INSTAGRAM MARKETING FOR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction - The Importance of Social Media for Wedding Photographers 3 Chapter 1 | Why Use Instagram for Marketing? 4 How to Get Started with Social Media 6 How to Create Quality Content 7 How to Post Your Content: Guidelines and Rules 8 Best Times to Post 9 Chapter 2 | Using Instagram to Grow Your Business 10 Hashtags 12 Vendor/Venue Tags 12 Shortened Links 13 Embedded Posts 13 Featured Posts 13 Scheduled Posts 14 INTRODUCTION THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR Wedding Detail Photos 14 WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS Copy Following 15 Consistent Posting 15 Understanding the Audience 16 Social media has been a staple of the internet since its conception, evolving from things like group emails, chatrooms, and discussion Multiple Image Posts 17 forums to giant social platforms like Facebook and Instagram. However, Instagram Stories 18 it wasn’t until recently that it became a critical component for almost all businesses, including photography studios. Instagram TV 19 The Explore Page 20 The definition of social media encompasses all websites and applications that enable users to create and share content with others. While many Max Engagement Apps 20 websites and applications fall under this definition, we’re going to focus Understanding the Algorithm 21 our attention on one that has an enormous impact on photography Conclusion 21 businesses: Instagram. With over 1 billion active users and growing, Instagram is a wonderful tool for connecting photographers with fans and clients. As a visual platform, it lends well to showcasing great visual imagery. 2 3 You might be thinking that Instagram -- or social media in general -- is not for you. Maybe you’re wary of the ever-changing privacy landscape or maybe you think you just don’t have time. But here are some reasons why utilizing a social media platform like Instagram is critical to your photography studio. 1. Speed of Communication – An Instagram presence allows you to communicate directly with CHAPTER 1 your clients and your fans with speed and ease. Now, your clients and fans can stay up to date with your latest work the moment it’s published. WHY USE INSTAGRAM FOR MARKETING? 2. Personal Connections & Feedback – With Instagram, you are able to interact on a personal level, leading to stronger connections to your fans and clients. These advocates are the first ones to give you honest feedback, the first ones to hit the “like” button, and the first ones to recommend your work. 3. Impressions and Consistent Reminders – You have the opportunity to consistently remind your network of your services and your work. As long as you’re tactful along the way, these impressions will help your business come to mind when they, or their friends, need photography services. 4. Reach – Social media companies are valued in the billions because of their high number of active users. Done the right way, your Instagram profile can be like placing an advertisement in your client’s favorite magazine as you’re engaging your users on their preferred platform. If your clients are spending a large chunk of their day on Instagram, you should be there too. 5. Distribution – On Instagram, your work has a chance of getting shared and distributed organically to a wider audience. 6. Recommendations – Should your Instagram content be reposted from one user to another, a friend recommending to another friend, the power of that personal recommendation has the chance to be much more effective than any other form of advertising. What’s even better is that this marketing power is free. 7. Analytics and Research – Instagram gives you concrete numbers that can help you make decisions in your business. You can simply ask a question and collect responses. You can look into the insights and analytics of your page, which most social networks provide for free, to see your fans’ age groups, locations, gender, and more. Understanding your clients is critical to the success of your business and Instagram provides you with a great way to do so. 8. Credibility – Strong Instagram numbers gives you credibility and establishes a sense of authority for your prospective clients. Imagine comparing a photography studio with 10,000 Instagram followers to one with 50. That business with 10,000 just seems more established, more popular, and more successful. Of course, this could be very far from the truth, but you can never discount the importance of client perception and initial impressions. 9. Direct Tie-in to SEO – We’ve established the importance of Instagram as a web marketing tool, but how does social media and SEO directly tie together? Social media has recently emerged as a small but important piece of the organic SEO equation, meaning actions within social media networks like Instagram can directly affect your organic SEO results. For now, the specifics are not important because if you simply follow the best practices outlined in this guide and grow your Instagram presence organically, the benefits will cross over to organic search without needing to focus on the ever-changing nuances of how the two relate. 4 5 HOW TO CREATE QUALITY CONTENT Like organic SEO, succeeding on Instagram starts with great content. A page with great content is worth following, worth sharing, and worth discussing. To create quality content, there are many overarching practices and concepts that you should consider. Before you study ‘best practices’ and nuances of each, consider the following general guidelines: 1. Understand the Medium - Instagram equals ‘eye candy’ and non-visual stories don’t translate. Making sure that the images you showcase are eye-catching is crucial. Each image should provide HOW TO GET STARTED enough context to engage your viewers. 2. Curate/Select the Right Imagery - Consider the visual interest of each image in its thumbnail size and ensure that the subjects are an appropriate size for the medium. On Instagram, for example, a tiny thumbnail of people who are also very small in the frame is not as likely to capture a viewer’s interest because the subjects are lost and hard to see; however, medium to close-up angles of your subjects will likely fare better when trying to grab your audience’s Now that you understand the importance of marketing on Instagram, where do you start? Complete attention as they scroll through their daily feed. the following steps to get the ball rolling: 3. Images Should Works as Squares - While Instagram does give you the option to post in 1. FILL OUT YOUR BIO & CUSTOMIZE YOUR PROFILE portrait (1080x1350px) and landscape (1080x566px) dimensions, keep in mind that the images will still be cropped to a square on your profile. So you may want to consider how your images will work as a square thumbnail to facilitate a cohesive, good-looking profile. Add a profile picture and a brief bio, as well as a link to your website. As a photographer, your profile picture creates a great opportunity to showcase your work and/or your brand, so use that to your advantage by uploading a solid picture or your company logo. In your bio, be sure to mention that you’re a photographer in order to connect with others in the photo world and related industries. Because there are so many fake accounts, making yours personalized helps add legitimacy and increases the chances of someone connecting with you. 2. START WITH YOUR FRIENDS The saying “nobody wants to drink at an empty bar” applies to the world of social media just as much as it applies to the read world, as people are much more inclined to “like” or follow a profile if it already seems popular. You have to start somewhere! Your family and friends have likely supported you in other aspects of your business and most will be glad to help you in the social networking world as well. But remember, there is a fine line between asking and spamming. You never want to be that annoying friend who aggressively markets their services to family and friends. Find the balance where you and your audience will feel most comfortable. 6 7 HOW TO POST YOUR CONTENT: GUIDELINES & RULES TALES In the previous section, we covered content guidelines for Instagram posts. So now that you’re posting engaging, interesting content, how do you get your images shared or reposted by other accounts? The acronym “TALES” will provide you with a guideline on how to post your images so that they receive maximum exposure. • T | Tag – Tag your clients, the venue, the makeup team, and any other person or company involved in creating the photograph. The users tagged get notifications that prompt them to check the post. Once tagged, people might repost the image or tag their friends. Beyond the increased exposure, giving credit to others is always good business practice. • A | Aim High – Tag related companies and people, even if you think they are too big or too busy to notice. Most businesses and celebrities have PR managers who check relevant tags BEST TIMES TO POST on a regular basis. When a popular account shares your post, you might see a huge influx of followers and exposure. So aim high and don’t be afraid to tag anyone relevant, no matter how large or inaccessible they may seem. When looking to post to your Instagram, it is best to publish when a larger number of your • L | Link – Link your different social networks to save time. You can simultaneously post on audience is online and active on the app. The multiple networks through third party apps or on Instagram. Connect multiple networks benefits of posting at peak times include faster to your Instagram account so that when you post to Instagram, the same content is engagement from your audience, which factors automatically posted to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and others.