Gen Z clients seek out convenience and authenticity, and you can deliver both with an active social media presence.

When Gen Z clients book self-care appointments, social media is usually their first stop. Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012, are “digital natives.” They grew up alongside MySpace and Facebook, and now scrolling Instagram and TikTok are a part of their daily routines. But it’s not just about entertainment or even connection — for Gen Z clients, social media is an easy way to check whether a business is:

• Active, with up-to-date information and recent reviews

• Attentive to its clients, responding to questions and comments

• Authentic, embracing a unique style and living up to a set of values

All other things being equal, Gen Z clients prefer self-care businesses with lively, thoughtful social media profiles. Here’s what you need to know.

Which Social Media Apps Do Gen Z Clients Use?

Half of your Gen Z clients spend more than three hours each day on social media sites. That’s a lot of time they could potentially spend engaging with your business.

The most popular social media platforms for Gen Z are:

• YouTube is Google’s streaming video platform. YouTube has an incredible variety of content, from viral shorts to multi-hour video essays. It’s also the most popular social media app among Gen Z by a wide margin.

• TikTok is also for videos, but short, snappy ones, usually with catchy music in the background. Gen Z likes TikTok much more than older users do, and the app is more popular with women than with men.

• Snapchat is a messaging app that lets users share texts, photos, and videos. What makes Snapchat unique is that every message disappears after 24 hours. Most people use the app to talk with friends and family, but some businesses use it as a marketing tool.

• Instagram favors sharing of photos and short videos. Instagram is all about the visuals, so content with photogenic people doing fun things tends to get the most engagement. Meta, the company that owns Facebook, also operates Instagram.

• Facebook is an all-purpose social media platform for just about everything: life updates, photos, videos, private messages, memes, business pages, and more. Facebook has been around for decades, so it’s a place where Gen Z can easily connect with Millennials, Gen Xers, and Baby Boomers.

If you have an active presence on at least one of these platforms, then you’re in a good position to win over Gen Z clients.

How Important Is Social Media to Gen Z in the Self-Care Industry?

Boulevard recently conducted a survey of more than 2,000 self-care clients and published our results in The Self-Care Client Report 2026: Uncovering What Truly Matters. We learned a few interesting things about how Gen Z engages with the self-care sphere:

• 55% of Gen Z clients consider an active TikTok or Instagram account to be “very” or “extremely” important when they decide whether to book a self-care session.

• Social media is the “very first place” that 20% of Gen Z clients look for new self-care providers.

• Two-thirds (67%) of Gen Z clients have given up on scheduling appointments completely due to clunky booking procedures.

In other words, an active social media page with lots of high-quality content can win over more than half of potential Gen Z clients. A poorly maintained social media page, with haphazard posts and only a few followers, can drive almost half of potential Gen Z clients away. Without a good social media presence, some members of Gen Z may never find you at all.

Your booking process is also part of your social media strategy. With the right self-care management platform, you can add Book Now buttons on your social media pages. This way, Gen Z clients don’t have to navigate to a website or make a phone call to schedule an appointment. (Gen Z really, really doesn’t like making phone calls.)

While Gen Z will pay attention to your social media strategy, it’s not the only thing they care about. In fact, positive buzz from friends and family may still be the most effective form of advertising:

• More Gen Z clients rely on word of mouth (25%) than social media (20%) when looking for new self-care providers

• Gen Z are part of the 43% of clients who give more weight to personal recommendations than online reviews

The more shareable your social media content is, the more likely your satisfied clients will share it with their friends and family. It’s also an easy way for them to pass on your info if — no, make that when — someone asks them where they got that amazing color job.

How Can Self-Care Businesses Win on Social Media?

If your business already has an active social media presence, you’re in a good position to attract Gen Z clients. If not, there are a few simple steps you can take to get started:

• Develop a social media marketing strategy. Updating and curating your social media pages needs to be an integral part of your job, not just something you do when you have extra time.

• When starting out, focus on TikTok and Instagram, as these are some of Gen Z’s favorite social media platforms.

• Use AI to help with content creation. With the right prompts, generative AI can create smart, memorable social media posts in seconds.

There’s no special trick to building up a following on social media. Post new content on a regular schedule, take time to reply to clients who engage with you, and be authentic to your brand identity. You’ll eventually find your audience, and vice versa.

Also keep in mind that the way Gen Z uses social media will change over time. Some big Gen Z social media trends right now include: 

• Trusting individual creators and influencers over brands and corporations.

• Interest in social commerce, or finding and buying new stuff directly through social media rather than websites.

• Occasionally detoxing from social media by taking long breaks.

Your business can cater to all of these trends, whether it’s by offering Book Now buttons or pitching self-care as the perfect complement for a social media break. You can also check out The Self-Care Client Report 2026 for more insights on what really matters to Gen Z when they book a salon, spa, or medspa appointment. Use social media to get your business on Gen Z’s radar, then use your expertise and charisma to make them into loyal clients.