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Which Social Media Platform Should You Focus On For Your Photography Business?

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In the competitive world of wedding photography, social media is a fast and effective solution for you to find, attract, and book clients for your business. Because there are so many platforms available to you, which platform is best for you and your photography business? To help you discover which platform is best for you, I reached out to ShootDotEdit to provide insights into each social media platform.

At ShootDotEdit, we love to help you eliminate the stress of post production from your wedding photography business. In the bigger picture, though, we are here to help you grow your business, including how to maximize your social media presence. Let’s be honest – social media can be a very effective way to grow your business, but it can take a lot of time. There are numerous social media platforms, ranging from Facebook and Twitter to Instagram and Snapchat. Below, we share tips on how to tell which social media platform is best for your business, so you can focus your efforts on which one will have the biggest impact for you!

Consider focusing on Facebook if…

You know your target audience.

Facebook is a great platform for you to use to attract ideal clients to your website and blog. Of the advanced features Facebook has for business owners, one of the top features is you can set custom audiences to place specific content in front of your target audience.

Custom By Nicole Photography

Image Compliments of Custom by Nicole Photography

In the Advertising tab, choose the objectives for your campaign, including your ideal client’s age, gender, relationships status, and connections. Set the qualifications for your target market based on what you know about them. For example, do you find a lot of your ideal clients get married at vineyards? You can target your posts toward people who are engaged and like the Facebook Page of various wineries in your area. Facebook also lets you retarget your posts toward people who have already visited your website and blog. So, when one of your couples shares their blog post images from their wedding with all of their friends and families, you can use this traffic in Facebook for a future audience.

Does using Facebook in this way involve a learning curve? Yes, no doubt. Understanding who you want to reach can help you effectively utilize Facebook, and help direct what content you share with your audience.

Consider focusing on Instagram if…

You have a unique and recognizable style.

Instagram is an entirely image-based platform, which naturally lends itself perfectly to wedding photographers. Instagram is best used to showcase your unique and recognizable style in front of specific audiences.

Custom By Nicole Photography

Image Compliments of Custom by Nicole Photography

Because Instagram is so image-focused, the unique attributes of your style are on full display. When you share images on Instagram, you show potential clients what type of work you do and who you are as a photographer. Ensure you share the best and most unique images from your engagement sessions and wedding shoots. These are photos that are consistent to your style, and showcase your skills as a photographer. Don’t forget to use relevant hashtags [http://shootdotedit.com/2016/02/19-hashtags-you-need-to-use-on-instagram/] to place your photos in front of clients who are perfect for you. Hashtags allow you to target your unique images to specific audiences.

Consider focusing on Snapchat if…

You incorporate your personal life into your brand.

Snapchat is ideal for the photographer that incorporates their lifestyle into their brand. The platform is built on ongoing video stories for high levels of engagement. For the busy wedding photographer, it is ideal. The reason for this is because it doesn’t require you to schedule anything out in advance or create a content calendar.

Unlike Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, Snapchat can be used effectively at your convenience. You can send individual messages to your followers, and also build stories with your videos and images. When you build a story, your videos and images are available for view for at least a day, meaning many of your followers can view it and get to know you more. Use Snapchat to share about the things you do outside of your wedding photography business, but relate to your target market. Going back to our winery example above, Snapchat would be a great platform to share your wine tasting adventures with your ideal clients!

Consider focusing on Twitter if…

You probably shouldn’t focus on Twitter at all. :)

Twitter’s effectiveness to market personal service business’ like photography has always been questionable. It’s not that Twitter can’t work for your photography business, but more that it provides you less return for your time.

Custom By Nicole Photography

Image Compliments of Custom by Nicole Photography

If you use Twitter, make sure you link out to your other social platforms and (of course) your website and blog. With Twitter’s specific image requirements, it can be difficult to have your images displayed exactly how you envisioned.

Rather than including an image on your Tweets, link out to your Instagram or Facebook page for your followers to see the photo there. Not only do you give followers the chance to view your unique photography style, you also encourage them to follow you on those sites. Use this opportunity to also link out to your website and blog, so followers can see other examples of your past work.

There are benefits to each of the social media platforms, so it is important to focus on one that allows you to easily attract and create connections with ideal clients. Above all, focus on the platform where your potential clients are. If you receive the most interaction and bookings from Facebook, place the majority of your energy into the strategy for your Facebook business page. Or, if you notice most people visit your website and blog from Instagram, focus on a strategy to increase the number of bookings you receive from the platform. Discover additional ways to maximize social media for your business with our Comprehensive Guide to Social Media for Wedding Photographers!

3 Important Tips For Photographers To Choose The Right Social Media Channel

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This is Aaron Hockley's third guest blog post. Aaron is a professional photographer and writer who tweets too much and blogs a few times each week. His professional work finds him working with businesses for events, publicity, and editorial work; he also creates abstract and travel photos for leisure. In addition to photography for clients Aaron often works with other photographers to help them understand and refine their online and social media presence. Read Aaron's first blog post here. And, his second post here.

How's your social media life today?

Have you Tweeted? Pinned? Instagrammed?

What about LinkedIn? Facebook? Flickr?

Feeling overwhelmed? You're not alone. There are a lot of social networks and social media outlets that compete for our time as photographers. One could probably easily fill an eight-hour workday with nothing but online social media activities. That wouldn't leave time for actually making or editing any photos!

Post-Storm Fort | Aaron Hockley

How do you decide where to spend your effort with social networking? I think you can make those decisions based on three factors, and one of them is a bit of a cheat.

1) Where Are Your Clients (or Fans)?

When we look at social media marketing or social networking from the aspect of trying to grow one's photography business, the online world is no different than the offline world. If you're engaged in offline advertising, mailers, networking, or other marketing efforts, you're (hopefully) targeting your audience. If you're trying to sell your senior portrait services, you're targeting high school juniors and seniors rather than sending a mass-mailer to everyone in your city. The same principles should apply online.

Identify your ideal clients. We already mentioned high school seniors if that's what you do. If you photograph weddings, you're looking for brides and can make some generalizations about their age and, depending on your positioning, income levels. How many wedding planning boards are there on Pinterest? Thousands? Millions? If I shot weddings I'd be all over that. Do you make fine art landscape images? Odds are that you know something about your typical buyer. If you're a commercial shooter, you probably want to connect with marketing folks, agencies, art directors, and the like.

Figure out where those clients live online. For high school seniors, right now the buzz is that Twitter and Instagram are the most popular networks. Corporate types are found on LinkedIn and increasingly on Twitter. If you want to find brides, Facebook is a good place to be and to connect with others in that segment. I'm seeing a fair amount of discussion on Google+ that involves folks willing to buy fine art prints and books.

2) Where Are Industry Connections?

Building relationships with clients (both existing and potential) is one aspect of social networking, but the other big area that can benefit photographers is connecting with industry professionals. Developing connections with other photographers, manufacturers of photo equipment, and vendor partners can have various benefits to your photography. In some cases, “it's who you know” can lead to referrals. Perhaps getting to know other industry folks can lead to publicity or an “in” with a gear manufacturer. Maybe you just want to bounce ideas or problems off of someone who has been in a similar situation.

Right now, I'm making the most connections with other photographers and industry folks on Google+.

The Atrium Transport | Aaron Hockley

3) Do You Just Want to Have Fun?

If your purpose in social networking is purely to have fun, then heck, do whatever you want … but don't complain that you're not getting business results if you're not making social media choices based on business criteria.

Lowering the spout | Aaron Hockley

So … Where Do You Go?

There's not a single right answer. I've given you some ideas above, but ultimately you need to look at your business and figure out what makes sense for you. You don't have to be everywhere, on every social media channel. You can't be everywhere. It's okay to ignore a social network that isn't relevant for your business or area of interest. Trying to reach retail photographer customers? They're not likely to book you via LinkedIn. You probably won't pick up a corporate job via your Instagram images. Look at what you do, where you want to be, and where your clients and partners are hanging out. Be there, and don't feel bad about about ignoring other places.