How to Master Social Media as a Nail Artist

Nails by @paintbyjaz

Jaz Moger, Salon System Nail Expert and Owner of Paint by Jaz has a lot of experience growing her brand and instagram, so she’s sat down with us to share her social media tips and tricks for both instagram newbies and the experienced influences.

You’re now at 13.3k followers, what advice do you have to people who are trying to gain a following on social media?

I believe there are two main factors to helping grow your social media following and they are authenticity and consistency.  Be authentic and true to yourself by posting content that you love as well as showing some of your own personality to make your audience feel connected. But do be careful not to overshare, there is a fine line between the two. Be consistent with posting but always make sure to post quality over quantity. Your audience will know when something is forced or rushed. Make the most of all of the features the platform has to offer by posting photos, videos, reels, stories, polls etc. Posting a mixture of everything helps reach out to a wider audience and using relevant tags and hashtags will help to reach the right people too. Always remember you can ask your friends and family to share your work, I’m sure most of them won’t mind and would be more than happy to. 

How do you create your content? i.e., Any editing tools? Ring lights? Backgrounds?

I’ve always had an interest in photography so I guess it’s something that comes naturally but good lighting is definitely key when taking nail pics. Daylight is great but if it’s dark when I’m taking photos then I use my Daylight Unolamp. I like to experiment with different backgrounds and hand positions to keep it interesting on my feed. It’s good to stick to an aesthetic but not one that will limit what you can post. You should always make sure you are posting high resolution pictures and videos. I like to use the sharpening tool on Instagram to make sure my photos look crisp.

How do you balance your social media work? i.e. around your busy time, do you schedule your posts?

I try not to put too much pressure on myself and tend to post as and when it feels right. My audience know that what I’m posting is something I’m proud of and not just for the sake of getting a post out that day which I think adds to the engagement levels. If something feels forced then people won’t engage as much. 

You always have a large interaction and engagement on your posts, why do you think that is?

There’s a fine line between sharing and oversharing your personal life on your business page but I think I have found the right balance. Even though my Instagram is a business page, I am my own brand and I like to share the odd snippet of my personal life so that people feel like they can connect with me. My clients know me so well so it’s nice that my followers get to too. I often share my knowledge and opinions and believe that building this kind of relationship makes people want to continue following and adds to how well people will engage with you and your posts. 

Why did you choose to start up a social account for your business and why do you think it is so important?

I started my Paint by Jaz Instagram account around 5 years ago when having a nail art page was almost unheard of. I wanted to create a page to showcase my work and enable my clients to scroll through and see what I had to offer. Almost like an online menu. I would also write down the Gellux colours I’d used in the caption - not to get noticed but to remember what I had used incase a client asked. However, it wasn’t long before I did get noticed by Salon System and trade magazines. Before I knew it, I was being invited to events and soon became a Gellux brand ambassador.

In more recent years I have become a Salons Direct ambassador and have had my work featured on numerous online magazines. I’m not sure that any of this would have happened without the use of social media so even though I’ve worked hard, I am also extremely grateful to the online world.

If you were to talk to a Nail Tech starting their social media journey now, what would you say was most important?

Instagram is totally over saturated and it’s becoming harder than ever to stand out in the crowd so it’s important to find your niche. Promote the products and brands that you truly love and not just because everyone else is doing it. Build trust with your audience by being completely authentic and you can’t go wrong. I’d also suggest starting up a TikTok account. TikTok is great because it’s video focused and it’s where most of the trends are starting now.

What would you say was the key factors for your success on social media?

Success on social media is down to being consistent but also posting quality over quantity. My following has grown slowly over time but more recently I seem to notice an influx of new followers whenever I post a nail reel. Using relevant hashtags and picture tags helps to reach a wider audience and drive traffic to my page but I think the key factor to my success is always being true to myself, keeping up to date with trends but putting my own spin on them and building trust with my audience.

Do you think that social media has helped you gain clients?

It definitely did in the beginning. I was still building my clientele when I started my Instagram page so it was perfect. I’ve been working at full capacity and unable to take on any new clients for a couple of years now but I do still get a lot of client interest in my DM’s.  My clients often share their nails and tag me in their stories after their appointment and they love it when I ask if I can take a photo and post it online. It’s become part of the treatment and it makes them feel special.  The use of social media was great in lockdown because I was promoting my cuticle oils on my Instagram and was able to offer them to anyone in the world. I had orders from all over the country and even one in Australia!