Barber's Guide: How to Advertise Yourself as a Barber

Most people don’t have the resources, reach, or budget to advertise on a large scale individually. Your barbershop may be involved in community events or have other advertising methods in place, but when it comes to getting clients in your chair, it’s time to think about ways to self-advertise.

For individual barbers, being good at self-advertisement is the key to success. Now, self-advertisement is a pretty open-ended phrase. You may be thinking, "How do I advertise myself as a barber?" or what is self-advertisement, and how can you do it effectively? This article will help you learn how to master self-advertisement to boost clientele and enhance your reputation. 

Know Your Target Audience

First, think about who your ideal customer is—men, women, kids, etc. Do you like specific cuts or styles in which only one demographic or age range is interested? Different styles come and go, but each generation typically has different preferences regarding hairstyles. Having a target audience that knows you are their “go-to” will help get clients in your chair. An example of this could be that if you like working with curly hair, you can advertise yourself as the curly hair expert in your shop. Now replace “curly hair expert” with anything you prefer: fades,  perms, mohawks(!); the options are endless. Once you have found your target audience, you can build your brand.

Build a Strong Personal Brand

Now, it’s time to begin building your brand. This is separate from the barbershop where you work. This is about you as a barber. What makes you unique or stand out in the industry? Why should someone sit down in your chair instead of someone else’s shop chair? Consider your unique selling points as a barber and create a memorable brand identity. This can include a logo or icon for yourself and a catchy name. This is the first step to building your brand and establishing yourself as the top expert in your field. A common place to create this brand is online, which we will cover in the next section. 

Create an Online Presence

A great place to start building your online presence is on social media. Social media is a great space to showcase your work and engage with current and potential clients. The thing about social media is you have to be on the right platform to reach your target audience. This goes back to section one. What age range is your ideal customer in? Consider that when picking your social media platform. 

Advertising yourself on Facebook may be a good option to catch the attention of the older generation, whereas TikTok or Instagram may be the ideal space for the younger crowd. If you are building an online presence in the wrong space, you won’t capture the attention of your target audience.

Let’s say you picked Instagram as your main presence space. Some content ideas could be making your profile photo the logo or icon we discussed in the previous section, adding your shop address to your bio, uploading before and after pictures of your work, creating time-lapse videos of you working on a client's haircut to see the progress, or sharing specific promotions you want to run. Your profile showcases whatever you’d like your potential clients to see you as.

Offer Special Promotions and Incentives

Speaking of adding promotions to your profile - it’s a great way to get the attention of future clients. Everyone loves a good deal, and offering incentives to new clients with introductory offers will make you stand out from the rest. A great way to get the word out about these promotions is to offer referral discounts. Let your current clients be a testimony to why their friends or family members should check out your shop for themselves. When they refer someone, they can come back and get an incentive. This could be anything from a free cut to a bead trimming. 

Network and Collaborate

Get involved in your community and attend local events to reach new audiences. Encourage your barbershop to sponsor a booth at the next community event, and you can meet new people while you are there. Engage with people from other organizations that you can see yourself partnering with in the future. Or even creating connections where you can refer people to each other's businesses. 

Collect and Showcase Client Testimonials

One last recommendation on how to self-advertise is to collect and showcase your client testimonials. After finishing a cut, ask your satisfied client to leave a review on your business page. You can then screenshot and publish these testimonials on your social media pages. Also, encourage your clients to interact with your posts online and repost them to their followers. Potential clients seeing satisfied customers will help build credibility and future trust in your business. 

Conclusion

Mastering self-advertisement as a barber is a multifaceted process that involves understanding your target audience, building a solid personal brand, establishing an online presence, offering special promotions, networking, and showcasing client testimonials. Focusing on these areas can effectively draw in more clients and enhance your reputation, ensuring your success in the competitive barbering world. Embrace these strategies and watch your chair fill up with loyal, satisfied clients.