Social media is so important to our industry. It’s your portfolio, how you connect with clients, a place to show off your brand, and where you can position yourself as a leader in the industry.  But as anyone who’s been on social media for more than a few years knows, there are some unspoken rules we need to follow – especially for businesses.

Here’s a list of dos and don’ts on social media for your beauty business. Give these a try and you’ll be raking in the likes – and avoiding the cringe.

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The Dos

1. Go where your clients are

The most important thing you can do to build your business on social media is to be able to be found. What that means is to have a presence wherever your clients might be searching for you, so when they look for your services, they can find you with a simple search. The easiest way to do that? Be where they are.

Start posting your stunning work on Instagram, Facebook, or even TikTok, to show potential and current clients you’re in the know, and that you’re open for business. The nice thing about beauty businesses is that they’re almost always extremely Instagrammable: whether you’re posting pics of a fresh color treatment or the relaxing vibes in your spa, there’s always something to post. And if you run out of ideas, we’ve got you covered.

2. Build an online brand 

Setting up where your customers are is a good start, but creating a professional presence and identity is the next step. Although many sole proprietors get started on their own, it’s a good idea to build your business separately from your personal life.

On your business profile, you can display your services, location, business hours, and link to your GlossGenius booking site in your bio. You can also begin to curate a professional persona, where you share ideas, tips, and opinions related to your specialty, whether that’s hair, nails, or facials. Keeping your business separate from your personal life means you can also maintain your own aesthetic on your personal accounts, so you don’t have to scale back on the cat pics or the selfies, either.

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3. Cultivate the aesthetic

On social media, aesthetics are everything. Using great visuals on your business profile can really help sell your services to potential clients and showcase your skills. You don’t need to buy a professional camera or hire a photographer, either. Nailing your before and after shots, snapping photos of jobs well done, and even showcasing the interior of your salon are all great content ideas. What matters most is that the content looks as good as the products do: put those iPhone cameras to work!

4. Connect with your clients

Believe it or not, the main benefit of social media isn’t discovery, it’s connections. Engaging on social media through your professional profile can help you build and solidify relationships with clients, and might even help you connect with more. There are a number of ways you can interact with clients, for example:

• Posting their looks from their appointment
• Liking and resharing tagged posts
• Commenting on their photos
• Running polls and Q&As
• Sharing relevant content on your feeds

Leveraging your expertise to answer questions, interact with clients, and offer assistance is a great way to start making connections with them online.

5. Join and participate in groups

On the note of engaging, joining, and participating in relevant groups or pages is another way to amplify your social presence. Look for local groups on Facebook with interests relevant to your line of work, like hair care or nails, and request to join. If you’re producing any kind of content, whether it’s educational videos or blogs, these groups can be an excellent place to share and build your brand.

Note: you don’t need to pitch your services right away – you can focus on providing value and showing your skills, and use that to generate interest. If you have your GlossGenius site linked in your profile, they can go from your posts directly to your booking site!

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The Don’ts

1. Name and shame clients

We get it. We’ve all had bad client experiences. They can be too demanding, mean, or try to get a refund when it’s too late. It might be tempting to give the nasty ones their comeuppance on social media, but avoid the temptation: getting into a flame war on your social media, Google, or Yelp accounts is just a race to the bottom. You should reply to comments, but you shouldn’t engage in bad faith behavior. And especially, don’t name and shame your clients. Personal attacks from your business account can spell disaster for your brand’s reputation, and anyone looking at your page will be able to see it.

2. Focus on followers instead of clients

These days, everyone wants to be an influencer, especially in the beauty industry. But when you’re building a brand, it’s better to focus on your clients than to try to be the next Kylie. Be authentic to yourself and focus on what you do best: don’t get caught up in your follower counts' – focus on your clients and the beautiful work you do.

3. Try to be like anyone else

It’s easy to get caught up in the pressures of social media and chase what’s trending, especially when you see your peers flooded with likes. But if your online presence doesn’t feel authentically you, then keeping up with your profiles is going to feel like a chore. Keep it real, keep it you, and it’ll pay dividends eventually.

4. Let it be a distraction

Social media is fun and it should be. But don’t let your online presence be a distraction from your hustle. Make sure you’re answering your clients’ DMs or their online bookings through GlossGenius, and don’t let a story get in the way of a sale.

5. Neglect more appropriate channels

Social media is a great way to share news about and deals from your business, but make sure you’re sharing the right promotions on the right channels. Consider whether you’re better served sharing something through email or text messages, especially if it’s something like a special promotion for VIP clients.

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