5 Social Media Marketing Tips For Photographers

We are all always searching for those mind-blowing engagement statistics that take your posts to the next level. I hope the majority of us have experienced our reach rise from the hundreds to the few thousands, and we'll leave you a moment to pat yourself on the shoulder if you've gone further. I have only had one or two of these moments— these fleeting hours of fame. They can be rather difficult to achieve, but hopefully I have some tips that can help you create the perfect strategy.

Before we begin, there are some fundmental rules we need to follow. Your post should always be published when your engagement is at the highest possible potential— the more users scrolling through their IG feed, the more chances they'll have to interact with your photo. If you use a business or creator account, use your insights to find the most effective time range to post.

After this initial requirement, the trick is to lure your followers into liking your photo. Obviously, this task is easy to suggest, but hard to complete. However, there are several easy and useful methods to improving user interaction. Shall we begin?

1. Post More Vertical Photos

The more of the screen your photo fits, the higher the chance that your followers will want to stop scrolling and interact! This is simple science and only requires cropping your photo vertically! Unless my photo was beyond stunning, all my vertical posts do better than my horizontal posts. Other than that, the process will increase your chances of achieving that incredible reach.

2. Post More Photos of Yourself

I am truthfully not very good at this! Though, I often recieve more likes and engagement when I use my own face in my photos. This is most likely due to drawing back old followers who may not interact with your content anymore. In any business or creator account, our feeds are often flooded with endless snapshots or videos and we simply cannot take enough time to view them all, but encountering a familiar face will draw our attention! The accumulation of these returning likes (and potentially saves) can boost your post to the top of everyone's feed, which will help your post grow further by bringing new followers to interact. The simple idea of displaying some form of vunerability or honesty will help too, and this can appear in photos of yourself (as you're not regularly in the frame).

3. Attract More Saves

Clearly, this statistic photo isn't at all impressive, however, the more you can attract followers to save your photos, the higher Instagram will place you in the top posts. Unfortunately, many of us do not understand the reasoning behind this or the official algorithm that the network uses. As a generalization, achieving high like statistics is great, but hundreds of thousands of users receive this engagement every single day. The important part is attracting post saves due to the significance of the interaction— they are much more difficult to successfully obtain. Instagram saves are assumably the new metric to boosting your reach and achieving those thousands of new followers.

4. Understand The Style of Your Niche

Exploring new methods and ways to shoot can increase your engagement. I am not asking you to compromise your originality, but try adding your characteristics to a current social trend. In the grand scheme of the last few years, I would probably suggest that the current social aesthetic is natural settings and tones due to the rising concept of being 'wild'. I was a travel photographer for about one year before I moved to intimates and weddings, one of the biggest similarities I have distinguished is the feeling of freedom— whether that is freedom in steadfast love or the fierce abandon in travelling. The market is always searching to be inspired in their adventures, your opportunity to be a key figure in that role is entirely open. I have several more tips on that subject, here.

5. Be Consistent

I understand how hard the beginning of your business can be, and I would argue that I am definitely still in the beginning of my own. I have empathy for you! For all the endless work with no direct outcome! I have noticed that simply taking five minutes of every hour can dramatically increase your following and your statistics, after all, the more individuals that follow you, the likelier you are to having the number one spot in the top posts. You can increase your engagement by liking photos in specific hashtags, following other inspiring creators, commenting on other posts, and being present within your community. Be consistent, do not let the discouragement of low engagement bring you down. Remember, this is only the start of your story, your business can only get better from here as long as you provide the effort.

If you are searching for tips on how to shoot better, check this out!

Also, if you have any further questions, here is my IG (I cannot promise I will be able to answer everyone or keep up!):