Instagram is one of the most powerful marketing tools for photographers. And it is constantly changing. Find out why it is worth using it and how to grow your account to get more clients!
Why is it worth having an account on Instagram?
Everyone loves social media – it’s how we reach new clients, how we let ourselves known, it’s where we look when we have spare time or when we simply don’t know what to do. It is worth using this amazing potential that lies in our phones and convert it into profit!
Instagram is the most visual of all social media channels. It allows us to show what we do, and it connects us with new audiences. Around the world, Instagram is used by about 1.4 billion users (in Poland by about 9.2 million), and about 70% of them are people under 35 years of age. What does it mean for you? If you photograph families, children or weddings, your target audience will surely be on Instagram, ready to watch your posts and start loving your business straight away!
Thanks to an Instagram account, you will make your target audience know you and like you, and you will convince customers that you are the right person to do business with (read: take photos of them), without directly selling your services. If you are lucky, you’ll even make your audience understand that your services are simply essential for them. This is the greatest power of social media: the ability to create a need and then respond to it.
The advantage of Instagram over Facebook lies in its potential to engage viewers: an average follower engages here as much as 58 times more often! In addition, the tool gives you an amazing opportunity to establish private and business relationships, as well as contacts with influencers and famous photographers that you would not have a chance to meet otherwise.
How to post on Instagram?
We all know that Instagram is all about photos. But posting beautiful photos is definitely not enough – for your Instagram account to become a powerful marketing tool, you need to be more strategic. Instagram is constantly evolving, forcing its users to engage in always new ways. To take advantage of it, you must play their game!
Here are some tips on how to take your Instagram account to a new level:
1. Get to know your audience
This is the most important marketing rule, no matter what channels you use. Find out as much as possible about your target group: check who they are, what they like, how old they are, where they live, how they spend their free time. This in-depth knowledge of your target audience will allow you to prepare relevant content for them and publish it when they have time to look at it.
2. Invest in your BIO
Instagram BIO is your most important business card – it allows people to find you and like you, and it makes you stand out of the crowd. What should it look like? It should contain the most important information about what you do and explain in simple terms why your clients need you. Remember: you only have 150 characters to get their attention. Use them to your advantage!
An Instagram BIO consists of:
– a username, which should be short and easy to remember (avoid numbers and special characters),
– a description, which should contain keywords, allowing your clients to find you when they are surfing Instagram. Good keywords are wedding photography, family photos, photos London. The description works best when it is written in bullet points, to help clients understand your offer quickly,
– a profile picture, preferably a bright one with a solid background. To make it look more professional, add a frame to it (you can do it using Canva),
– a call to action, which redirects to your channel: a blog, an online store, a YouTube profile,
– highlights, meaning shortcuts to what you want to show on your profile and what you want to encourage people to click: presentations, galleries, reports, Q&A.
3. Use videos
You may be the best photographer ever, but it’s videos that attract people’s attention on Instagram. They are much more engaging than photos and they can go viral, effectively increasing the visibility of your profile. That’s why Instagram is so keen on them in 2022!
Types of videos you can prepare:
– reels: short videos that you can create using easy editing tools. Their strength is that they are displayed to those who are interested in the content they speak about, which allows you to attract new followers and find new customers,
– LIVE videos, showing you not only as a professional, but also as a person: backstage shots, you at work, sometimes also your worries or mistakes. All LIVE videos are marked with a red circle and are a great excuse to remind about yourself to all those who follow you but have not contacted you for a while!
4. Add photos
Photos, finally! They the Instagram’s and your job’s raison d’être, so you need to make sure they are of good quality and that they tell stories, including the more private ones.
Good photo rules:
– remember to always post photos in the Instagram format (i.e., as a portrait, never horizontally) – they take up more space in the feed, it is more difficult to overlook them and it takes longer to look at them, which is why they keep the viewers’ attention for longer,
– use Instagram carousels – the option to publish more than one photo in a post – and use them for both classic and panoramic shots. This way your photos will be much more memorable. To make the carousel look as professional as possible edit it using Canva, and if you want to attract customers directly, consider putting an ad at the end of it,
– add descriptions, ideally on the photos. It will make it easier for people to find you and will allow you to grow your audience!
5. Let people get to know you inside out
People love observing other people and see the more private side of them. It allows them to identify with who they follow and like them even more.
How to make yourself likeable on Instagram:
– show the backstage of your work: photos, videos, your thoughts, your way to become a photographer, your camera,
– show them your real face: tell them what you like, what does your typical day look like, speak about your hobbies and passions!
6. Get your audience involved
Instagram is a tool to interact, so your primary goal should be to engage your followers and get them to react to your content.
Here are some tips on how to get your audience interact with you on Instagram:
– use stickers such as questions, polls, and quizzes. Likes don’t mean as much as they used to: today you need people to comment your posts, to share them and to save them. If you manage to arouse an interesting discussion, your content will be further spread, and your reach on Instagram will increase,
– create content that encourages action. Publish recipes, useful tips, and great inspirations!
– create memes – Instagrammers love them, and they love sharing them with others!
– at the end of each post add a call to action – ask for a comment, ask a question, start a discussion,
– invite people to send you private messages. Your post will be displayed regularly to those who connected with you in that way,
– use tags! Tag big organizations, for example producers of cameras you use,
– add things regularly: get your followers used to good content and make them wait for it!
Instagram is an ever-evolving tool and the work on it never ends. This is why it is worth observing other Instagrammers and always doing your best. Remember: every time you click on Instagram, you work for your reputation, and therefore for your profit!