As soon as Instagram announced IGTV, I thought “This is so exciting!” because video is one of my strongest skillsets. But then reality hit and I realized what this really meant: more work for me; algorithm changes to keep up with; hours spent trying to understand what should be happening on social media now; all in five seconds it went from “This is so exciting!” to “This is so much work.”
As wedding photographers, social media can be one of the most powerful marketing and branding tools at our disposal, yet also one of the time-consuming tasks required in running our own photography businesses.
As engagement season is rapidly winding down, wedding photography businesses must put marketing at the forefront. Social media may be where newly engaged couples gather online these days; however, it’s not the only way to reach them and build your clientele base. How can you ensure you’re doing a top job at marketing when everything keeps changing?
1. Know Your People
At some point in my photography journey, I’ve felt the desire to give up. Not on wedding photography entirely but just little pieces here and there. Social media can seem intimidating; resist this urge if that’s how you feel; no need to become an expert but keep learning something new to stay relevant!
Marketing is grounded in basic human psychology. Dan Ariely’s book Predictably Irrational offers some fascinating insight. No matter the new marketing tool or medium you explore, your goal should always be to target humans who exhibit predictable tendencies when it comes to wants, needs and behaviors.
Imagine standing outside of a restaurant and seeing people waiting outside in line – your impression must surely be incredible? That is like witnessing social validation provided by followers or engagement on Instagram or Facebook for consumers in real life! So how can your business take advantage of this phenomenon? Get to the heart of human behavior before developing marketing campaigns accordingly.
2. Don’t Believe the Lies
It can be tempting to resort to quick fixes when dealing with social media marketing becomes overwhelming, such as buying followers or likes. But this will only backfire: short cuts such as these should never be used; check out this video that debunks some common myths on this platform instead: https://youtu.be/130-F3yehsE
Do not lie on social media. It is amazing to me how many people lie all the time–photographer, speaker, influencers, kids, moms and dads–everyone! Don’t take what you see at face value as gospel; rather use that energy to uplift yourself and others around you and watch our industry flourish.
Helping others is one of my greatest sources of satisfaction in this industry, and one thing that makes me truly proud. Watching my peers work hard and be recognized is especially gratifying – try it and you may just see an uptick in work as more people respect what you do!
3. Understand What Works on Social
Whenever there’s a change to a social media platform, keep this concept in mind: each social media site is run by corporations trying to make money by engaging users. By keeping that thought front of mind and periodically returning to it for guidance when posting updates or new material – any major shift or alteration can easily be overcome by taking this into consideration before posting anything new: will my audience engage with this? – it doesn’t matter how they engage – likes, comments, views or clicks… all that matters is that they do engage.
At the same time, social media marketing needs to be done on two fronts – both organically (without paying) and through paid ads. I love Facebook and Instagram ads that link back to sales pages or lead capture forms from https://stickymarketingtools.com/ – these work great at both organically attracting leads as well as paid ones – I particularly enjoy these sites’ email campaigns which you can see pop ups of on my website www.vanessajoy.com!
4. Get Help
You probably didn’t enter the world of weddings for social media posting to be part of every waking hour – make your life simpler by using an automated service like Planoly, Buffer, Later, Hootsuite or Meet Edgar to streamline this process and save yourself some precious time!
Don’t feel embarrassed to hire help with posting and engaging with others on social media. Virtual assistants or office assistants can be an invaluable asset here, allowing you to focus more on clients and doing what you do best – something I recently did by hiring two virtual assistants and one company to handle my Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest (something more photographers should use!). While I’m still getting used to growing a team has been rewarding–not having to manage everything by myself has saved so much time and energy!
5 – Go Offline
My primary booking tool this year has been networking. Though not easy, after four years I finally made an inroad with one of the high-end halls in my area and one of their salespeople. Now when referred jobs come my way I often enjoy working there while making an invaluable personal connection that led me down another career path and created new friendships in return.
As social media and digital solutions are so accessible, many of us slack off in building personal connections to our peers. Be an outlier by seeking ways to connect directly with people – this will increase the odds that you are remembered – as well as possibly create lasting bonds.