January 29, 2020
Building Your Beauty Following on Social Media: Tips From Our Favorite Influencers
According to a survey done by Forbes, 78% of consumers’ purchases are impacted by social media. It’s no secret that in today’s beauty world, having a good social media presence can give you a fast, visual connection to future clients and fellow professionals. Hair, nails, and makeup are visual arts, and social media is the perfect outlet!
As a future beauty professional, you should know the best ways to use your accounts to your advantage. Below we’ve compiled a few of our favorite influencers and taken inspiration from their examples. Take a look and see if you can apply a few of these ideas to your own channels!
Colors and Visuals
If you are pursuing an education in beauty you already know how important it is to get the right pictures. From showing a prospective client your past work to interviewing at salons, building your portfolio begins early. Be sure to get good lighting in all your photos and try to showcase a variety of techniques and styles. When you have diverse designs and a variety of styles and colors, you are sure to stand out.
We love @chrisspy and her colorful locks. Not only does her hair look amazing in every picture, but she is great at choosing a variety of interesting backgrounds to showcase her makeup and outfits. Her color choices make her entire feed look like a rainbow!
For pastels and natural looks, check out @rocky_barnes. Her color pallets always seem effortless and her photos utilize a lot of natural light. On her blog she describes herself as boho-luxe, and she manages to capture a wide variety of different styles and looks into her feed.
Create a Dynamic Feed
A dynamic feed is much more fun to scroll than the same kinds of photos over and over. Looking at your own favorite influencers you might notice they keep switching up the types of content they post. Use quotes, videos, and fun filters to keep things interesting.
Los Angeles local Laura Lee @larlarlee has built up an impressive following with her fun-filled posts and creative YouTube videos. She isn’t afraid to show her goofy, unedited photos and is still able to keep a balance of glam photos and product reviews.
Another good example is makeup artist Ashley Vera @ashleyvera_ and CEO of @styleinspoco sunglasses. Although her content is almost exclusively makeup and eye looks, she is smart in the way she switches up the angle and style of her photos.
How-Tos and Tutorials
Beauty has seen amazing gains with tutorial videos. Search YouTube and you can find thousands of eyeliner looks, foundation application how-tos, and much more! Putting your own techniques out there may help you to stand out. Boomerangs, stories, and time-lapse loops on Instagram are another way to incorporate more elements to your feed.
Check out @katy for inspiration on using video and how-tos to get engagement. Her behind-the-scenes videos show off the makeup application techniques she uses. She is able to get a lot of views from her followers on these types of posts.
Another up-and-coming Instagrammer we love is Zach Mesquit @zachmesquit! Based in Simi Valley, Zach has specialized in platinum blonde toned hairstyling and does wigs, extensions, and more! His salon, Bellami offers tons of services and accessories. We love how many tutorial-type videos are available to view on his instagram. He shows not only the dye processes, but extension applications as well.
Personable Posts
Where would any Instagram be without the perfect caption accompanying those posts? Captions might seem unimportant at first glance, but developing a voice that matches your looks can put you ahead of the game.
One of the biggest names in celebrity makeup right now is Manny Gutierrez @mannymua733. We love reading his captions and delight in his hilarious meme references. He is able to walk the line between serious and silly. Manny’s strong voice compels you to check out his other channels as well.
Giveaways and Contests
Who doesn’t love free stuff? Channel promotions, giveaways, and sweepstakes are a popular method to gain followers and engagement on Instagram. Beauty is often a product-heavy industry. Showing off the products you use and offering them in a giveaway can be a great way to build your name.
We love Jackie Aina @jackieaina and her product reviews that are always specific to her audience. She often hosts giveaways and product discounts with brands she’s partnered with. She is able to highlight the best features of each product and make them appealing to check out, if not buy!
Tagging and Locations
Tagging your posts and adding locations can be an important tool when looking to add new followers. Research tags that you can take advantage of like #selfcare, #makeuptutorial, and #beautysecrets. You never know what connections you can make by tagging locations, businesses, and small collaborations.
Philip Wolff is a barber and hairstylist who has been gaining momentum on Instagram @philipwolffhair. He is always conscientious about how he tags and includes information within his post captions. Not only does he feature fellow stylists, but also other salons and new products. We’re always learning about new hairstyle trends from his feed!
Build Your Beauty Brand
As a beauty student you know that building up your social media channels is important. A good account can help as you develop a portfolio, compile pictures, and branch out after graduation. If you are already an Instagram enthusiast and a beauty-lover, see if you can perfect your skills and develop your own beauty account with these ideas.
See what American Beauty College students are doing on our Instagram account and share your own results with us! We can’t wait to see your unique style.
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