Whether you’re a fan of social media or not, social media has become part of our everyday lives in one way or another. It is essential that independent professionals and small businesses utilize social media to grow and drive in more clientele into their space. Promoting and showcasing your work to your following will help to build an audience, engage with customers, generate more clientele, which in turn, will drive sales.
Most of us know how critical social media is to advertising your business and creating a brand for yourself. Unfortunately, many of us have had our social media accounts since before we were entering the professional workplace. So how do you go back and make your account workplace and clientele-friendly and continue to lead by example in the beauty industry? We suggest making a new account for your business only. This will help you focus on building your brand that is associated to your craft and keep your guests and potential guests from being too confused on what service you provide and how to book with you.
Here are some tips and tricks to follow to increase your followers, engagement, and how to keep things professional!
Create a professional account
As we shared earlier, keep your personal and work life separate as well as your accounts. Whether that is Instagram, TikTok or Facebook.
Smart & Catchy Username
Choose a consistent username. It should reflect your brand’s identity and be something that people can associate with the service your provide. The pain point guests on Instagram experience is when they follow service providers they love but they can’t remember their name! If your handle is just your name it may be difficult for guests to find you. Consider attaching the businesses name you are employed at to your handle such as “kelly_nerolispa” or “beccanerolisalonspa.” This is extremely helpful for obtaining new followers and guests, especially if they are searching, “Neroli Salon Spa,” because guess who comes up right under Neroli’s Instagram handle…YOU!
Professional & Personal
Let your audience know who you are, your background and your services. Keep your page professional but do share a few personal aspects about yourself. Find the balance between professional and building a long-term relationship with guests. Most of the time, long standing guests enjoy a service provider who they feel they know and can connect with. Whether that be their similar connection on enjoying traveling or loving dogs. Whatever it may be, it is good to stay professional on your page but also share a bit about you and who you are.
With sharing your personal side, do avoid being TO personal. It’s okay to show that you are human and that you have feelings that fluctuate day-to-day but avoid expressing each and every emotion or frustration on your pages. It can make others uncomfortable and in the end, your followers are following you for your amazing work. Plus, we’re Day-Makers, so try and make it a positive post as much as you can.
Grammar Goddess
ALWAYS proofread. Sometimes we get so excited about our work or something exciting happening in our lives that we type quickly or start talking on camera and our words don’t end up coming out clearly. Reread and rewatch your work before you post to avoid confusion.
Engage and Stay Consistent
Stay engaged with your followers to boost your growth. You can do this by following your clients’ accounts, liking there posts and others you follow. Tag your guests from your professional account, that way they can repost your work.
With that being said, engagement and consistency go hand in hand. Stick to a posting scheduled as best you can and be consistent. We suggest starting off with 3 posts a week and build to 5+ posts a week. After you post make sure to engage with other posts as well as your own to give your post to optimal chance for exposure.
Keep It Light
Watch your language and conversation subjects. Swearing, talking about religion or political opinions, or generally making polarizing statements can be incredibly harmful. Try to avoid things that would make someone have a decided opinion about you.
Informative Bio
Having a strong bio is key to a service providers success on social. If you are providing a service, you need to drive people to book that service with you. The best way to do that is in your bio, since it is the first thing people see when landing on your page.
Here are the main points to include in your bio:
- Your name
- Who you are (Ex: “Milwaukee’s results driven aesthetician”)
- What you do (EX: “Balayage Queen” or “Specialize in HALO, BBL and Clear & Brilliant lasers”
- Where to find you (EX: “@nerolisalonspa Third Ward, Milwaukee”)
- How people can book with you (EX: Add a link in bio that says “Book with Me” with a direct link to book a service with you)
The Hashtag Game
Hashtags are a great tool to increase your reach. Find the best hashtags to use that relate to your services and post. The Instagram algorithm used to love 15+ hashtags on a post but now, it is said that the algorithm is favoring 3-5 hashtags on each post. Keep it simple and direct.
Stay Organized
We highly suggest creating a social content calendar to help you stay on track and organized. If you’re not taking time to plan social media calendar in advance, you’ll end up scrambling to find content to share.
