When Niamh from Digital 24 asked me to put together a blog on how social media has benefited my business – this really got me thinking!
Believe it or not, this is only ‘Maid by Sinead Bridal Make-ups’ fourth year in business. Before getting my diploma as a professional make-up artist, I practised Social Work for almost 12 years! When people ask me how I made the career transition my response is – ‘I love to make people look and feel beautiful’!
When I first started out in the wedding industry, I thought I needed to do a lot of my advertising via magazines and I spent a small fortune paying out on quarterly ads. It was only when I began using my social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram that enquiries and bookings started to really come through. Although I do have a monthly budget for boost posts and creating ads within my social media – my accountant has definitely been much happier with the booking rates in comparison to any other!
You may hear me grumble ‘Social media is a full time job,’ but it really does have its benefits. Yes, it is time consuming to write and schedule posts, work out algorithms (which are ever changing) and check the best times to post to my audience. But, it most certainly has helped make my business much more established within the wedding industry, with the added benefit of possibly making the move to becoming full time self-employed – now I’m starting to SWEAT!
Winning the Wedding Journal Reader Awards 2018 in the Bridal Beauty category is a prime example of the power of social media. Undoubtedly this has been the highlight of my bridal makeup career and it provided my past and future brides the opportunity to vote for me, via the Wedding Journal social media platform. Winning this award has significantly raised my profile within Northern Ireland’s wedding industry, making Maid by Sinead Bridal Make-up a highly reputable and esteemed business.
Believe me when I say, it hasn’t all been plain sailing. In July this year my home was broken into and my car stolen which contained my bridal kit. It felt like my whole business was taken from under my feet in one night. I was absolutely devastated! My husband encouraged me to put a post on Facebook to see if anyone had any information. Between Facebook and Instagram the post reached almost 30,000 people and I even received a phone call from a local radio station who had learned of my news via social media. Although nothing was retrieved, my faith in humanity was restored with colleagues, friends and people who I had never met coming together to help me rebuild my kit. I will be forever thankful!
Now don’t get me wrong, I am no master of social media and I am constantly being challenged when it comes to ‘insights’ and ‘targeting,’ but through workshops that Niamh and her colleagues run via local councils this certainly helps. By posting visual images of my beautiful brides via my social media, it gives my audience an opportunity to engage whilst showcasing my skills as a professional makeup artist.
My aim is to gain new clients and to have a place to reference my work, whilst having fun and showing a little bit of my personality. I know I still have work to do on my social media which includes videos – however for now I’m happy how I have progressed and how social media has helped ‘Maid by Sinead Bridal Make-up’ get where it is today.
Thank you for reading,
Sinead x
www.instagram.com/maidbysineadbridalmakeup
Email: sinead1985@live.com
Telephone: 07811030471
