Being seen and heard in a saturated market

There’s no doubt the beauty industry is growing – and we love to see it. But how can a salon or independent practitioner stand out in a sea of beauty professionals and tap into that all-important target market?

It can be incredibly tough marketing a business – on top of actually running it – particularly when we’re bombarded with changes to social media almost daily.

“Invest in paid social!”

“Create Reels for Instagram!”

“Try TikTok!”

It’s a lot.

By taking on too much you can run the risk of diluting your messages (and efforts) across different social media platforms, or, giving up entirely; neither of which will bring the customers in.?

So, how can you make this work for you? Here are three top tips to help you stay on track when it comes to using social media to market your beauty business – and maybe, you’ll even enjoy it!

Stay focused

Go where your customers are. Sounds easy, right? But with social media ever-present in our day-to-day lives, it can be easy to be swayed by opinions or hearing what’s worked for other businesses.?

For example, if you’re a hair salon aimed at the over 50s, Facebook might be the best place to share your updates and stay connected with your audience. If, however, you’re a nail specialist creating festival-inspired designs for Gen Z, you can probably scrap the rest and focus your efforts on TikTok.

Once you’ve understood the best platform(s) for you, stay focused and don’t be afraid of not having a presence on every platform; it’s better than you use the right one for your business brilliantly, rather than a haphazard attempt at updating six different social media accounts.??

Be authentic?

Beauty treatments are incredibly personal and customers need to feel comfortable with the person handling their appointments, be it a hair transformation or a regular lash lift.?

While building rapport in real life, as well as offering a customer-centric service, is key to creating a loyal customer base, it’s important that this translates in your online persona too.

By sharing your personality and knowledge online, followers and potential customers will get an insight into how you work. Show them behind the scenes snippets of a typical day, or record a ‘quick tips’ video demonstrating how they can continue to get the most out of their treatment until their next appointment.?

Try and introduce video content with you speaking, or demonstrating treatments, to the camera – ultimately, customers are going to buy into the people behind the brand, so it’s a real win if they can begin that journey before they’ve even made an appointment.

Introduce consistency?

It’s much easier said than done, but totally worth it in the end. Be consistent with your social media presence and try and formulate a plan you can stick to.?

Posting regularly will help build up a stronger presence online and your audience will know what to expect from you. If you can, introduce features which they can look out for, as well as providing some structure for you.

Perhaps you can share your favourite work from the previous week every Monday as some creative inspiration, or a live video each Thursday chatting about a new product or development – get your audience excited about your knowledge and creative force.?

Having some form of structure in place will also help social media feel less overwhelming as you’ll have an idea of what to post on different days. Looking for inspiration? Former Benefit pro and now freelance make-up artist Lisa?Potter-Dixon?is a fabulous example of sharing beauty secrets, regular features (including ‘Five Faves of the Week’) and her sparkling personality to chat directly with her audience.?

The beauty industry is built on creativity; tap into it for photos, videos, reviews and customer testimonials. Whether you’re starting out simply looking to refresh your social media – here’s a bonus tip – have some fun with it!??