THE POWER OF BRANDING IN THE BEAUTY INDUSTRY
Raise your hand if you learned anything about branding in beauty school. I’ll wait. At my beauty school, we got a short lesson on getting business cards made and were told to leave them at local businesses to advertise our services by putting cards on bulletin boards. This was in 2013, so even though it didn’t happen that long ago, the info is really outdated.
Branding Yourself
Branding is one of those amorphous things that is really hard to do for yourself. It’s like being the one in your group of friends who can always solve everyone else’s issues, but her own life is a mess. Branding yourself is a difficult but vital exercise to stand apart from the crowd and help your potential clients learn what to expect from your services.
Your logo, décor, colors, and fonts all feed into the message your brand sends, and you want to give potential a good idea what they can expect when they visit you. But beyond that, the voice you use on social media, how much of your face you show, and the graphics you create in your emails and on your website will tell even more. Are you detail oriented or do you misspell lots of words? Do you post on social only once in a while? Are you consistent with your branding decisions or a little bit all over the place? THE POWER OF BRANDING IN THE BEAUTY INDUSTRY
Getting the Hang of It
The visual and written things we put out into the world on behalf of our brands can help clients understand what we are about without having to write six paragraphs in our service menus. You can create an “upscale, relaxing environment” without having to write it on your walls in big, block letters. Create a physical and virtual space to match that makes clients feel welcome, safe, and in expert hands – whatever that looks like to you.
If you create your brand to reflect your interests, your strengths, and the types of services you provide, then your brand will fit well with your goals and serve you in the process. If you’re currently taking clients in your basement and they have to duck under your laundry drying to get to your chair – you may have a branding issue.
When to Revisit
I suggest that all beauty pros revisit their branding once every year to eighteen months. Borrow a page from Marie Kondo and ask yourself if your logo sparks joy. Then your business cards, and then your décor, and then your rack cards, etc etc. Determine if each piece of your brand puzzle fits together and it presents you in the best possible light, and if it doesn’t, change it. THE POWER OF BRANDING IN THE BEAUTY INDUSTRY
Ask a friend to give you honest feedback about your branding decisions, and offer her the same. It can be tough to see if your branding is a bit out of date or not right for your area. Offer constructive feedback and then take each other out for dinner and give each other the branding business while you laugh and look at your logo from ten years ago. Your brand, just like you, is always evolving and changing into the best version possible. THE POWER OF BRANDING IN THE BEAUTY INDUSTRY
THE POWER OF BRANDING IN THE BEAUTY INDUSTRY