In today’s hair and beauty industry, it’s becoming increasingly part of the job to manage your social media accounts as well as run your salon or business.
However, while you might see your feed filling up with maestros boasting thousands of followers, you might be wondering when your efforts will start to pay off.
The truth is, social media is a long game that takes time, effort and motivation to achieve your goals – it never happens overnight!
So, for this month’s Ask the Expert feature, we thought we would ask hair colour whizz Jaymz Marsters for some tips on how to make the most of your salon social media.
With over 97k followers and an account that took years in the making, check out his advice below…
Hi Jaymz! Can you tell us a little about yourself and your place in the hair industry?
Hey, I’m Jaymz Marsters, a colourist for 12 years and owner of The Watt – a hair salon in a small market town in Norfolk. I use social media like Instagram to project myself, my work & my education around the world.
How important would you say social media has been in marketing yourself?
I’ve been using social media as a marketing tool now for around 5 years and every year it becomes more and more important to myself and others in the industry. Without social media I wouldn’t have been able to offer my education or showcase my skills to such a large audience.
Which social media platforms do you think are most essential to hair and beauty professionals?
It all depends on what each person classes as ‘essential’.
I find, for my brand and myself, Instagram is the leading platform because it allows me to achieve the goals I have set myself most with minimal effort compared to other available social platforms.
Depending on your goals, Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok etc all have their own specific advantages. So, it’s best to compare their benefits to each other and make a decision depending on what you want to achieve for your own business or brand.
How do you ensure you always have content to share with your followers?
I make sure I allow enough time after each client to photograph their results and create a backlog of images. I try to upload once every day for three days in a row with a one day break in-between. If you’re getting photos of 5+ colour clients a day, you soon build up a pile of unused images for days when you have nothing to upload.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEXiHGDJBu2/
What advice would you give someone who doesn’t know where to start with marketing their hair business on social media?
Download the apps and jump straight in. Create an account and spend time researching the benefits and disadvantages of the platform you want to market yourself or your brand on. A quick Google or Youtube search can give you hours of material and knowledge to help you understand and guide you on the best route.
Want to know how someone has done something on social media? I suggest dropping them a message and just asking them!
Do you think there are any downsides to using social media in the industry?
Social Media is FULL of trolls and haters. Be prepared at some point to have a hater comment on one of your posts, but don’t let it get to you! Just delete the comment and move on.
Along with this, it’s crazy time consuming. To make a real success out of social media you need to dedicate many hours a day engaging with your audience…it can basically become another job.
How do you make sure you stay on top of your game in terms of industry knowledge and inspiration?
We have access to millions of images and data within the palm of our hands. Use this power and see what is trending worldwide in regards to images, colour schemes, movies or anything you can take inspiration from – for colour work, cutting or branded posts. This way you will always be “on trend” and on top of your game.
For industry news follow accounts from the big colour brands, magazines and blogs like Salons Direct.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDrb6tFp5XB/
What do you love most about being a creative hair colourist?
Being able to create unique looks for my clients and using these images to help educate colourists who share the same passion for colour as myself.
What is next for your career through 2020 and beyond?
Hopefully by the end of 2020 my educational classes will be back up and running at The Watt Academy. There may also be something secret in the pipeline so watch this space 😉
Looking for professional hair or beauty salon supplies? Visit Salons Direct for the latest products
More salon social media advice from the Salons Direct blog…
Salon Social Media: 5 Tips for Nailing Your Instagram Strategy | Social Media Competition Ideas for Your Salon Business | Creating a Successful Facebook Page For Your Salon
