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Everything a Hair Stylist needs to know to get started on Instagram
Instagram has become the favourite social network of many. It’s entirely visual, its sole purpose is to enable users to share images…the perfect platform for hairstylists!
Images Courtesy of @shaniabreckellhair
Here are our Top Tips to help get you get started on Instagram
It’s your Business…
…Right? So switch to a Business Profile - It’s Free!
With a business profile, contact buttons will appear on your profile, allowing new and existing clients the ability to contact your salon. They could even book an appointment – it couldn’t be more perfect for you the stylist, and clients!
Make use of your Bio…
You will be surprised how effective this tiny space is. Use it to convince people to stay and follow your page. Include what you are about and what services/technique you specialise in – Balayage, Styling, Pin-Ups, Hair Braids...
Make it fun with Emoji’s, hashtags and show off your skills.
Picture Perfect…
Your photos are your most powerful tool on Instagram – let’s get them perfect.
Lighting it key, so take time to find the best spot in your salon with lots of natural light and avoid over exposure.
As Hairstylists, we all know how difficult this can be as hair colour can look so different depending on the lighting. Make sure you’re in a bright spot and take shots of different angles so you can choose between pictures. You can always invest in a ring light to help.
Image Courtesy of @shaniabreckellhair
You’re More than Hair…
Obviously, your followers want to see your work, but there is more to you than hair. Show your followers who you are, your team, your salon (inside and out) – always remembering the importance of bright, focused photography.
Face to Face…
Humans engage with faces. Pictures with faces get 38% more engagement compared to those without. So, if your clients are happy for you to do so, get some snaps of them facing the camera and from the side, not always from behind. It will add variation to your posts too!
Images Courtesy of @rubyjules_carlisle
Hash Tags…
When you publish something on your Facebook page, it will typically only get seen by your followers. On Instagram, with hashtags, your work could potentially get seen by hundreds of new people.
You can add up to 30 hashtags to each post (remember, you don’t need to use them all!). Use these wisely to describe your work as these will determine which searches you appear in so ensure they are relevant to your photo and business.
Also TAG people you work with and the brands you use – it will send notifications to who you tag. If you tag #salonpromotions we will be notified and could then re-post your work, tagging you so your work will then reach all our follows too!
Struggling deciding on which are the best hash tags for you? Don’t despair, we have the answer!
First, think of the key words which describe your business and what you specialise in.
So, lets start with Hair Colourist, Hair Stylist, Balayage.
Next, type a # and the first word of each into the search bar at the top of Instagram. Here’s an example #Hair
The list shows you the most popular hashtags based on your searched word…
And the result on #Balayage
Use these top tags and you can’t go far wrong!
Story Time…
What are Instagram Stories? Essentially, it allows you to upload videos or photos then broadcast them to your followers for 24 hours. Then they disappear.
What’s the point of Instagram Stories? A question asked by many, mainly because they disappear after 24 hours.
The point of them is that they increase your brand and businesses visibility. Think about where stories are positioned – right at the top and are often animate – they catch the user’s eye. Even if they don’t interact with it, they have seen your brand so you will now be at the front of their mind.
They are interactive for your audience and reach more people.
You can do so much with stories to really get your followers engaged, such as:
• Ask a question.
• Start a Poll.
• Add a mention to your story.
• Add stickers, giffs, music and much more!
Schedule your Posts…
Sometimes the hardest part is finding the time to post your work all. Our favourite tool to help with this is Hootsuite. Its super user-friendly and allows you to schedule all your posts way in advance. Doing them this way will also ensure you’ve got frequent posts.
All you need to do is upload your photo, or drag and drop, write your caption, write you hash tags then choice the date & time to post – DONE!
Hootsuite also gives you analytics so you can see your account grow ad what works and what doesn’t.
Consistency is Key…
To gain followers and keep them, you need to post consistently. Try not to disappear every few weeks and then reappear again. Staying consistent with your posts, will, over time result in consistent engagement!