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Social media can be an important tool for photographers, especially the picture sharing sites like Instagram. It’s not as basic as one might think, though, so here are some Instagram tips for photographers.
Instagram Tips
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Instagram uses what’s known as an algorithm. What this means is that a person can’t simply post a photo on Instagram and have people see it. Instagram is in control of how many people see your posts.
Perhaps you’ve noticed yourself with friends you follow or businesses you have an interest in that you aren’t seeing every post of theirs. Well, the same is happening in reverse with your posts. Simply because someone is following you or a group of hashtags you included in your posting, doesn’t mean that your posts and images will be seen.
A lot of fine websites and articles discuss some of the ins and outs of Instagram and algorithms, offering great Instagram tips for businesses, so we’ll concentrate more on the photography tips for Instagram.
How to Grow Your Instagram Following
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The biggest concern many people have about Instagram is how many followers they have. While this is important, the more important thing is to have Instagram actually your posts to these followers.
But, still, a photographer or photo business does need real followers. The best method of how to grow Instagram following is organically. That means real people and businesses finding you and following you.
There have been websites offering following promotions and apps “guaranteed” to bring in new followers, but by and large these sites and apps don’t bring in anyone that will actually benefit a business. Plus, using these might lead Instagram into limiting or even restricting your account.
Organic growth is one of the best ways to gain real followers who might actually interact with you or your business. Unfortunately, there is no sure way to get this going. Adding quality content, adding it often, and interacting with others on Instagram are what moves the algorithm to work in your favor.
Learn More:
- 4 Tips to Help You Quickly Grow Your Photography Business
- 5 Actionable Photography Business Goals for 2021
Interact with Your Customers
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This may sound different from Instagram tips for photographers you may have seen in the past, but one of the best uses of Instagram is with people who are already your clients or interested in your work.
Instead of thinking of Instagram as a billboard on the information superhighway, hoping someone will take notice and call you, think of it more as a way to update current followers and clients.
In every thing with your logo or business name that a client receives, include multiple points of contact such as your website and your Instagram name. On your website, include your Instagram and vice versa.
Then, make real interaction. If you secured permission in your contracts, verify that your client is comfortable with you posting as business shots from their sessions. Whatever your standard business model or photography genre, work from there.
And as people like or comment, say more things yourself within that post. In other words, interact with them. This not only promotes good will with your client base, but it also helps that all powerful algorithms see and use your posts.
Photography Tips for Instagram
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One of the most important Instagram tips for photographers is to showcase your best work. Don’t water down your brand with tons of “good enough” posts. Make your images count towards either creating or maintaining your brand.
This will also mean for the most part that a photographer keeps their business page mostly about that business. Each person will need to figure for themselves how much personal stuff to post on a business page.
For some businesses, it works to make them appear more approachable, for others it can weaken the brand being presented. Some trial and error may be involved here, but it works out in the long run.
Stay on for the Long Run
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And that’s a major help as far as Instagram tips for photographers go, there may not be a quick boost or fix for our Instagram concerns. We just have to keep at it. If we give up on our social media, it will never be able to help us.
So the tricks for using Instagram aren’t going to rapidly gain us tons of new followers, each one of those followers eager to throw money at us. Rather, the best Instagram tips for photographers are going to help us interact with our client base and draw in new followers organically.
Some of those new followers may turn into clients. But those people aren’t likely to find us if we get frustrated and stop using social media. And they won’t stop scrolling if our content isn’t top notch.
Showcase Your Best Work
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With any online presence or social media app, we should show our best. If a wedding photographer, a top tier wedding image. If a product photographer, an outstanding example of that, and so on.
Think about this way, if you had a brick and mortar store with a display window, what would be in that window? Well, the equivalent to that display window online or or on social media is our landing page or our post we made.
By the way, having several social media accounts is a good idea. Have one on Instagram, a Facebook presence, a YouTube channel, Twitter feed, and anything else you can keep track of. Then, on your personal webpage, include a linktree feed with all those included.
In fact, all of your sites can work together with one leading to the other. That way, you increase your reach. It can be a lot to keep track of, but there are programs and services that we use for that, too. Just depends on how deep you want to go, how much time or money to spend.
Everything Changes
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Since everything online and on social media continues to evolve, the last of our Instagram tips for photographers is keep with what is new. You can actually subscribe to news feeds or discussion boards that cater to keeping up with everything.
Even though it can be frustrating to see sites and apps change from we’re used to, we can still make use of Instagram and other social media for increasing or solidifying our business interests. We simply have to evolve how we use them and what to expect for ourselves and our businesses.
Learn More:
- Start a Photography Business in 9 Steps
- Photography Business Tip: How to Make More Engaging Social Media Posts