How to kill it on social media as a photographer
Social media is one of the best places where a photographer can get a variety of customers. The hours you spend on social media help you advertise your business by increases brand awareness. Any business that misses out of social media loses a great marketing opportunity.
The advantages of using social media to market your business include;
Increase your customer base
Every photographer wants to expand their business by increasing their customer base. If you miss out of social media, you are bound to have the same customers. This leads to monotony and will also reduce your level of innovation. Social media helps you reach more clients outside your current customer base.
Better customer satisfaction
For customers to be loyal to your brand, they want to know that you care about them. A photographer can effectively communicate with clients via social media and keep them up to date with their work. When a client posts a query, he or she needs to see a personalized response from you rather than an automated message. Replying to every comment shows that you care about your customers.
Cost effective
Signing up and creating a profile on social media is absolutely free .The paid promotions are relatively cheap too. It is becomes convenient for photographers to advertise their business online compared to using traditional marketing channels.
What does it take to become successful on social media?
Create a niche
Among the few secrets that every social media photographer should know is to focus on one niche. Being identified with a particular niche makes you stand out from the rest, or as they always say, you become a ‘big fish in the small pond’ Take a look at some of the most successful photographers of our time and the niche they focused on.
- Richard Avordon — fashion
- Anne Geddes — Children
- Ansel Adams — landscapes
So why is specializing beneficial
- You will be serve your clients better
Specializing enable you focus on a specific group of people, understand their needs and effectively deliver what they want
- You become an expert
Photographers who specialize understand their job better. They know exactly what to do and for whom to do it. This increases their expertise in the long run.
- The more unique you are the less competition you have.
Specialization reduces the number of competitors. A photographer is able to stand out from the crowd and concentrate on a specific group.
The best social media platforms for a photographer
There are a variety of platforms that will be useful for you to start your photography business. These include
- Steller Stories
- moodaway and
Instagram is the best platform for a photographer to share market their work. Social media photographers are able to engage their followers by sharing their photos and communicate with clients.
Why is Instagram special
- It has more than 500m active users
- It is the best platform to connect with other photographers
- Instagram main purpose it to share photos-and this is exactly photographers needs
How to successfully advertise your business on Instagram
- Use hashtags
To increase your exposure, ensure you include a series of up to 20 hashtags when posting a photo on Instagram. Your hashtags can include
- The location where you took the photo
- The type of photograph, is it a fashion photo, wedding photo, etc.-depending on your niche
- You can include both location and type of photo e.g. #NYfashion photographer
- Your brand- include your business name
- Describe the photo, if you have posted a wedding flower ,include a #weddingflower
Tag your clients
When you share a photo with your clients, they will like, comment and share the photos with their friends. In this way, they help advertise your brand.
Update your profile
Your profile should include your brand name, website and location. You can also add your email address for clients to personally reach you. The bio should not be too wordy. Make it around 150 words or less
Post to different platforms
When you post a photo on Instagram, share it on all the options available including Facebook, Twitter Tumblr and Linkedin.
Include videos
Create a behind the scenes video showing you at work, taking clients photos. You can also take a series of videos that consist of some of your best works.
Share quality content
The work you share on Instagram should be quality enough to attract new clients. Share at least two photos a week and ensure you deliver your best.
Originally published at The Business of A Photography Professional.
