User-generated content for salons needs to be executed the right way if you want to organically increase traffic to your website, Instagram, or TikTok. Those perfect Hollywood waves and balayage highlights can only do so much. For persistent scrollers and consumers who love engaging with highly specific content, UGC is the key to getting more salon clients. Here’s how to showcase powerful transformations and boost your marketing.
Key Takeaways
1. UGC Builds Trust Better Than Ads: 92% of consumers trust real people over brand promotions. Client selfies, reviews, and reactions build emotional connections that polished ads can’t.
2. Create a UGC-Friendly Salon Space: Design a selfie station with great lighting and branding with visible handles or custom hashtags.
3. Capture Authentic Moments: Encourage stylists to film “after” reveals, client reactions, and behind-the-scenes moments.
4. Use UGC Everywhere – Not Just Instagram: Repurpose content across TikTok, YouTube Shorts, emails, SMS campaigns, and booking reminders for higher visibility and engagement.
5 Always Get Permission: A simple model release form or booking consent checkbox protects you legally and keeps things professional when reposting client content.
6. Track What Works
Monitor saves, shares, click-throughs, and bookings from UGC posts. Use a basic spreadsheet to find patterns and optimize future content.
Why User-Generated Content For Salons Works Better Than Ads
We’re all guilty of running ads and sponsoring certain content across various social platforms. Millennials are always on Facebook, Gen Z is scrolling through Instagram, and Generation Alpha will eventually take over TikTok. This means you need to know how to adapt and tailor your content accordingly to your audience.
Stats show that 92% of consumers trust recommendations from individuals over branded content. Word of mouth is still the best advertisement one can invest in. When a potential client sees someone they relate to sharing a glowing review or a selfie from your salon, it creates an emotional connection that no ad can replicate. Typical commercial ads often feel too pushy and salesy, leaving you with little to no relatability.
6 Creative Ways to Source UGC Without Begging Clients
Collecting, creating, or simply reposting user-generated content doesn’t have to be pushy, awkward, or weird. All it takes is a bit of creativity and encouraging your team to get involved. Once you have a clear vision of what you want to promote or talk about, you’ll also gain a better understanding of your audience and who you should be engaging with. Here’s how to make subtle UGC shifts that work.
1. Branded Selfie Station
Design a stylish corner of your salon with great lighting, a branded backdrop, and maybe even a neon sign if it’s within your budget. Clients love snapping a selfie after a fresh look, especially when the setup is Instagram-worthy and their hair is on fleek. Add your handle and hashtag nearby to make tagging easy and seamless, and the GC content will create friction on social media on its own.
2.“After” Reveal Reel
Encourage stylists to capture the moment a client sees their transformation for the first time. A quick video of that genuine “wow” reaction makes for perfect content—and clients are often thrilled to be featured (with permission, of course). With appropriate hashtags and a true glow-up, the content will speak for itself. Incorporate these beauty business content ideas no matter the gender, age, or hair type. The broader you are, the more audience you’ll reach and have the best user-generated content for salons.
3. Stylist-Shot BTS
Even though you’re probably booked and busy, you can always ask one person on your team to take on the creative mode and get behind the camera. Train your team to take quick behind-the-scenes photos or clips during treatments—blow-drying, coloring close-ups, colour mixing, etc. These in-the-moment shots feel authentic and can be shared with clients to repost or featured directly on your channels.
PS: They can also be shared and reposted by hair-care brands, as well as manufacturers who love your shooting and editing skills. More reshares = more engagement = better UGC results.
4. Review-to-Reel Workflow
Turn glowing reviews into video content and optimize user-generated content for salons. Overlay written testimonials on video clips of your team in action or a time-lapse of a treatment. It’s a subtle way to highlight happy clients and keeps your content engaging without needing constant new footage. It’s one of the simplest salon UGC ideas for you to try.
5. Client Takeover Day For Seamless User-generated Content For Salons
You probably have a couple of clients who are regulars, right? Well, what you can do is ask them to be a part of your ‘client takeover’ shoot day. Simply ask them to shoot Instagram Stories for a day. Let them document their appointment from start to finish, incorporating their morning routine, what they had for lunch, and how excited they are about a new hairdo. It gives potential clients a real look at your process and makes the featured client feel like a VIP while optimizing user-generated content for salons.
6. Referral + UGC Contest To Boost User-Generated Content For Salons
Run a monthly contest where clients who refer a friend and post about their visit are entered to win a prize. It boosts bookings, increases engagement, and fills your feed with authentic content at the same time. Plus, who doesn’t love a prize?
Top 3 Things To Watch Out For When It Comes To User-generated Content For Salons
A) Legal & Brand-Safety Basics (Get Permission First, Stay Consistent)
Before you hit “share” on that amazing client photo or transformation video, it’s essential to make sure you’re doing it legally. User-generated content is powerful, but using it responsibly protects your brand and your clients. Every country in the world has a different approach and set of rules in regards to this step, so make sure you follow yours accordingly.
Even if a client tags your salon, that doesn’t automatically give you the right to repost their content. To stay legally covered, always get clear permission, especially for close-ups, videos, or before-and-after shots. A simple signature, either digital or on paper, helps you avoid any future issues.
B) Tone & Editing Guidelines
While UGC is very simple, chic, and low-maintenance on its own, it still needs to suit your style and your salon’s brand. Maintain consistent tone, filters, and branding when reposting. For example, if your feed is minimal and bright, avoid resharing dark or cluttered photos without slight edits. These salon social media tips will help you establish a reputation amongst the UGC creators while making high-quality user-generated content for salons.
How to Re-Use UGC Across Every Channel
Once you’ve collected amazing user-generated content, don’t let it live on just one platform. UGC is versatile and can be repurposed across all your salon’s marketing channels. The broader you are, the more impact it shows. Include the following:
– Instagram (Feed, Stories, Reels)
Instagram is the natural home for UGC, and it’s where it all started. Repost client photos to your feed (with permission and proper tagging), share quick testimonials or transformations in Stories, and turn timelapse videos or “after” reveals into Reels. Add some simple yet powerful stickers like polls or “Swipe Up to Book” to make UGC interactive.
– TikTok & YouTube Shorts
Short-form video thrives on authenticity, making UGC ideal for TikTok and YouTube Shorts. If you’re doing a ‘story time’ type of content, it usually gets the most amount of love on these two platforms. A client’s excited reaction, a stylist’s behind-the-scenes moment, or a fast-paced makeover video can all go viral with the right sound and hashtags, allowing for a seamless salon marketing strategy.
– Email & SMS Marketing
Incorporate UGC into your newsletters or promotional emails, especially for new product launches, service features, or booking reminders. Make sure your emails don’t end up in a spam or junk folder. In case they do, follow up with a sweet little SMS reminder.
C) Measuring Impact: From Likes to Booked Appointments
How to know if you’re doing a good job? Look at these metrics:
- CTR (Click-through rate): Are people clicking through to your booking page, or are they automatically signing up once they see a specific post?
- Saves & share: How many times has your content been saved, shared, or forwarded?
- Likes: Are all your posts getting a similar number of likes, or does one stand out? If a particular post is performing better, take a closer look to figure out why. Analyze what made that content resonate more with your audience — was it the format, the caption, the timing, or the subject?
In order to analyze it, you can create a simple tracking template and log the following details:
- Where was the UGC post published, and at what time
- What type of content is it (photo, reel, review)
- Number of likes, comments & shares
Over time, patterns will emerge that help refine your strategy.
Next Steps: Launch Your 30-Day UGC Challenge (+ Free Checklist)
Ready to boost your salon’s marketing with user-generated content? Start with a 30-day UGC challenge! Aim to share one piece of client content daily—photo, video, or testimonial. Get your team involved, engage with every tag, and reward participating clients through loyalty points or discounts. You’ll keep your content calendar full and build stronger client bonds.
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