5 Questions about Email Marketing for Makeup Artists

I hear ya - email marketing is big, it’s scary and I’ll be honest, not a lot of makeup artists are doing it. I truly believe it is a totally untapped resource that can totally TRANSFORM your bookings, your affiliate marketing - or whatever your goals are. So today, I am answering my top 5 questions, I get asked about email marketing.

1) “How Do I not Sound Spammy? I don’t want to LOSE customers”

I hear ya, and trust me, this was a concern of mine also. I think the first answer to this, is mindset. In my business, I serve first, sell second. If I do the first well, the second actually comes pretty naturally. The same goes for email marketing. You want to serve first, sell second. I am a huge fan of the brand Summer Friday’s but I won’t lie, their email list SUCKS. Every week, it was sale after sale email, buy this buy that, nothing bought me value. Sure, sometimes I’m interested in buying their products, but ultimately, not 3 times a week! It was an instant express ticket to unsubscribe-ville. There are SO many ways you can interact with your email subscribers, just think about what you post on socials and channel that energy. I think people overthink their email list, but here’s the thing. Wouldn't you love to open an email from your favourite makeup artist all about her monthly favourites. Inside, it’s jam packed with a diary of her week, a breakdown of her favourite looks from the week and then, at the very end, a look into her availability. Or a notice about Christmas bookings and how they are getting booked up fast. I for one, always appreciate when my masseuse emails her availability, because sometimes it gives me the little nudge to book when I have been off-putting it. When paired with something bringing me value, I will never unsubscribe from a helpful email!

2) “How the heck do I even create an email list”

This is not a silly question. I also put off creating a list because I didn’t know how. There are loads of options, from the Free Mailchimp service, to your own website provider (I know Wix and Squarespace, both of which I have used, do great options. In fact, all my emails come from the integrated Squarespace system!). If you’re feeling fancy, you can go for Convertkit, which do beautiful email templates, if you want something more boujiee!). Find a provider you like, and then the most important bit. Reach out to your previous clients/brides and get permission to put them on your list. Start to advertise your list is set up and promote it regularly! But you must absolutely, get permission especially in the UK (with especially tough privacy laws here!).

3) “What Do I Write About, and how often?”

This can be the hard bit, you’ve set up the list, you’ve started to promote it, you have a few people on it, now what! Now you write! This part relates a lot to WHO your ideal client is, and it’s why ideal client work is so so SO important. You need to know, WHO you are marketing to, who you are marketing for, and why. If you are stuck on this part, go back and do some IC work. Once you know who your customer is, their likes, their dislikes, their pain points, their struggles, what motivates and fuels them, then you will know what to write about. You can do a diary type email, like me, or perhaps a new news type email. You can transfer your blog posts over to email, or podcast transcripts, you can write about something you have gone through recently, or your favourite products. The list is endless, as long as it serves your ideal client. As for how often - I like to go for once a week myself. Any more, I do feel a bit spammy! Saying that, one of my favourite email marketers, emails three times a week and I always enjoy them. For beginnings, I would do once a month or once a fortnight, until you get into a routine!

4) “How do I get people to sign up?”

The age old question. You have a list, now what! You gotta promote it. Post on your stories, show people what you are talking about, let them know what they are missing. A lot of people do freebies, which is a great way to get people to sign up too, as long as you remember to serve, with your freebie and make it a good one. I always ask my previous clients, if they would like to be added, for potential discounts and model days, which always gets a good response. The most important thing is to not forget about your list. Don’t just post once and ghost, actively use it as part of your marketing. See it like brushing your teeth, non negotiable to post to, but also, non negotiable to promote it too. Remember, build it and they will come, is myth. You gotta build it, market it, then they will come. The same goes for your list.

5) “Do I need to do this as a makeup artist”

Here’s the thing - marketing will always take time. If you are a fully booked artist reading this, I would say, you are doing just fine. It’s always good to cultivate a list anyway, as this is a direct line to your customers, and they are 300 times more likely to see your email, than your instagram post. I’m of the opinion, everyone should have a list, regardless of whether you want to market or not, it’s great for building authority AND keeping your customers close and engaged. That said, it does take time and if you aren’t a natural writer, it can come harder than others. If you are however, struggling for bookings, I would say this is a great way to inform your current customer base, and nourish your new one.

I hope this blog post has answered some questions around email marketing! DM me and let me know, will you be starting an email list soon, or do you already have one?