Social media and WhatsApp, with a plan

Four hundred followers and no bookings

Marta, a hairdresser in Calheta, spends three hours a week on Instagram. She has 400 followers, posts nice photos and almost all of them get likes. In six months, she has not had a single booking from there.

When she looked closely, she noticed three things. There was no link to book. The photos showed bottles and hairdryers instead of results and people. And she replied to messages two days later. Someone who wants a haircut does not wait two days.

Marta did not need to work harder. She needed to work with a plan.

One network only

Each network has its own audience. Instead of picking the one everyone talks about, ask: where are my customers?

• A service with appointments (hairdresser, beauty, garage): it is usually the network of photos and short videos, because the result can be seen. Ask five customers where they found you.
• Guesthouse: photos of the place and of the reviews, and a link to book.
• Shop or product: photos of the products in use and the catalogue at hand.

Write the criterion on one line, for example: "Instagram, because it is where my customers aged 20 to 45 look for me." If in a year the criterion changes, you change network. Until then, just one.

A pace you can keep

One post a week, for a year, is worth more than twenty in a month followed by silence. What lasts is what fits into your life.

What usually works for a local business:

• Before and after: the haircut, the room made ready, the finished cake.
• Behind the scenes: the dough rising, Marta setting up her station. People like to see who is on the other side.
• Opening hours and holidays: "Closed on Monday, open on Tuesday at 9am."
• Answering a frequent question: "How long does a colouring last?"

Repeat without shame. Someone who saw the post in March does not remember it in September, and most followers did not even see it the first time.

The network is not the house

Remember the rule from the first lesson? The website is your house; social networks are rented houses. The account can be closed, stolen or have its rules changed without warning.

So everything you post should point to somewhere of your own. In the bio, put a link to the website, the bookings or WhatsApp. Every post ends with the same sentence: "To book, the link is in the bio."

WhatsApp Business

It is your business's digital counter, and the app is free. Use a different number from your personal one, so you do not mix your family with your customers. If you do not have a second number, look at your phone company's options or use the business landline.

This is how it looks on 16 October 2026; if your screen is different, look for the button with the same name. Inside the app, look for:

• Business profile: address, hours, email and website. Whoever finds you sees everything without asking.
• Catalogue: photos, names and descriptions of your products or services.
• Greeting message: the first reply to someone writing for the first time.
• Away message: what it says outside opening hours ("We will reply tomorrow at 9am").
• Quick replies: ready-made texts for frequent questions (reference prices, address, how to get there).
• Labels: to sort conversations ("quote sent", "waiting for reply", "done").