5 ways to improve your online nail & beauty tutorials

You don’t have to be a teacher to create tutorials for your customers. There are two kinds of tutorials: short ‘how to at home’ demonstrations for consumers and more in depth, factual lessons for professionally trained techs, taught by qualified teachers. They serve different purposes and offer different results.

Owing to lockdown measures, finding new avenues for revenue and to keep customers engaged is critical.

Customers need to know how to temporarily replace their loved nail and beauty services appropriately and how to correctly use any retail products they have purchased. This doesn’t mean they will replace you as the professional and won’t return to you when the time allows, but it will enable them to create a more professional look to maintain their services and keep their nails and skin looking good in the interim.

When users are searching for tutorials, approximately 75% seek video tutorials over images. These tutorials can be broadcast live or pre-recorded.

Some ideas for tutorials are:

• Press-on nail application. If you have created and are selling press-ons, teach your customers how to apply and remove them correctly. Include simple nail art tutorials so they can change these up themselves, such as polka dots and stamping etc.
• How-to tutorials such as: applying make-up, caring for skin, filing the nail, painting nails, how to remove enhancements.
• Make-up colour matching service.
• The importance of using certain products such as cuticle oil, hand cream etc.
• Nail myths busted.
• Why it is important to care for your nails or skin at home.

Think of your most frequently asked customer questions and offer these in a purchasable tutorial. These tutorials aren’t replacing your professional services as they are all techniques that can be used with current retail products sold by salons and techs. To earn additional revenue, you can team retail sales with online tutorials to make the most of these products.

While having a high following can be flattering, it doesn’t necessary equate to monetary value and can prove hard and time consuming to build. Creating content for YouTube and social media channels takes a lot of time and investment with a return that is not instant in an already saturated market. You need to meet particular criteria for followers and minutes viewed which can take a considerable time to build while not earning.

As a nail or beauty professional, you already have a customer base built and waiting who have trust in you – so focus on them.

Offer value such as a pre-recorded free tutorial with the purchase of a retail pack or even a bundle.  You can also offer complimentary live tutorials or sessions such as colour matching with the purchase of a certain value of products.

The more a customer understands how to correctly use a product, the more they will love it and buy repeat and additional purchases. When you have decided to offer consumer or expert video tutorials, you need to know how to make them top quality and professional looking.

How to make professional video tutorials

When choosing your camera and lighting, the same rules apply as taking nail images. Refer to my previous Scratch post on how to improve your nail images here.

Filming set up / stand

• Steady and robust stand that can hold your filming device securely
• Ideally immediately overhead, not angled for the best tutorial shot
• Clean, plain white background – use white paper if you don’t have this

The tutorial

• Consider the angles; make sure your hand is not in the way
• Make a small mark to keep you central while filming or use film guide markers
• Keep your working area clean at all times
• Have your nails done or wear gloves

Content  

• Write a lesson plan and script
• Plan your design or topic in advance and practise
• Remember, the goal of creating video content isn’t to create the perfect video, it’s to create a video that teaches something.
• Constantly teach during the tutorial, detail everything you use, why you are using it, why you use that brand, the benefits, the alternatives. Always answer the why. “I am using this Salon Services premium cotton wool to remove the nail polish, I find this is the softest cotton wool because it is quilted tightly together and doesn’t leave any fluff, which would cause a contaminant when applying the polish. Use the cotton wool folded in half and work from the cuticle to the free edge to prevent product touching the skin and causing staining and skin irritation.”
• Pick one topic per video. By narrowing your scope, your video will be more focused, and easier to create. You’ll also ensure your video is the appropriate length to keep your viewers’ attention.

Audio

• Talk through the tutorial as you perform it.
• Reshoot when you make a mistake and cut this in editing.
• Alternatively, edit the tutorial and record a voice over.
• Speak calmly, slowly and clearly.
• Avoid slang and waffling.
• Other languages may be watching so you want this to be understood by all.
• Avoid background noise.

Editing

• Use Final Cut Pro, iMovie or similar software to edit your video
• Cut unnecessary clips
• Speed up repetitive steps
• Record voiceovers if you have not done this while filming

Invest some time into creating tutorials to increase your revenue and ensure that customers are fully equipped with all the knowledge to use their products safely and correctly.

Love Katie B x

www.katiebarnesacademy.com