Social media, a term that did not exist not too long ago, is now one of the most important channels of marketing for any business. Through many different online networks, people and companies are able to communicate with one another in a more immediate manner than ever before. As a professional photographer, you can connect with other photographers all over the world and develop relationships with them simply by engaging via social media. With so many different types of social media websites, it’s important to pick and choose the ones that are most relevant to you.
In Kevin Reid’s opinion – a professional photographer from Scotland – regardless of the platforms you select, there are 7 crucial things that all photographers should know about social media and how to use it to their advantage.
- It’s free marketing
The most popular social media channels are free.
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Linkedin, Instagram, Flickr are typically the most commonly used platforms for professional photographers, and they’re all free. They are great outlets for you to post your images, communicate with clients, interact with prospects and start conversations with anyone and everyone who is interested in your photography. You can provide plenty of information about you and your photography business on each page, and interested parties will have the chance to learn more about you and your services.
Every photographer should be using social media as a way to increase their brand awareness and reach their audience. However, the most important thing to remember is the concept of quality, not quantity. It’s better to execute well on one or two social channels instead of executing poorly on many channels. Find the platforms where your target market is the most active and focus on those first.
- Engagement is key
Now that you have all of your social media pages set up, it’s important to actually use them.
Engaging with your followers is a key component of successful social media marketing. Everyone likes to know that the business they’re working with actively responds to their questions and comments via social media. If you’re still building a social media following, you can spark conversations by asking questions and starting dialogues with existing followers. Be yourself and have a conversation the same way you would with someone in real life. If you’re having trouble with engagement on your own pages, visit other popular forums and pages and start conversations there.
As you build connections and relationships with people via social media, you will slowly begin to gain traction on your own pages. Remember that it’s important to remain active – don’t comment once and never respond again. The key to social media is being active and engaging to build trust, relationships and a following.
- Posting relevant content is important
As you begin to post to your own personal pages, try to think about what your followers would want to see.
These are social media accounts for your photography business, so most likely your followers will be interested in photography or your photos. If you haven’t already, it’s time to start blogging. Blogs are a great way for you to share your opinions, wisdom and talents on your own platform while simultaneously boosting search engine rankings and brand awareness. Every time you publish a blog post, you should post a link to it on social media. Include a brief snippet of what the post is about and possibly start a debate by asking a question. Include photos and videos whenever you can.
If you aren’t blogging enough to have posts every day, link to interesting articles about relevant topics in the industry. Linking to relevant content will indicate to your followers that you are a good source of information on a topic that they care about.
- You should be posting everyday
It may sound difficult at first, but ideally you should be posting to your social networks at least once per day.
Depending on the channel, you may want to post more or less. For example, Twitter is a medium in which you can post multiple times per day with simpler updates, whereas with Instagram you can space your posts out more. It’s a good practice to post at least once per day on Facebook.
Remember that posting relevant content for your followers will increase engagement by sparking discussions and conversations. Your latest blog posts, photos from a recent shoot, exciting news and trends in the industry, announcements about your business, competitions and promos are all good content to post to your social media channels regularly.
- Excellent networking tool
LinkedIn is the networking social media tool that gives professionals a place to connect with one another and keep things business-related.
As a professional photographer, you can use LinkedIn in addition to all the other social channels to network and connect with your peers and start building relationships with people in your industry. Join specific groups geared towards your specialty, such as wedding photography groups or portrait photography groups. Contribute posts and comment on existing ones, thus creating opportunities for dialogue.
You will be able to communicate with like-minded peers, and having this network of colleagues is excellent for your business.
- You can schedule posts
If you’re busy with many different social channels, there are free tools to help you manage them all.
Websites like Hootsuite and Buffer help you schedule posts to different social media accounts in advance, making sure that you have a constant stream of posts and good content pushing out to your followers. You can also schedule posts within Facebook and Twitter if you prefer to manage your channels separately.
Having the ability to schedule content in advance will help you ensure that your social media accounts remain active even during the busy wedding season. Keep in mind that you’ll still want to check each page regularly to respond to comments and interact with your audience.
- Don’t spam
There is a level of online etiquette that all photographers must follow. No one wants to see a flood of posts from the same person throughout the day.
When it comes to social media posts, it’s about quality, not quantity; it’s better to have a few great posts posted a few times per day rather than a lot of subpar posts. Make sure all of your posts have some sort of interesting content that would be valuable for your readers.
Finally, when it comes to connecting with others via social media, don’t spam them with messages and reminders to accept your friend requests.
Social media marketing can be an excellent way to build your business, grow your following and increase your network. All professional photographers can benefit greatly from being active and engaging on various social channels. The best part is that you can have a lot of fun experimenting with different posting strategies and communicating with like-minded individuals and clients. It’s a casual method to speak to your audience in real-time, and develop relationships with your followers.
