By Julie Taylor and April Berardi, with support from the Outreach Committee

To find out how piercers can use social media effectively, we interviewed several social media savvy piercers—April Berard from Born this Way Body Arts, A.J. Goldman from 12 Ounce Studios, Courtney Jane (CJ) from Saint Sabrina’s, Derek Lowe from Saint Sabrina’s, Christina Shul from High Priestess, and Crystal Sim from Evolution—and asked them to list some simple Do’s & Don’ts of online media usage. But first, remember that our audience doesn’t have the intimate relationship we have with piercing and industry related news. (One post could be someone’s first impression of you or piercing, so be sure to post with that in mind.)

Below are some recommendations to keep your page—and posts—positive and interesting:

DOs:

–DO have a social media page and keep it active!  Because—after all—our clients are media savvy, and online.

–DO create a Facebook page just for your work (especially if you’re not comfortable sharing your personal life with the public).

–DO post and share photos of cool piercings, unique placements, or new jewelry—and when companies release photos of new products, sharing them on your pages can generate instant interest, resulting in potential sales or special orders.

–DO give credit if you repost an image. Be sure to list and link, whenever possible, to the names of the image creator, piercer, studio and/or jewelry manufacturer.

–DO post healed piercings for piercing portfolios as much as possible.

–DO post fresh work for status update posts.

–DO answer questions promptly! If you leave your page(s) unattended for too long, your clients could seek out other studios (or friends) to help them. According to Derek, “Even if it’s not your intent to engage your clients that way, they are going to expect to be able to engage you [on your social media pages]. If you don’t respond, you’re blowing them off.  No good, obviously.”

–DO consider posting only the things you would be proud to show your mother, young kids, the health department, a respected peer, or a potential employer.

–DO post fun things that happen in the shop. CJ advises “Our job is very much seen as ‘cool’ by the general public, so

giving them a peek into the fun/funny things we do is great advertising. Even more, it gives us a chance to promote the positive side of the business. Imagine, if people think you can say literally anything you want to, and what you choose to post is how awesome your shop/customers/job is, they are going to get a really good feeling about what we do…I intentionally post some things about my private life, because I know my clients like to feel like they ‘know’ me. It makes them more comfortable with me, and certainly more loyal.”

–DO post regularly; routine is key.  If you post often, your clients will begin to put you into their own media routine. Derek says, “you can’t just have a FB page or tumblr page and expect people to flock to it and interact with it. You have to put out content regularly to keep people engaged and interested. Simply having the page isn’t enough.”

–DO actively take part in discussions on your page. Your clients love interacting with you, so if they are commenting in a thread about new trends, join in the conversation and give them your professional input.

–DO keep your network abreast of local, national, or even international trends. (If septum jewelry is flying out of your studio, tell your readers how hot septums are.) The same goes for legislation changes and any news that pertains to the piercing and tattoo community as a whole.

–DO post tips on caring for body piercings.

–DO post compelling, interactive, and relevant content:

• Ask your readers to interact by requesting their opinions in your posts (ex: Which pair do you like best? What do you think of this color combination? What do you think of this new piercing placement?)

• Use tags. Jesse notes that “taking pictures of your client’s piercings and tagging them in a photo on your fan page will also generate some great feedback and possibly new followers…which will potentially lead to new clients.”

• Make posts visually striking. Derek told us, “I think that piercing (and tattooing) are very fortunate in that they are both visual mediums…so they can benefit greatly from social media sites which are wonderful tools for delivering the visual. So, the more visually interesting/impacting it is, the better it utilizes the power of social media.”

–DO make occasional, unplanned, short-term specials.

–DO tell your clients about your pages. (This means that you give your social media contact info to everyone.)  CJ says, “I give my facebook URL to every single person I pierce, or to people that I haven’t pierced but came to me for troubleshooting advice. I even tell my clients to link me to jewelry they find that they like so I can help them make sure it’s good quality, or at least help them find something similar that is”. Jesse’s tip – “During my aftercare speech I will also discuss with my clients the social networks that I’m available on and also have the links on all of our aftercare brochures.  Plus I’ll personally ask them to join our fan page, or randomly discuss Facebook or Instagram etc. during the actual piercing appointment.  This has earned me many followers/friends over the years as my clients felt comfortable finding me online and asking questions.”  

DON’TS:

–DON’T post illegal activities or activities that could be construed as medical procedures. Crystal suggests, “If this is your lifestyle, try flying under the radar.”

–DON’T be afraid to talk positively about yourself and your accomplishments, or the cool things you like.

–DON’T be a miserable online complainer.

–DON’T repeat yourself every day. Things like “I’m here piercing until 9pm” get old fast.

–DON’T post anything you aren’t prepared to answer questions about, or get lots of requests for.

–DON’T post ANYTHING online that you wouldn’t be proud to share with clients. CJ says, “My Facebook is primarily for work…I avoid anything excessively vulgar or profane, and generally try to keep things PG-13.  I want the things that are posted to reflect me in the same way that I would want to be seen if I were with a client in my shop.”

–DON’T make negative posts about clients—even when it is hypothetical, or when no names are mentioned.

–DON’T make any negative posts about other studios, piercers, or the industry.

–DON’T sign up for more accounts than you can handle. If you do not have the time, manpower, or resources to oversee the page, do not create it—out of date information and unanswered questions can do more harm than the good.

Rather than try to take on too much at once, use these Do’s and Don’ts to fine tune what you are already doing.  Start with a few that will work for you, and watch your social media presence grow, as there are few things you can do with your business that will have the kind of immediate return and positive impact on your piercing business than social media interaction will.