Do You Want To Be A Celebrity Barber? Check Out These Top 3 Tips To Go Viral
It seems like everyone is blowing up on social media these days, teenagers are becoming overnight millionaires on TikTok and small businesses are finding reach like they've never had before organically. Have you heard of Jamiel Bustos? Also known as jbalwaysfresh, at only 18 years old he has amassed over 4 million followers on TikTok and become an internet sensation blowing up his independent barbering business by posting trendy videos with Toronto millionaires. Since then he has continued to gain traction and is currently working in Metro Vancouver, clearly social media has opened many opportunities for him and it can for you too. To learn more about advancing your barbershop skills from our master barbers at CADMEN click here.
Pay Attention To The Trends
The trends on social media come and go in a flash these days, blink and you miss it. As a result of this it is important to stay on top of the trends as they can become old news before you even notice the next trend is popping up already. This can include using relevant trending hashtags to your content and selecting viral songs to use in your videos to increase the reach of your content across the platform, especially on TikTok. For example, jbalwaysfresh used the release of Drake’s album as an opportunity to not only promote his new music but to promote his own account, skills and business to the masses in Toronto. TikTok often uses location when selecting what content to put in your curated feed, as a result it is also important to pay attention to local trends and what is happening in your area to capitalize on the opportunity for immediate exposure. As a barber, having local exposure and visibility is a great thing for your business.
#HairTok hashtag became a trend on TikTok. Many content creators have got successful with it, garnering millions of plays and likes
Be Authentic
One of the reasons why social media like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube are so popular is because they like to feel like they are getting an authentic experience, unlike with traditional media that uses characters and actors. Often social media viewers like to feel like they have a genuine connection with the people they follow and engage with, they want to feel an authentic and transparent relationship with content creators. People can often tell when you are being fake about something, as such it is important to be real with your audience as you want them to trust you in order to build loyalty. Another part of authenticity is creating purposeful content that goes beyond entertainment and allows you to connect and interact with your followers. Adding value to someone's life is a great way to turn a viral piece of content into a powerful promotional tool.
Create Concise Content
Short form content is the most popular type of consumable content on social media, including IG reels, TikTok and the up and coming YouTube shorts. Content creators who used to mainly rely on platforms such as YouTube to push long content have jumped ship to focus on platforms such as TikTok due to how much easier it is to produce viral content on the app. You’ll want to be right to the point by starting the video right away with the main content, cut the intro, make sure the first 3 seconds capture the audience's attention, and the ideal video length is 15-20 seconds. Unlike pictures or posts, which die out after 1-2 days posted, TikToks, Reels, and Shorts continue to amass views and shares even after being up for months, sometimes even getting a second wind and going viral more than once.
TikTok is currently the best marketing tool for barbers to promote themselves
The top benefits of using social media to promote yourself as a barber include but are not limited to the following.
Cost-effective: social media is extremely cost-effective for small businesses as owning and running a social media account such as IG or TikTok is free
Efficiency: social media is quick and easy to use, anyone can do it and most people are already using social media personally, so why not use it for business.
Authentic content: social media provides small businesses with an opportunity to highlight what they are good at in the most authentic way
Interacting with the audience: It is much easier for small businesses to engage with customers through social media comments, replies, and DM’s.
If you’re wondering why you might be taking advice from us about how to go viral on social media to promote your barbering work, we’ve managed to use platforms such as IG and TikTok to weather the COVID lockdown storms and even continue to grow our business during this time. Some examples of our viral content that has gained over a million views include
How our female barber responded to someone who commented “how can she do work on beards if she doesn't have one”: This video did very well on my barbershop IG and aided us in gaining new clients and followers (LINK).
To learn more about ways to advance your skills and career as a barber from the best, check out the CADMEN Barber Academy.