. Now, tablets are filled with look books and Pinterest pages for guests to browse, clients check out on smart phones, and McKee and his staff rely heavily on social media platforms to market their work.

“We’re in a period of transformation,” he says. “These tools are here to stay.” In fact, McKee already envisions a time where stylists will be making videos for guests wearing Google glasses on how to blow dry their hair.

Creating Guidelines

Last year, McKee connected with employment attorney Christine Sensenig after hearing her speak at the Premier show in Orlando.

“We had her come speak at our annual team celebration and she let everyone know exactly what our policies around social media would be,” says McKee.

The staff went through everything from how they would be using their smart phones and tablets, to the salon’s official policies, to maximizing the potential of social media.

“We’ve got a great employee manual, but we had her review our entire manual and make additions/changes to match the social media environment—you almost have to.”

For example, if a stylist takes a photo of a 16-year-old client, posts it on Facebook, and then the parent comes along and says they don’t want it up there—there could be a problem.

Nuovo’s manual also states important policies like no profanity or nudity, clarifies gray areas, and gives McKee and Amato a reference for social media guidelines.

Although Nuovo can’t tell employees what to do on their personal Facebook pages, they can (and do) guide them on their own policies. McKee also says they keep an eye on employees’ individual social media platforms.

“We watch because sometimes when employees try to encourage business on social media, it can sound a little amateurish,” says McKee. “We show them how to use social media more effectively.”

Exceeding the Social Media Standards

With policies in place and a staff savvy in social media, McKee wanted to make sure he was maximizing his message in every outlet.

To do that, he uses an outside agency (he works with Imaginal Marketing) who helps Nuovo become more strategically engaged.

“After reading an article in SALON TODAY about digital directors, I realized we already had one,” says McKee. “But I wanted the position to be more strategic and not just manage social media. We realized we could innovate and improve as well,” he adds.

After noticing his team was posting cool photos of makeovers on the private team page, but not always on the public Nuovo salon page, McKee decided to send all posts to his digital director to re-post in multiple social media outlets and tweak the captions if necessary.

“The digital director makes sure our posting is consistent and puts posts where they best fit — Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, etc.,” he says. “A stylist may not think to put a post where the digital director does — it’s strategic.”

The strategy is paying off, too. McKee says clients are more engaged, and impressed with Nuovo’s constant presence on Facebook.

McKee’s most recent strategy for social media will make it even easier for guests to follow Nuovo.

“We put a social media feed on our website,” he says.

“This way people who want to follow us can go on and see everything we’re up to on all the platforms, right on our site,” he adds.

To get guests involved, Nuovo has created the hashtag: #nuovome. They even painted it on a salon wall and encourage guests and stylists to take photos next to it before posting on social media with the hashtag. Now these photos all show up in the social feed on the website, too.

“We’re living in an age of transformation,” says McKee. “The speed at which things will change will be transformational. We need to know what guests want before they know what they want.”