Your Instagram is your portfolio.

Before a new client books with you, there’s a very good chance they’ve already stalked your page harder than your ex.

They’re checking your tans, your colour, your finish, your before-and-afters and deciding one very important thing:

“Do I trust this person with my skin?”

After completing 40,000+ spray tans, one thing I can tell every spray tan artist is this:

YOUR WORK SELLS YOUR BUSINESS.

You can have amazing branding, a beautiful salon and the fanciest logo in the world, but if potential clients can’t see the quality of your work, you’re making it harder for them to book.

Your Instagram should show people exactly what you can do.

Post Your Real Spray Tan Results

Your page should not be filled with nothing but quotes, memes, graphics and “appointments available” posts.

You’re a spray tan artist.

Show the tans.

Post:

• Before-and-afters
• Freshly sprayed results
• Fully developed tans
• Client selfies
• Bridal tans
• Different skin tones
• Different depths of bronze
• Hands, wrists, ankles and feet
• Behind-the-scenes application
• Client reviews alongside real results

A potential client wants to know what they are actually going to look like after booking with you.

Make it easy for them to see.

Before-and-Afters Are One of Your Best Marketing Tools

Get into the habit of photographing your work.

Try to keep your before-and-after photos consistent.

Use the same:

• Lighting
• Background
• Distance
• Position
• Camera angle

If your before photo is taken in a dark room and your after photo is taken outside in bright sunlight, the comparison means very little.

You want the tan to be the difference.

Pick one spot in your salon and make it your photo area. Over time, you’ll build an incredible library of work that you can use across Instagram, your website and your booking pages.

PLEASE Stop Filtering Your Tan Photos!

For the love of bronze… STOP FILTERING YOUR TAN PHOTOS.

If your client is chocolate brown in real life but Oompa Loompa orange on Instagram, we have a problem.

Heavy filters can completely change:

• Undertones
• Tan depth
• Warmth
• Skin tone
• Brown tones
• Olive tones
• Redness

That becomes a problem when a potential client screenshots one of your photos and says:

“I want this exact colour.”

If that colour only exists because you edited the photo, you’ve created an expectation you may not be able to reproduce.

Cropping a photo or slightly adjusting brightness is completely different from changing the actual colour of someone’s skin.

Keep it real.

Let the tan do the flexing.

Learn How Lighting Affects Spray Tan Colour

The same spray tan can look completely different under different lighting.

Yellow indoor lighting can make a tan look warmer or more orange.

Natural daylight can make it appear cooler and more neutral.

Dark lighting can make a tan appear much deeper than it actually is.

You don’t need expensive photography equipment, but you do need consistent lighting.

Natural, indirect daylight is usually fantastic.

The goal is not to make your tan look darker than it is.

The goal is to show the colour accurately.

Show Different Skin Tones

Potential clients want to know:

“Will this work on me?”

Show your work on different skin tones, undertones, ages and body types.

And don’t just post the photo — explain the thought process behind the result.

For example:

“My client naturally carries more warmth in her skin, so I chose a cooler base to create a balanced brown result.”

Or:

“She wanted a natural glow rather than a very dark tan, so we chose a lighter DHA percentage and controlled her development time.”

Now you’re not just showing a tan.

You’re demonstrating your knowledge.

That helps build trust.

Educate Clients About Colour Selection

A good spray tan artist shouldn’t simply use the same solution on every client.

Your content is a great place to explain things like:

• DHA percentage
• Undertones
• Base colours
• Development time
• Skin preparation
• Desired depth
• Bridal tanning
• Event timing

You don’t have to turn every caption into a chemistry lesson.

Just explain why you made a certain choice.

When clients see that you’re considering their skin, undertone and desired result, they understand that spray tanning is a skill — not just pointing a gun and spraying brown solution everywhere.

Show Your Technique

People love behind-the-scenes content.

Film short clips showing:

• How you position clients
• How you blend hands and feet
• How you protect palms
• How you spray around wrists and ankles
• How you dry your client
• How you prepare your tanning space
• How you clean and maintain your equipment

You don’t need to reveal every technique you’ve learned.

Just showing that you have a professional process can make a new client feel much more comfortable booking.

Pay Attention to Hands, Feet and Wrists

The little details matter.

Hands, feet, wrists, ankles, elbows and knees are often the first areas that show poor application.

A gorgeous body tan with extremely dark hands is not a gorgeous tan.

Take close-up photos occasionally.

Show your blending.

Show soft wrists.

Show natural-looking hands.

Potential clients may not know exactly why one spray tan looks better than another, but these details make a huge difference.

Show the Developed Tan — Not Just Guide Colour

A freshly sprayed client can look amazing because of the cosmetic guide colour.

But that isn’t necessarily the final result.

Whenever possible, ask clients to send you a photo the following day or after their first shower.

Developed results are incredibly valuable content.

Fresh application shows your technique.

Developed colour shows the final result.

You want clients to see both.

Use Client Selfies and Reviews

A beautiful salon before-and-after is powerful.

But so is your client standing in a restaurant bathroom taking a mirror selfie before dinner. 

Client-generated content feels genuine.

Encourage clients to tag your business and repost their photos.

You can also create Instagram Story highlights such as:

BEFORE + AFTER
CLIENTS
BRIDAL
REVIEWS
TAN TIPS

When someone visits your page for the first time, they can immediately see evidence of your work.

Teach Instead of Constantly Saying “BOOK NOW”

If every second post says:

BOOK NOW. APPOINTMENTS AVAILABLE. BOOK NOW.

People eventually stop paying attention.

Give them something useful.

Create educational content around:

• How to prepare for a spray tan
• When to shave
• When to exfoliate
• What to wear afterwards
• When to shower
• How to moisturise
• How to make a spray tan last longer
• How to remove old tan
• Why dry skin affects tanning
• When brides should book
• Common spray tan mistakes

Education builds authority.

It can also improve your clients’ results because they arrive better prepared.

Better preparation = better tans.

Better tans = better photos.

Better photos = better marketing.

Show Your Personality

Your clients are not only choosing a tan.

They’re choosing the person who is going to spray them while they’re standing there half naked. 

Comfort matters.

Show your face occasionally.

Talk on Stories.

Answer questions.

Share something funny from salon life.

Explain what you’ve learned.

Tell people how long you’ve been tanning.

There may be ten other spray tan artists nearby, but people will often choose the person they feel most comfortable with.

Your Instagram Doesn’t Have to Look Perfect

Professional does not mean perfect.

You don’t need every photo to look like a luxury beauty campaign.

Sometimes the strongest piece of content is simply:

Real client.
Plain wall.
Beautiful tan.
Good lighting.
No filter.

Done.

Don’t hide your work underneath too much graphic design.

Let people actually see what you do.

Be Consistent

If the last client result on your page was posted nine months ago, a new client may wonder whether you’re still tanning.

You don’t need to post constantly.

Just make a habit of documenting your work.

Ask:

“Would you mind if I quickly take a before-and-after?”

One or two clients a day can quickly give you weeks of content.

What Should Spray Tan Artists Post on Instagram?

If you never know what to post, start with:

• Today’s before-and-after
• Yesterday’s developed tan
• Client selfie
• Bridal result
• Hand blending close-up
• Spray tan preparation tip
• Aftercare advice
• DHA education
• Base colour education
• “Why I chose this solution”
• Behind-the-scenes application
• Client review
• First-time tanning advice
• Tan removal tips

If you’re working with clients every week, you’re surrounded by content.

You just need to document it.

Your Instagram Should Answer Three Questions

When someone lands on your page, they should quickly understand:

1. What do you do?
Make it obvious that you’re a spray tan artist.

2. Can you create the result I want?
Let your photos answer this.

3. How do I book?
Have a clear booking link, location and booking information.

Don’t make clients hunt through 47 Instagram posts just to figure out how to make an appointment.

Let the Tan Do the Flexing 

You don’t need to overcomplicate your marketing.

You don’t need perfect models.

You don’t need to blur every pore.

You don’t need to dramatically darken every photo.

You need great work and proof of that work.

Post the before + afters.

Post the real clients.

Show your technique.

Show the developed colour.

Educate your audience.

Share your experience.

And please…

STOP FILTERING YOUR TAN PHOTOS. 

Keep it simple.
Keep it real.
Let the tan do the flexing. 

— Jules
Founder, Miami Glow 40,000+ spray tans completed