Marketing Yourself as a Makeup Artist: Tips for Building Your Brand

Building a brand is very important as a make-up artist so that you stand out from the rest, you are your brand and your brand is your platform, that is your logo, your style, your language, your social media themes, your colours, your DNA and brand identity pick your branding carefully and be proud of it! There are millions of makeup artist brands and you want people to instantly recognise your brand!

Identify your target audience 

Ask yourself what market are you trying to appeal to and why? For instance I tend to offer and specialise in a more natural look and I’ve naturally found my style of make-up appeals to women 25 and over. However since stepping in to the educational space I want to appeal to school leavers and also women of any age looking for a side hustle. It is super important to know who you are speaking to so you know what type of language to use and this may shape how you post on social media, the use of different platforms, and how you get your name out there. Who is your ideal client and why? You may want to specialise in bridal make-up meaning your looking for brides and your main age range would be 25-40, you may want to use bridal hashtags, post more bridal pictures, attend weddings shows, you may also want to have relationships with wedding venues and collaborate with brands with in the bridal world, knowing your client will make the world of difference in how you market yourself and stand you in better stead for achieving your goals.

Define your unique selling proposition (USP)

What separates you from the rest? What do you offer that others don’t? What do you excel in?

Honestly speaking I feel mine unique selling point is customer service, I never don’t get back to people, my reputation is super important to me, I take pride in being professional and warm, making clients feel comfortable, transforming how they feel about themselves, letting them know and feel they are in the hands of a professional and nothing is too much, building relationships and building trust is really important to me, this is something I feel I excel at. Also having something you feel is a stand out quality helps your really believe in yourself especially in times where it feels hard.

Create a strong visual brand

The visual of your brand is so important and it needs to be strong, that is your logo, website, social media, and theme. For me I looked around the market and thought what brands do I love the look for? Once you find the ones you like ask yourself what it is you like? Could be the colours? The font? The structure of it? I love monochrome - especially black and white stripes, I feel my logo really stands out and I haven’t come across any competitors with too similar branding meaning mine is likely to be recognisable to my client. You want it to be memorable and really represent you as an artist!

Showcase your work 

It’s important you show off your skill set and again remember this is to target the audience you wish to target. So for TV and photo shoots you may want to show a larger range of images maybe of models or various adventurous looks. Social media - Instagram in particular is a perfect platform to showcase photos and videos of all your work, naturally clients and any potential employer will want to see your work, so the more photos and evidence you have the better. Think of instagram as your makeup artist portfolio.

Network and collaborate

Your network is everything, without contacts getting work only makes life harder. So reach out to people on social media, if you get the chance to attend an event - go! Sometimes offering your services at a discounted rate or even for free could really open some doors, I used to freelance for a make-up brand on a make-up counter in Selfridges London and the PR team of the brand started to use me for PR events and some photo shoots which gave me great exposure and experience, also definitely an avenue I could have pursued if I’d have wanted to. Many people see other make-up artists as the enemy because they are competition, however I view it as quite the opposite, together we’re stronger, I often send many of the make-up artists in my network clients that maybe I can’t fit in, and vice versa. Some make-up artists sometimes need assistants generating for and great opportunities for you. So many of my clients have recommended me to their friends and my network has grown and that’s been down to my current contacts. Collaborating with brands, people and businesses can really open doors and connect you with a larger pool of influential people that could help you on your journey, don’t underestimate the power of your network. 

Offer exceptional customer service

Wow this one really is my passion point, I feel so strongly about customer care, as I really really appreciate myself great service and it absolutely is single handedly the main thing that keeps my custom in most places. Making a woman in particular feel heard, seen, comfortable, at ease, great about herself, in good hands, relaxed, appreciated, listened to is an absolute game changer. Communication is huge!!!! I never ever don’t reply to messages of any sort, every enquiry is a compliment. Be punctual, I found this super hard when I was mobile and travelling but far easier now I’m based in one place, but I myself recently had an appointment, they were running really behind and I had somewhere to be afterwards and this really changed my experience at the appointment, I was rushed, panicking and didn’t enjoy it anywhere near as much had they have been running on time. Manners and hygiene are other massive priorities, if someone is paying you for a service be grateful they could have gone anywhere else but they’ve chosen to spend their time and money with you! In this line of business you are touching people faces, being clean and working clean is one of the most important things. You are your business, doing all the above ensures repeat custom, blow people away! In a society of sub par service, be that person people remember for being great! 

I really hope everything I have discussed above really gives you some great tips and advice on starting your own brands.