Instagram takes at most five hashtags on a nail post, so name the shape and finish in the photo (#AlmondNails, #ChromeNails), add your town (#HoustonNails), and finish with your salon's name. Shape and finish tags describe the set a client is hunting for; #nails describes everything.
The hashtags worth using for a nail salon
What you shape and paint
Pick the shape, the finish and the technique that match this set. A client holding a screenshot of short almond chrome nails wants to find exactly that.
Where you are
One tag joining your town to nails. This is the tag that puts your work in front of people close enough to book it.
The pattern: #[Town]Nails or #[Town]NailTech
- Houston: #HoustonNails #HoustonNailSalon
- Glasgow: #GlasgowNails #GlasgowNailTech
- Sydney: #SydneyNails #SydneyNailSalon
Your own tag
Your salon's name on every post, and printed on the aftercare card so clients add it when they show off their set.
For example: #AlmondAndGlossNails
Five tags for one real post
The post: “Chrome French tips on short almond nails today. Our client brought a screenshot and Ana matched it.”
What the post shows, where the business is, and its own name. Five tags, each one earning its place.
Tags to skip
- #nails, #nailsofinstagram, #nailstagram. Nail techs from all over the world post there all day, so a set done in your town scrolls past people who could never book it. Spend the slot on the shape or your town.
- A gel or polish system you didn't use. Clients who have reacted to a product before, or who want one system in particular, read the tags before they book. Name only what went on the nails.
- Another tech's own tag on a set you recreated. Copying a design a client brought in is normal. Putting it under the original artist's tag is not; credit them with an @mention in the caption instead.
Seasonal tags
- February: #ValentinesNails #HeartNails
- Prom season: #PromNails #PromSeason
- Autumn: #FallNails #AutumnNails
- October: #HalloweenNails #SpookyNails
- December: #ChristmasNails #HolidayNails
Only on posts that are about that season. A Christmas tag on a plain Tuesday loaf is noise.
More for your nail salon
- Post ideas for a nail salon, each with a finished example post.
- How posthell runs social media for a nail salon, from one note a week.
- Hashtag counter to check a caption before you post it.