Digital Diversification: Moving Beyond the Feed

By Jessica Marie Del-Borro, Circles of Hair

The salon industry has transformed dramatically since the days before Instagram, Facebook, TikTok et al, and with that change comes exciting new opportunities. While there’s a certain nostalgia for the simplicity of the past, today’s digital landscape opens up powerful new pathways for salon visibility, client engagement, and brand growth.

At Circles of Hair, we’ve always leaned into this evolution with enthusiasm on our combined salon Instagram, Facebook and TikTok accounts: @circlesofhair. What began as a connection to Perth’s fashion scene and up-and-coming influencers during events like Perth Fashion Festival has blossomed into a dynamic, multi-layered digital strategy. It’s no longer just about the perfect balayage shot, it’s about building real relationships, forming meaningful collaborations, and empowering our team to become authentic ambassadors for our brand.

Here I run through a few key ways we have championed this important approach at Circles and how you can get started further leveraging this within your own salon.

Influential People Over Influencers

Influencer marketing has evolved and so have we. Consumers are savvier now. They want real connection, not just curated content. Our early strategy involved hitting the ground running, literally. I would go out to local events, work behind the scenes on shoots and shows, and use that space to connect with key personalities in the fashion world. These relationships were genuine and became foundational to the Circles brand.

Back then, no other salons in Perth were aligning themselves with influencers in this way, but I didn’t stop there. Over time, we evolved from traditional influencer marketing into working with “influential people.”

Think brand founders, businesswomen and creatives. People who have multi-layered reach and align naturally with our aesthetic and values for partnerships which are more strategic and organic. There are contracts in place but there’s also trust and alignment. We know each other. It’s not a transaction; it’s a true collaboration.

We still work with micro-influencers from time to time as they still have a place, but we assess profile quality and vibe carefully. There are deliverables, we often cover product costs, and it’s a great way to introduce fresh energy into the salon without a major investment. We also work with house models for content days or awards submissions like Colour Trophy. There’s no formal contract here, it’s more of a “we help each other out” scenario. These people are crucial to our content creation process.

How to Get Started:

My advice is- get out there! Contact local fashion, lifestyle or jewellery brands, and offer your services. Most brands are looking for hair support for content and campaign shoots, and will often pay for models. It’s an easy entry point into networking and building a creative portfolio. Make it about your skill and the aligned connection, not just the follower count. And always, always find your niche and be confident in it.

Collaborations That Count

We get asked all the time to participate in giveaways or local events. And most of the time, we say yes, but with intention. We assess who else is involved, the expected reach, and whether it’s aligned with our brand.

Last year, a woman I know invited us to be part of a cancer charity ball with 1,800 attendees. We gave everyone a complimentary blow-dry voucher (obviously excluding Saturdays!), and for Brooke Vilanovic’s Ladies Day, we gave $50 vouchers for over 400 gift bags. Yes, it was a lot, but the exposure was worth it, and we knew we were targeting our core audience and also giving back to our wider community.

One of my favourite digital campaigns was our 12 Days of Christmas giveaway. We actually bought vouchers from local businesses we loved, think skincare clinics and jewellery brands, before asking them to collaborate. Instead of asking for or expecting a freebie, we initiated value, and when they saw what we were doing, they were excited to jump on board.

But don’t be fooled by the glamour of giveaways. The admin side is real! Monitoring entries, checking profiles, tagging, verifying winners, it’s a full-time job if you’re not organised which is an even more crucial reason to make sure they are strategic.

How to Get Started:

Start small and think hyperlocal. Reach out to businesses near your salon and focus just on those. You want to find the ones with a strong and established customer base which matches your demographic. Always be clear about your goal before your approach- is it new clients, retention, or community reach?

Offer to include their product or information in your client gift bags or retail area and look at ways to promote on social media. Be brave enough to step up and ask if they’d be open to a joint social post or small giveaway. The worst that can happen is they say no, and then you can look at other options.

Turning Your Team Into Ambassadors

One of the most powerful things we did at Circles was empower our team early on to become ‘mini-influencers’, because their profiles are powerful tools for building clientele and brand credibility. Because of this we have offered dedicated social media training for all staff for a long time now, and we continue to do this as it evolves.

This approach is also broken down by career stage too. Seniors with full books have more freedom. New team members? We guide them through content checklists and even help them build their bios. Everyone’s different, some love creating reels, others are great with photos, so we tailor our support based on their strengths. We encourage profile pics, “day in the life” posts, and voiceovers. But we never force it. You can’t build trust or visibility by coercion.

How to Get Started:

If you want to build in-salon influencers, start with practical training. Ask your team what kind of content they enjoy and give them permission to create, but also provide structure. Templates, checklists, and 1:1 support are key, especially in the beginning. Encourage them to show their face as much as possible as it builds trust, but be mindful of boundaries. It can be a lot to put themselves out there to the internet world so incentivise content creation and celebrate wins.

Sharlene has recently been embracing and growing her own personal brand on TikTok, @sharleneleelee, and we have seen first-hand the trolling and negativity which is rife on social media. Because of this it is crucial to keep an eye on your team’s profiles and have regular check-ins to protect their mental health first and foremost.

Embracing Tried and Tested Systems

Right now, we’re building Club C - our digital portal that will host downloadable assets, online education, and shadowing opportunities. One of biggest elements of this is our much anticipated Digital Asset Pack which has just launched!

This one stop shop includes everything needed to completely manage your social media planning. It has a wealth of tools including caption templates, consultation video scripts, clear posting guidelines, carousel templates, and strategy.

We created it because we saw a gap. Salon owners want to diversify digitally, but they’re overwhelmed. They don’t know where to start, so this is about making it easy and giving teams the tools they need to grow both personally and professionally.

How to Get Started:

Ask yourself where your biggest digital gap is. Content? Education? Visibility? Then start there. Invest in simple, streamlined tools that take the stress out of showing up online. Use templates wherever possible and create simplified systems for continuity. Don’t forget - often your team is your best resource, especially all the Gen Y talent you have who are already so savvy. Empower them and build together.

The future of our industry is digital. Whether it’s education, marketing, or brand building, we have to evolve to stay relevant. That means empowering your team, systemising your digital processes, and leaning into new ways of connecting.

Digital diversification isn’t about doing everything. It’s about doing the right things with purpose. For us at Circles, it’s been a journey of experimentation, not always getting it right, but the payoff? Long-term visibility, client loyalty, and a brand that feels as strong online as it does in real life.

Check us out @circlesofhair on TikTok and Instagram and hopefully we will inspire you to diversify in a new way!