Without a doubt, Instagram is the modern day landing page. This is true for every industry, but especially beauty, where looks matter.
Think about it - when your friend recommends a plastic surgeon, a nail salon, or a gym, where will you first look to scope out the business? Your Instagram feed of course! And your clients are exactly the same.
For the most part, beauticians know that they need to be active on the platform to grow their clientele. However, Instagram is already saturated with creative, compelling health, well-being, and beauty content.
So the question is, how can small business owners use esthetician Instagram marketing to stand out from the crowd, so clients pick their salon over everyone else?
Artemis has helped over 1800 business owners attract loyal customers. We’ve seen how marketing is critical in growing your business. And when it comes to platforms that bring in new clients, Instagram is one of the best. This is why we share tried and tested esthetician Instagram material with all of our partners.
In this article, we share our top tips for getting people off their feeds and through your door.
Why Esthetician Instagram Marketing Matters
Before we kick off with our esthetician Instagram marketing tips, you might be wondering what all the fuss is about.
Sure, esthetician Instagram marketing is important, and you may post a few times a week. But equally, you are a busy business owner. You have staff to train, receptionists to hire, and clients to attend to. You might be wondering - why should I make esthetician Instagram marketing such a top priority?
Here are six key reasons it’s worth investing in esthetician Instagram marketing
Thousands of Potential Clients
First, Instagram has over 2 billion monthly active users, many of whom are image conscious. Of course, that doesn't mean 2 billion potential clients. Most beauty businesses will be aiming to attract people in their locality.
However, even within your local area, Instagram can help you be seen by hundreds and thousands of people. Certainly many more than the numbers who walk by your salon on foot each day. Follow these esthetician Instagram marketing tips, and you’ll convert these passive scrollers into paying customers in no time.
Boost Confidence in Your Brand
One of our top esthetician Instagram marketing tips is to post regularly. In order to do this, you need to think about and explain lots of reasons why your services are great.
As you do this, your confidence in your business, brand, and services will increase too. Not only will this boost your sense of well-being, customers will pick up on your confidence. When you feel good about your brand, they’ll feel good about it too.
Increase Your Prices
Simply put, clients are prepared to spend more with businesses that have professional branding, photography, and copy.
By investing in esthetician Instagram marketing, you’ll create a strong, polished online presence. Once you’ve done this, you can increase the cost of your services. Because your online presence inspires trust, customers will feel that your professionalism and expertise are worth the price.
Improve People’s Lives
Without a doubt, Instagram is the perfect platform to share reasons people should try your services. But it’s so much more than that. You can use your feed to think beyond sales and share valuable educational content with your followers.
Perhaps you know the perfect hack for dying eyebrows at home. Or the best ways to prepare the skin for a wax before people come for treatment. Don’t hesitate to share this in Stories!
Not only will content like this help grow your following, it will give you a deeper satisfaction that comes from helping improve others’ well-being.
Share Your Passions
If you’re thinking about esthetician Instagram marketing, then you probably have a passion for health, well-being, and beauty. And who doesn’t love having a place to share their passions?
Luckily for you, esthetician Instagram marketing is about more than sales. It gives you an outlet for sharing the things you love and connecting with others who love those things too.
So, whether it’s nail art or ketogenic diets, use your esthetician Instagram marketing to share the stuff that gets you out of bed in the morning.
Create Something Beautiful
If you’re forging a career in this industry, chances are you like making things look beautiful. Fortunately for you, your aesthetic skills don’t need to be limited to people. Your Instagram account is a blank canvas for creating something beautiful! The better looking you can make it, the more followers you’ll attract, and the more people you can convert to paying clients.
How To Attract Clients With Esthetician Instagram Marketing
1. Create a Business Profile
The first and one of the most important esthetician Instagram marketing tips is to make your account an Instagram business account.
This gives you access to data which helps you track how your posts are performing. By doing this, you can see the ideal days and times to post content. You’ll also get a sense of the kind of content that does well - whether it’s informative or salesy.
Furthermore, an Instagram business account will help you be taken more seriously. With a more professional look, prospective clients will trust your business more and feel more inclined to get in touch.
Overall, anyone interested in esthetician Instagram marketing can use a business profile to boost views and engagements on their posts.
2. Create a Posting Series
Our next top esthetician Instagram marketing tip is to create a posting series.
What is a posting series? It’s a collection of posts about one particular topic or theme. For example, you might create a ‘treatment series’, ‘skincare series’, or ‘fat reduction’ series.
Often, the posts will be designed and written in a similar format. They’ll be posted periodically - daily, weekly, or monthly.
If you’re just starting out with esthetician Instagram marketing, a posting series is a great idea. It gives you an easy structure to help you generate content ideas.
Additionally, series create structure, order, and aesthetically pleasing patterns in your grid. They give your customers something to look forward to and help you showcase your expertise and full range of services.
3. Advertise with Influencers
Thirdly, if you want to really excel at esthetician Instagram marketing, you’d do well to partner with some influencers. It’s a lucrative field - the influencer marketing industry reached $16.4B in 2022.
Further, people connect to people much more easily than businesses. And your prospective clients will be much more inclined to buy from people they trust, than from a faceless brand.
You might be thinking: ‘influencer Instagram marketing is expensive - our business can’t afford it’.
In fact, influencer esthetician Instagram marketing is possible for most budgets. The trick is not falling into the trap of forking out for people with huge followings.
Instead, use data to do your research. Find influencers to have a strong audience engagement, rather than a large following.
Then, partner with those who love your services. Create consistent, genuine content that connects with people, instead of short term, flashy PR stunts.
4. Use Instagram Stories
To do esthetician Instagram marketing well, use every possible function on the platform, including Instagram Stories.
With Instagram Stories, you can share photos and videos that disappear from your profile after 24 hours. This means you can share more experimental, light-hearted, and fun tips, tutorials, Q&As, and updates. The content will show your personality, helping prospective clients warm to you.
Since they disappear fast, posting to Stories also keeps people checking in with your profile regularly, so you stay at the front of their minds.
5. Create a Strong Brand
No esthetician Instagram marketing tip list would be complete without talking about branding.
It must be remembered that customers form a relationship with you and your brand, not with your business. Therefore, you must use your design, copy, content, and strategy to convey a personality your audience loves and trusts.
Spend time defining your audience, as well as the archetype and personality your brand embodies. There’s nothing more reassuring for clients than a consistent brand look and feel. This is especially true for businesses that handle their health and appearance.
Checkout our free ebook,Grow Your Beauty Business Through Marketing, for simple steps to defining your audience and creating a brand they want in their lives.
6. Choose Effective Hashtags
Our next esthetician Instagram marketing tip - use hashtags (and make sure they’re the right ones!)
Posts with hashtags are shown to Instagram users who are following that particular hashtag. Therefore, they help people outside of your existing circle of followers see your content. You’ll appear to a completely new audience, who have an existing interest in businesses like yours.
Research the most common hashtags which relate to your content, using tools like these. You’ll maximize your post exposure in no time.
7. Post Regularly
Keen to ace your esthetician Instagram marketing strategy? Then without a doubt, you need to post regularly.
Of course, quality matters. But unlike platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram rewards recent posts. It puts these at the top of people’s feeds. For this reason, the quantity of posts matters.
You might like to make a posting schedule. This way, you can write the posts in your quieter times, and they’ll automatically go live when you’re busy running your business.
8. Create Compelling Content
As has been noted, when it comes to esthetician Instagram marketing, the quantity of posts is important. However, quality is just as critical.
In order to create content that people want to read, remember this rule:
Make all of your content educational, aspirational or entertaining.
That is, teach your followers something valuable, motivate them to do something, or bring them joy! Monitor audience engagement for each of the content types. Then, give people more of the stuff that they like.
Finally, give a call to action after each piece of content. You don’t always need to ask people to buy something - that can become exhausting. You can often simply invite them to read a blog post or follow your account.
9. Use Direct Messaging
‘Direct messages’ is a messaging service that allows Instagram users to privately message one another. It can be a honeypot for inquiries from prospective clients. Therefore, if you want to nail your esthetician Instagram marketing, then stay on top of your direct messages!
If you notice a follower engaging a lot, or ask for a quotation on one of your posts, then send a public reply. Always follow up with a genuine, open direct message, which invites them to ask more questions, give you a call or come into the salon.
Equally, if someone directly messages you, then be sure to reply swiftly. The more professional you are online, the more highly people will think of your services.
10. Showcase Before and Afters
Finally, any esthetician Instagram marketing strategy worth its salt must include some before and after's.
Beauty before and after photos, can be the most powerful and effective content that you can share. People feel inspired by stories of transformation. In addition, there’s something magical about seeing changes in appearance, especially when they’re significant.
So, take B&As of the treatments you’re most proud of (always do so in a respectful, consensual, and legal way.) Then, share them on your feed generously. Your followers will love you for it.
Final thoughts:
For beauty business owners who are serious about growth, a strong esthetician Instagram marketing strategy is essential. These esthetician Instagram marketing tips will set you ahead of your competition, and help you attract heaps of new clients.
While Instagram is a powerful platform, it isn’t a panacea. If you want learn more, then checkout our detailed guide on beauty business marketing, or our webinar on how to compete in a crowded beauty field.
