5 ways to keep your social media followers engaged during lockdown

Julie-Anne Larivière, Salon System nail expert and salon owner of Sketched by J-A Nails, shares tips on how to keep your social media followers interested and engaged during lockdown…

As we are all unable to work with clients during this time, it can be hard to keep your social media accounts up to date like you normally would when you would have plenty of content to share. It’s important to keep your pages alive, especially now that your followers are currently spending a lot more time online. If you also find yourself with plenty of spare time, then seize the opportunity to take your accounts to the next level and keep your followers interested.

Julie-Anne Larivière

1. Post regularly
Keep your pages looking beautiful by creating lots of content and posting regularly. This can be a new set of nails every day or every few days. If you don’t want to change your nails daily and you own a realistic practice hand, it’s a great time to make good use of it. Maybe you live with someone else that would happily have a new set or create press on nails. Start creating all the design ideas you have been saving and have always wanted to try. Push yourself out of your comfort zone and show your followers what you can do, its good to showcase what you are really capable of. Once we are out of this, who knows – you might have gained a much bigger clientele as a result.

2. Practice your photography skills
We are often pressed for time when we take pictures of our clients’ hands, which means we aren’t showcasing our work at its best. How many times have you said, ‘this set looked so much better in real life!‘? Now you have time to work out how to make your images pop. Try and test different lighting, angles, backgrounds, etc. Maybe purchase a better camera or some extra lights. You can also do a little experiment with the pictures you have taken and share them on your pages and see which ones get the most interaction.

3. Engage!
This is very important to keep your page active. Ask your followers what they like about your account, what can be improved, what they would like to see more or less of, etc. Let them set challenges for you or take part in challenges set by others. Interact with people you follow, share their work for inspiration, reply to their polls and suggest your ideas when they ask for your opinion, ask your followers to also take part in other users’ challenges, etc. These are all great ways to give your page more exposure during a time when everyone is spending more time on social media.

4. Create tutorials
Create video tutorials and step-by-steps! Raise your hand if you could just ‘binge watch’ nail videos all day long if you had the opportunity. People love to watch a good nail art video, so this is just another great way of keeping your account fun and interesting. If you don’t feel confident enough in creating videos, then why not try step-by-step images instead? Make them eye-catching so people feel like they have to look at your post rather than scroll past.

5. Educate
It’s a great time to share your knowledge with your followers. There is a chance a good portion of them are your clients or potential clients. Make sure they know what to do and, more importantly, what not to do during lockdown. Share tips and tricks on how to safely remove their nail enhancements at home, how to care for their natural nails/skin, recommend products they can find online and products they should stay away from. You do not want your clients to be turned away from their first appointment after lockdown because they have completely messed up their nails. By keeping them informed and educated, you are avoiding many problems down the line.

Featured image: instagram.com/jal.nailartist