Patrick McIvor doesn't think anyone should still be "contemplating the impact of social media on [the beauty] industry." Three years ago, the Artistic & TechniCulture Director for Goldwell and KMS California “set out… to help stylists take back [their] original social network," by expanding their online presence and building up a virtual following through various social media platforms. And, according to McIvor, it's working. "Stylists and salons are again becoming a networking hub, thanks to social media," he asserts, "and it’s growing their businesses.”
In the past, salons and individual stylists had to devote a large percentage of their income simply to fuel advertising and merchandising. Today with social networking, stylists have a whole host of avenues to interact and communicate with incredibly large audiences via blogs, videos, pictures and posts. Today, anyone can get millions of fans.
McIvor is a great example of how expansive social media’s reach can be - his YouTube Channel gets up to 64,000 minutes of views (that's 44 days and 9 hours of viewing) in 30 days in 122 countries, something that is physically impossible in the real world.
For those that fully utilize social media, it can be an incredible tool to learn new things every day and gain access to ideas and information in volume. “All of a sudden from the back room to the bathroom, if you have a few minutes, you can learn something that will make you a better salon professional,” say McIvor. “And in turn, you can promote your strengths, publicize your work/salon and interface directly with guests via social media."
According to McIvor, "Social media is all about communicating – taking valuable information in to learn and be better, and putting valuable information out to get noticed and create conversation. If enough people are talking about you, you will be successful. Salon professionals that understand how to share what they do everyday and use social media to build their brand and their business can go viral."
Patrick McIvor is Artistic & TechniCulture Director for Goldwell and KMS California (divisions of Kao USA Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Kao Corporation) and founder of HI :) Media Solutions.
[Image courtesy of Glow Communications]
