Thanks to the ever-growing popularity of social media, photographers can build up their business more easily. But, not every social media website is meant for photographers. When we say social media, we usually refer to Facebook or Instagram but there is one social media platform that’s way more interesting for photographers – Pinterest.
You’ve probably heard about it and if you tried it, you’ve probably seen the crucial difference between Pinterest and other social media websites.
Related: How to Make Money as a Photographer on Instagram?
Why Is Pinterest so Different?
Just look at these websites next to each other. Whereas most social media websites offer you to add friends/followers, publish videos, photos, write posts, and send various multimedia messages, Pinterest ditches all of that. You don’t have friends here in a way you have them on Facebook. You will never see someone contact you on Pinterest or chit-chat with you. That’s not how Pinterest works. Instead, it’s all about inspiration here. Yes, a fresh inspiration.
Pinterest is more aligned towards giving you the inspiration for your photography or any other similar types of business. You can see various photos here and there are thousands of them uploaded every day. People don’t upload photos of their cats, weddings, crazy Friday nights or God knows what. This is just too casual for Pinterest and won’t give you any kind of inspiration except inspiration for buying a cat… or perhaps a dog.
Just as I browsed Pinterest a couple of days ago, I found some recipes for beautiful and delicious dishes. And I thought “Is this a website for women”? Absolutely! Is it for men? Absolutely! That’s why Pinterest is so important for photographers. Photography is gender-neutral and Pinterest manages to give inspiration to both men and women. This is a place where you can learn new stuff, gain some inspiration, and get the hell out to take some photos.
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Pinterest is an Ever-Growing Platform
Just because it doesn’t have the same amount of active users as Facebook, it doesn’t mean it’s futile. Pinterest has over 200 million active users on a monthly basis. Now, you ask yourself how is this platform (Pinterest) crucial for your photography business success. Just look at the subheading above. Pinterest is an ever-growing platform and best of all, you don’t need to have millions of followers to make your posts ring some bells around the Pinterest community. That’s the crucial difference that makes Pinterest much more effective than Instagram. The results on Pinterest can almost be seen instantaneously, if not overnight.
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The Longevity of Your Posts/Pins
Let’s take Facebook or Instagram for example. When you publish the photo, its longevity is very small. The post you’ve just published will be hot for around 24 to 48 hours and then it evaporates like it wasn’t there. For others to see your post, they need to visit your profile. To visit your profile, someone must know you or follow you. On Pinterest, this exact same post will last indefinitely. Approximately, you need 3.5 months to get 50% of a pin’s engagement. For 100% engagement, you will need 7 months. This means that your new post will be engaged for SEVEN MONTHS.
It’s all about longevity on Pinterest. The more you work, the more you get and you can get all of it within a short period of time.
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The Powerful Pinterest Search Engine
When looking for photos, Google is a baby compared to Pinterest. Google’s search engine is the most powerful in the world but Pinterest is all about photos, which Google isn’t. The search engine is massive and represents a beautiful opportunity for photographers to promote their work. When publishing a photo, you can add a title, hashtag, and description. This makes your post easier to reach and with a search engine this advanced, your photos can make a significant impact on whoever uses the search engines. When the user opens your photo/pin, if he clicks on it he will be redirected to your website, which is great for your photography business. If you don’t have a website you can link your pin to your other social networks such as Instagram or Facebook.
Just imagine how many people need a photographer at this moment. Some need a wedding photographer, travel photographer or perhaps a pet photographer. The more photos you take, the better photographer you are. If someone notices your portfolio on Pinterest, he can then take some inspiration from you or contact you to book a photo session. This applies to vice versa. You can search for photos and gain inspiration for your next photo session. Photography needs to be enjoyable, diverse, and beautiful. This is how Pinterest will make you feel.
5 Tips on How to Use Pinterest to Boost Your Photography Business
Now we’ve come to the nitty-gritty of the topic. Since you’re reading this, you probably like the idea of building your business using Pinterest. Better said, it captivated your interest, which is a good thing, as you’re now ready to experience a completely different social media environment.
Let’s be perfectly clear. Your online presence as a photographer means A LOT to your business and reputation. In today’s era, if you don’t exist on the internet, it’s like you don’t exist at all.
Here are some essential tips on how to utilize Pinterest for your photography business.
1 – Take Advantage of the SEO on Pinterest
If you want to reach success and popularity, knowing the basics of SEO is very important. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and basically, this search engine of Pinterest works exactly the same as Google. People type the keywords that are in line with what they’re interested in, and the content related to the keyword appears in the search results.
These keywords play an important role in optimizing your SEO. When you take a photo, also do a small research. See what keywords are popular that are tied to your photo and put them in the description in the form of a small text and you can also add hashtags – similarly to Instagram. Every single pin that you make should have a desired number of keywords. The higher the number, the easier it is for others to notice and find your work.
Have in mind that these keywords will also work in your profile description. Put them wherever you can and your exposure will gradually increase.
2 – Promote Your Photography Busines Website Using Pinterest
When building a photography business, you want to focus on building your brand primarily and then promote it. Pinterest is great because it doesn’t “beg” you to stay. You’re free to leave whenever you can and even leave completely. Why? Because in your profile and photo description, you can leave the link to your website or the website of your brand. Furthermore, every photo can be directly linked to the website so when the users click on the photo, they’re automatically redirected to that site. In that case, the user can use your website to contact you for business.
The important thing when promoting your business is that you ALWAYS use the same address, phone number, and name that’s on your website. This will remove the confusion and potential misunderstanding that might happen between you and your clients. Needless to say that it also gives a solid boost to your local SEO. Creating a logo is also a smart thing to do and using this logo as a watermark on your photos is something that’s obligatory. This prevents other people from reposting your photos and giving them a sense of ownership.
In case any users save your photo, the watermark won’t disappear and it will remind the users of your brand in sort of a passive way.
3 – Leave a Good Impression on Other People with Your Pins
When someone leaves a bad first impression, it’s hard to go further with that bitter taste in your mouth. That tells us that you always need to bring your A-game to the table. Every photo/pin should be high-quality and memorable. Users need to be able to remember your work and associate it with something that’s of quality. They need to be in a state where they can’t wait for you to publish a new photo/pin. However, the quality and the level of inspiration that “screams” from your photos isn’t enough sometimes.
That’s where your website comes into play. Publish some helpful articles on your website and make link them with your pins on Pinterest. These articles should be helpful in a way that they can improve other’s photography skills for example. Some how-to guides are also great. You can link these articles individually to every pin and when the users click on the pin, they get something that they can learn and remember you by.
This is why the first impression is very important. Your followers will think “wow, his photos are great and his website is nothing short of perfection”! They will instantly know that you’re to be taken seriously and won’t doubt your quality and expertise.
4 – Get to Know Your Followers
Sometimes, it’s very hard to explain exactly what’s on your or on your client’s mind. This probably happened to you a lot of times during your photography career. For that reason, Pinterest is here. It can convert your thoughts into photos, this is the unique magic of this website.
Learn about your followers, see what type of people your photos attract and use this info for your advantage. With this info, you can build a better photography brand because you will know what type of your photos attract clients the most and you will be able to build your brand in that direction.
5 – Be as Unique as Possible
This is what everyone says and to some extent, it’s really hard to achieve. But, in order to stand out from the crowd, you have to get some inspiration from THAT crowd. As much as it sounds stupid, it’s true. That’s why you need to take your time to explore Pinterest and see how it functions or what’s popular. By taking a bit of inspiration from someone, you can make something that’s in a similar style but also add a sprinkle of your emotions and effort to it, in order to make it as unique as possible. There are a lot of photography trends that allow you to be unique, only if you put some work into it.
In conclusion, we need to say that Pinterest is indeed a very powerful platform for photographers.
We see all those photographers simply abandoning this platform or sometimes evade it altogether. That’s a huge missed opportunity for your photography business to flourish. As with everything in life, Pinterest takes some time to grasp and trust me you can start seeing benefits almost right away.
Start slowly, publish your content, link it to your website, and don’t worry about the results too much. Over time, your inspirational board will be filled with numerous photos, which will increase the chances of you getting the well-desired exposure. Practice makes perfection!
Click to visit Pixobo Photography on Pinterest!
Related: 9 Instagram Photography Tips: How to Grow Your Photography Business on Instagram
