We already talked about how the world is using media more and more. Facebook is one way of publicly displaying your pictures for the world to see. But as time goes so does the media evolve. Now we have more than one media to post our pictures on. To name a few: Facebook, Instagram, WeHear, Twitter and many others.
We will give you 9 Instagram photography tips so you can get full use of this platform. Currently, this is one media where pictures matter most. This is the home of every photographer, being professional or amateur.
How to Grow Your Photography Business on Instagram?
First, you need to ask yourself these questions:
- Should you spend your precious time into making a concept out of your Instagram account or not?
- Is it worth the effort to create a profile that will appeal to the people or posting content is all that matters?
Since Instagram is one of the few media platforms dedicated to photography, it is a must-have for photographers. Assuming you are already posting your private pictures on there, why not make a separate photography-based account.
Of course, you need to have an iconic name for it. It is preferable to use your business name. If you still don’t have one, please check our article on how to name your photography business. This will be useful later on when people maybe want to book you as a photographer. But for starters let us begin with few easier but essential things that you can do to make your Instagram account more noticeable.
Related: Instagram Photography Names: Step by Step Tutorial for Photographers
1 – Instagram Bio!
By default, this is the blank space under your name, but it would be a mistake to leave it that way. Writing some information about you and your business will help people understand what your site is about. There is enough room for a short description of yourself or what your profile is about depending on what you want to showcase.
Don’t make it too long or too complicated as let’s face it; no one will read an extended bio. Keep that in mind when creating it. You can make it look pretty with emoji’s but don’t overdo it. Too much can come off as lack of professionalism.
You can also get a photographer title in the Instagram bio, but for this, you need to switch to a business profile. Then you can choose a photographer as your title.
Bio area should also be used to place links that lead to your photography website, Facebook or blogs, so people can easily access them. Look at the bio as a business card. If it is done right, it will bring you more business. Always keep that in mind.
Related: 17 Simple Things for “About Me” Photographer Bio That Your Clients Will Love
2 – A Good “Story” …
No, I am not talking about a fairytale story or a bedtime story. What I mean by this is the biggest hit on Instagram, stories… You might as well look at it as a way of stalking people, at least that is how I see it. But stories can also be used for other things.
Photographers can use stories as a way of marketing. When doing a photoshoot, give some behind the scenes photos first. This will make your followers anticipate for the actual photos from the photoshoot. This way you can create some hype over that photoshoot and create wonder and anticipation for the end result as well.
Show off your studio, your camera equipment. Make some polls on what to do next in a photoshoot and that way please and engage your followers. Let them create one of your shoots and make them chose the equipment. Let them be a part of it. It is a cool way of getting attention.
Maybe do a live stream while doing the shoot or while editing the pictures. Show off your before and after pictures. Have fun while sharing the love for photography that you have.
3 – Make It Visible and Presentable!
Using hashtags is a way of getting your profile out there. But don’t just use the basic ones, try thinking of hashtags that will be seen. Just putting a hashtag on like a photographer, or photoshoot, or shooting will not get you anywhere. These are the most used hashtags. Putting hashtag photography will put you in one spot out of the 222 million photos that already have that hashtag with it.
Where does that exactly get you?
Use some nice and unique hashtags that will showcase your profile or the photo but also that isn’t used 200 million times beforehand. Make it longer if it has to be since shorter hashtags are the ones frequently used.
4 – The Right Picture Size and Time
Why not make a posting schedule?
This will give your followers a chance to know when you will exactly post a photo. This is similar to the YouTube video schedules that YouTubers make to inform their subscribers when they will post a video and to make sure that they come back that day to watch it.
This schedule can be different for everyone, but one thing is certain, the more you post and put hashtags on your pictures, the more clicks you’re going to get. For starters, everyone is overwhelmed by posting every day. A good photo every day sounds probably impossible for you, but as time goes, it will get easier.
So, start with posting every other day or every weekend and work your way towards posting every day. By this, I don’t mean post ten pictures every day. It should be one picture, one day. Not more since it might get annoying for people to look through 10 new pictures every day.
Think of the size of the photo as well. Looking on the bright side Instagram photos do not need to be only squared anymore. You can put them in horizontal and vertical with the dimensions of:
- Vertical (1080px x 1350px)
- Horizontal (1080px x 566px)
But if you want to put in any picture that is horizontal or vertical while having a background other than the white background that the Instagram app gives you, try the No Crop app.
This app will allow you to make your picture be a square without having to cut them but rather put in a background to the missing side spots next to the picture. Try it out for yourself. This was an app I used to fill in space next to a photo while making it square so that I can post it on Instagram.
Related: 13 Most Popular Types of Instagram Photos That Will Get You More Likes and Followers
5 – It’s Social Media for a Reason
Going on platforms such as Instagram which is categorized as a Social media platform, people tend to forget that the word “social” in social media means something. It is all about interacting with your followers. Talk to them through your posts, leave comments and likes. Make them feel pleasant in your community that you created.
Do polls and leave questions for them to answer. Also, answer back as many questions that you can from them. Creating a positive social environment around your profile can be beneficial to growing your profile.
6 – Instagram Is Not E-Bay
Don’t try to think of Instagram as a sales app. It is a platform created for sharing photos and keep it on that. It can be a way of marketing and branding yourself as a photographer but don’t make it look like you are selling out.
Related: How to Make Money as a Photographer on Instagram?
7 – Exclusivity
Giving your followers a certain exclusivity means, posting a picture only on Instagram and nowhere else.
This will make people go and follow all of your social media accounts since they will see different pictures. Post some pictures from behind the scenes, workshops, working days and so on. Everything that you have don’t share on Facebook or Twitter share it on Instagram. This will add that exclusivity to the followers of your Instagram account.
Related: Instagram Rules and Regulations for Photographers
8 – Hashtags…
When looking at the hashtags that exist, there are millions. This does not mean that you need to put a million hashtags on your post to make it appealing to people. With hashtags, less is more. Keep it simple and unique to the picture itself.
Never put a hashtag that is not connected to the concept of the picture itself. I mean, I cannot make you do that, but it would be better to keep it simple. Few hashtags here and there to connect the post to other similar posts and make it easier for people to see it.
Don’t put hashtags that are used all the time. This will make the picture disappear into the abyss of millions of other pictures. Never to be seen again, or at least not as much as it could have been seen if you just put few hashtags. So, stressing “less is more” is important.
You can put hashtags either before saying something about the picture or even after. Maybe even make a thing where you put a normal word and then next to it a hashtag. This will make the text pop up. And not be just words or just hashtags.
Related: Best Instagram Photography Hashtags to Use as a Photographer
9 – F stands for Fun
Never forget about the fun aspect while creating your Instagram feed. Post stuff that makes you, you. Post things that show your talents. But don’t hesitate to show your followers that you also have flaws. Show them your learning experience and share tips. The interaction will lead to even making new partnerships or friends.
It is challenging to get your social media marketing game on. I won’t deny it. But it can be a blast. Of course, you need a plan when you start. Don’t just create an Instagram and start posting anything with any content, or even without content.
Creating a social media marketing plan will set you up for success and make you avoid any mistakes along the ride. This does not mean that it is only enough for you to have a plan. Your plan needs to be put out in work. You need to engage in putting that plan into action. Your presence needs to be acknowledged in the beginning especially.
As you go, your presence will grow. But don’t give up in the beginning. The beginning is the hardest, but the results will probably be worth it.
Furthermore, connecting your website as we said to your Instagram will help you a lot. This will increase the traffic on your website. When people open your Instagram and see that you have a website with more content on it, they will click on the link just to look at it. But even clicking on a link is enough to get you more traffic on your website.
Related: 7 Tips on How to Promote a Photography Business on Instagram
So, don’t forget to connect all of your social media by putting links in the bio.
Also, something that you need to keep in mind is, monitoring your social media through likes, dislikes and comments. This will help you get an opinion on how your website and social media platform is doing. Consider every like and dislike and improve your position.
Feedback from strangers that is detailed should be looked at. I am not saying that you should look at every dislike but if a dislike or a hateful comment has more of an opinion to it and explanation then consider it. Improve by reading feedback from “strangers”. This is something barely anyone uses, and if it ends up being a good choice then be thankful for the feedback that you got from that person.
I am not saying that this will lead you to success. These are not set rules, so don’t take it like that. This is just my opinion and advice through my own experience. I hope that at least some of these Instagram photography tips will be useful for you. Just try it out and see for yourself.
Related: Pinterest for Photography Business: Best Platform for Photographers?
