I feel like we are constantly on a quest to beat the algorithm or trick the system to overcome the game.
The reality is there are just a few simple key things you have to do correctly to master any social media platform because the rules are essentially the same for all of them.
I want to break down some of the common myths that people are following in hopes of making it easier to understand how social media works. There are all these tips and tricks that don’t make any sense, and I want to debunk them today.
Without any further ado, let’s dive into the seven top social media myths.
Myth #1: More is better
We’re all feeling the pressure to show up on social media big, correctly, and often. But it’s not that more is better; it’s that better is better.
It really is as simple as that.
People are in such a rush to get more that they get sloppy and cut corners to just bang it out. Until you take a step back and learn to do it properly from the start, you’re going to create garbage versus a refined message that makes people actually take action.
Are you thinking that you always post on social media, take photos of your guests, hashtag and tag people, but aren’t getting the results you want? Here are some things you might do incorrectly in the quest to do more:
Messy backdrops
Your backdrop has to be clean: no station or products in the background. Let’s finally retire the step and repeat (that wall covered in logos).
Watermarked photos
If you’re doing it to protect your work, newsflash: it’s not going to stop anyone from stealing it. It will just make your photo perform more poorly in the feed.
Bad lighting
Your photos can’t be dark or have hot spots (part of the hair looks really light from artificial light and part of it looks dark). Use natural lighting or proper lighting tools to make the photo realistic.
Bad photo composition
Are you standing too low? Too high? Are you posing the client correctly? Does it look natural? Does the hair look good? Not all clients want to show face, but don’t just show the tip of their nose. That looks terrible and affects your traction on social media.
No split shots
Don’t do it. That trend ended many years ago. If you want to grow on social media, pick a great photo, and have the messaging tell a story.
I know it sounds like a lot of things to remember, but it’s actually really simple. It’s like learning a new skill set, but once you got it, you got it. Practice taking clean photos, using your tools, and properly posing your guests to get confident because you will get it.
Myth #2: Consistent means of following a posting pattern or posting multiple times a day
A lot of stylists try to stick with specific posting patterns: Hair Tip Tuesday, Transformation Wednesday, or Pro Tip Thursday.
But what happens when Tuesday rolls around and you can’t think of a hair tip? You either don’t post at all, or you post something terrible because you have nothing good to say. Both of those things are wrong.
Instead, pre-schedule great content without super complicated patterns. If you’re worried your clients are accustomed to Hair Tip Tuesday, I got news for ya: you’re not the center of their life. They’ll be excited when it hits their feed, but if it doesn’t, they won’t notice.
The definition of consistency is deciding what a reasonable volume of posts for you per week is and doing that every single week without a break. It’s better to commit to what you can do versus seven days this week, two days next week, five days a week after that, followed by a week off. That will crush you in the algorithm.
Get a system, get consistent with it, don’t take breaks, and have a plan for social media.
Myth #3: Guests have to sign waivers for you take their photo for social media
A client posing to take a picture for you is implied consent. It’s not like you took a sneaky paparazzi shot as they were getting into their car. They knew what you were doing when you posed them, took the picture, and probably guessed you were going to share it on social media.
If something goes sideways and they decide they hate the picture, they’ll ask you to take it down, so you do. If they lawyer up, the lawyer will send a cease and desist letter to tell you to take that photo down, and you’ll take that photo down.
But if you plan to run a marketing campaign with their photo, use it in a Facebook ad, or include it in your printed brochure, a photo release is a good idea. You don’t know whose hands that brochure is going to get into and once it’s in their hands, you can’t take it back.
You don’t need to have a waiver signed every single time you take a picture of a guest. That is implied consent. But if you do choose to use that photo on a bigger scale, you need a waiver before you go forward.
Myth #4: Good photos are the key to a successful social media account
Good photos are a key component of social media, but they are not THE component. Think of social media as a three-legged stool made up of the caption (to emotionally connect with your audience), photo (to showcase your work), and brand (to help clients differentiate between you and every other stylist).
Following the analogy of a three-legged stool, what happens if you cut one of those legs off? The stool falls over.
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If you have great photos, great captions, but no brand = broken stool
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If you have great photos, great brand, and you can’t write a caption to save your life = broken stool
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If you have great captions, great brand, but you can’t take good photos = broken stool.
You need all three pieces together if you want social media to go well.
Myth #5: If you edit a caption, it hurts you in the algorithm
There’s a rumor that if you go back and edit a caption on social media, it hurts you in the algorithm. I don’t know the proof behind that, but if I have typos in my caption, you better believe I’m going to edit it. I have gone back and edited captions on some of my best posts that have ever performed.
Yeah, it might make you more human, but if you’re trying to look like a professional, you don’t want a bunch of misspellings. If you see an error in your caption, don’t be afraid to go back and edit it.
Myth #6: You have to post at the right time of day
Stop worrying about what your clock says and start worrying about what your caption says. Stop worrying if you should post at eight in the morning and focus on your social media photography skills.
Now, what time to post? Waking hours between 6 AM and 7 PM is great. If you post at 11 PM or 3 AM, you’ll perform poorly because the algorithm wants some initial engagement and most people are asleep at that time.
If your content is good, it will perform well. If your content is bad, you could post it at the most prime time of day, and it’s still going to tank. Stop trying to figure out the perfect time and focus on posting great content consistently week after week.
Myth #7: Hashtags and tags are the key to success
Hashtags and tags are search terms. Seems simple, right? But there are a few huge hashtag mistakes stylists make:
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Only using super-popular hashtags, like #balayage or your favorite hair color brand because you’ll never be found.
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Trying to build a clientele? Stop using brand hashtags. Very few clients are searching brand hashtags to find a stylist.
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Unless you’re a celebrity stylist or an educator, nobody is going to search for your personal hashtag, find your business and come to see you. If a client has never met you, how will they know to search for your made-up hashtag?
Instead, find local hashtags to use in your area and look at the volume on those hashtags. If it’s a hashtag nobody’s searching for, no one will find you on it. If it’s a hashtag that’s too big, you’ll drown in it.
Know that hashtags kill in some markets but are crickets in others. In a tiny town on the California coastline, hashtags would be futile. But in cities like Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, New York, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, or Dallas, it’s going to be great to use hashtags.
Do your market research and figure out what’s best for you. Make sure that you’re hashtagging wisely. But know passive marketing like hashtagging and tagging is probably the least effective strategy you can use.
Myth #8: Your clients should do a better job of engaging on your posts
If your clients aren’t following and tagging you or engaging on your posts, that is 100% your fault, not your client’s. It’s not their job to grow your business, it’s yours.
Raise your hand if you spend 30 minutes picking out the perfect photo, writing the caption, and picking out the hashtags, and, by the end, you’re exhausted and cursing social media. You post your picture and then close your phone or scroll your feed to find distractions.
That’s called the post and pray. You post, throw your hands up, and walk away. It is called social media for a reason, so get social. Spend 30 minutes interacting with your followers, engaging with other people in your community.
Don’t wait for somebody to stumble across you; carve your own path. We are living in a noisy world where the way to win in social media is to be the loudest one screaming the best message from the prettiest rooftop.
So stop at the post and pray and get social on social media. Force people to take notice. Embrace the platform. Forget about all the myths, forget about all the tricks. Remember the stool, get consistent, and embrace this amazing tool that’s sitting here right in front of us.