Your prospects are spending most of their time on the internet using search engines and social networking platforms to find new services, interact with their favorite brands, and buy their favorite products.

Studies show that every 4 in 5 consumers search for local businesses online before making a purchase decision. Another study indicates that  71% of purchase decisions are influenced by social media.

Clearly, as an independent lash artist, you need to have a strong and integrated online presence to not only stay competitive but also to grow your business by attracting more clients.

Not sure where to start?

Here are a few tips to help you get moving.

An attractive, mobile responsive, and professionally designed website is among the first building blocks of a strong online brand image. It’s a platform where you can position yourself as an expert lash artist, demonstrate your work, and show the world what you’re capable of.

Unlike third-party review sites and online business directories, a website is a business asset that’s completely under your control. It gives you credibility and has a reassuring effect on your prospects.

And here’s the best part:

Creating a fully responsive website is not as difficult a task as before. If you know a bit of WordPress, you can design it yourself using a professional website theme. Or you can hire a freelancer or an agency to do the work for you (which is the better approach in my opinion since they’re the experts).

Having a professional website is great for your business and brand image.

But do you know what’s even better?

A blog where you regularly publish high-quality content that answers the most burning questions of your audience and makes their lives easier.

Studies show that blogging has a direct impact on how your audience perceives your brand, with 60% of consumers feeling positive about brands that blog regularly.

Source: WritingMyDestiny

Use your blog to demonstrate your knowledge as a lash artist and clarify any misconceptions your prospects might have about lash products. You can even use your blog as a platform to launch lash training programs.

With every passing day, people are spending more time glued to their smartphones and scrolling for hours on different social networks.

Studies show that an average consumer spends around 35 minutes every day just on Facebook.

Source: Constant Contact

Being active on social media is still important even if you have your own website and blog. In fact, a strong social media presence helps you amplify the impact of your blog content and attract more referral traffic to your website.

This, however, does not mean you have to join every social network on the internet. Research your audience and find the platforms where they’re most active. For lash artists, these are usually Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. You may also want to join LinkedIn to build a corporate profile.

But don’t over-stretch yourself and stay focused on the platforms where your audience is most active.

Social media is important but it can easily drain a lot of your productive time if you choose to do everything yourself. Thankfully there are various smart ways to automate your social media marketing strategy so that you can stay focused on your core business activities.

Automating your social media marketing strategy is great but you still need to personally engage with your target audience to a certain extent to build relationships and leverage the strength of social media.

To do that, search for your target audience on sites like Facebook and Twitter, and become a part of their conversations. Try to answer their questions, come across as a helpful resource and a lash expert.

In doing so, however, stay professional and avoid any personal comments or interactions that might hurt your brand image. Remember, your objective with social media is to help people so that they consider you an expert and turn to you when they need lash services.