The beauty industry is all about visuals. When kicking off your career as a successful hairstylist, makeup-artist, barber, nail technician, or esthetician, it’s important to build a portfolio with examples of your work. Long gone are the days of printed materials; today, the most effective way to showcase your work is digitally. The quickest, easiest, and not to mention – free of cost – way to build a portfolio, and be discovered by new customers, is through social media platforms, especially Instagram.
Here are 7 tips on creating a standout Instagram account to promote you and your barbering, skincare, hairstyling or makeup business!
- Use Your Instagram Bio
Make it clear who you are, what services your barbering or makeup business offer, where people can find you, and how people can contact you.
- Post Regularly
Keep your account active and up to date by posting 3-5 times per week. This can be a lot! One strategic way to stay on top of it is to post from your archives. Don’t be afraid to post something from a month ago, or last week.
- Keep it Real
It’s better to be relatable than perfectly polished. If you’re posting a video, speak candidly and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Write captions from your own voice.
- Post Carousels
Carousels are Instagram posts with multiple images. On average, carousel posts get about 3 times more engagement on average than regular posts! They are more likely to be seen, liked, and commented on because they get re-served to followers who didn’t engage the first time. Posting single images using grids and layouts to showcase multiple photos was once a popular technique, but now that carousel is available, you’re better off posting a group of photos together that can be scrolled through.
- Try Video Content
Video gets 38% more engagement than images. If you really want to get people’s attention, post it in a video. - Tag it
Tags will help get you discovered. Tag the brands of products you work with, tag your customers (with their consent), tag your location, and use relevant hashtags. Tagging your posts not only gives people and brands the opportunity to repost you, and expose you to their following, but it also gives you the opportunity to leverage the reputation of the brand. Tagging your location and using relevant hashtags makes you more discoverable by “filing” your posts in more places than just your feed.
- Be Social
Use your account to interact with other accounts in the community of your industry. Like photos related to your work, leave comments, repost content you get tagged in.
Can’t wait to see your work! Are you a current student at Coba Academy? Tag us in your posts @CobaAcademy!
