In South Africa, entrepreneurs in the beauty industry turn social media into business growth after marketing training and coaching

In the rural town of Senwabarwana, in South Africa’s Blouberg Municipality, two women running beauty businesses are proof of what consistent, intentional marketing can do for a small enterprise, even without a big budget.

Running since 2017, UN Women's EntreprenHER programme, delivered with support from De Beers Group, is working to equip women entrepreneurs with the tools and strategies to help start and scale their businesses. Recently, a new pilot addition to the programme in South Africa was a three-month digital marketing course designed specifically for women-led small businesses.

Vanessa Mokwili runs a beauty service offering braiding, lash and eyebrow treatments, as well as training classes for others who want to learn the trade. She started the business in 2022 and went through the core EntreprenHER training programme before taking part in the EntreprenHER marketing course delivered by KPRM Consulting in 2026. Before the marketing training, Vanessa's online presence was modest. "When I first attended the training, I had less than 2,000 likes on TikTok," she recalls. Today, in just three months, the account has 74,000 likes, and her Facebook page has seen a similar lift, with followers actively sharing her content with others.

That growth has translated directly into new business. "My strategy for marketing has grown. I no longer have to chase opportunities as much - they now come to me from my social media accounts,” she explains. This year alone, she has been approached three times by event organisers and local media inviting her to come and speak about her business. For Vanessa, the most valuable lesson from the training was the power of referrals. "It was so easy for people to refer other people to me because people engage with my social media, and the strategy I developed with the help from the EnterprenHER and KPRM Consulting marketing training is working," she explains.

The training also sharpened her understanding of audience targeting. While she had not previously seen marketing as expensive, she realised that reaching certain audiences, such as clients over 45, who are less active online, required a different approach altogether, including physical displays and materials at events. "I need to know where my audience is and advertise there," she says. Asked what she would tell another woman unsure of where to start, Vanessa points to word of mouth as the real multiplier effect of marketing. "Once you advertise, people become aware. They tell other people. One person can bring more people because you posted."

A similar transformation has unfolded for Julia Lephadi, who runs a beauty business in Bochum offering hair and nail services, alongside a line of organic hair products she manufactures herself. Julia registered her business in 2021 while still in school and began operating it in earnest in 2024, joining the EntreprenHER training programme the following year.

Before attending the marketing course, Julia's outreach was limited to WhatsApp statuses and sporadic TikTok posts. "It was very bad," she admits. "If you post on WhatsApp, you only get 20 views." The training introduced her to tools she had never used before – the first and most important for social media marketing was consistency. "I would only post after work – and on an ad hoc basis when I had time. I didn't know that the page needs to be running every single day to make sure people see your work,” she admits. 

She also began using pamphlets to advertise promotions at her salon, encouraging clients to share them further. "That's how the business started to grow," she says. Since completing the training, Julia has switched to a WhatsApp Business account, linked it to a newly created Facebook page, and watched her TikTok following grow from 2,000 to a substantially larger audience, bringing in new clients who convert directly into bookings. "It's not only about the likes or the views - it’s the leads that follow from them that make all the difference,” she says.

For Julia, who had never run a business before going through the EntreprenHER programme, the impact went beyond marketing alone. "I really learned a lot, and I see growth in my business and in myself as a business owner. Both women's stories reflect the broader aim of EntreprenHER: equipping women entrepreneurs not just with technical skills, but with the confidence to tell their own stories and the tools to make sure those stories are seen.

The EntreprenHER programme is a partnership between UN Women South Africa Country Office with support from De Beers Group, strengthening the economic power of women entrepreneurs across South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. In South Africa, it is implemented by the Blouberg and Musina Municipalities. Since 2017, De Beers Group has supported more than 3,900 women through EntreprenHER, providing training, mentorship, and micro-financing to help women entrepreneurs grow and thrive.