Top 6 Social Media Tips for Photographers in 2021

Social media has become one of the most powerful marketing tools for photographers today. It is an amazing way to showcase your work, gain a following, get new clients, and create a community around your work. There really is endless potential on social media, but you will have to put in a bit of work to harness it. Building a social media following take strategy, planning, and commitment. If you aren’t sure where to start, or just want to take your social media to the next level, the tips below will be perfect for you!

1. Find Your Audience.

When building your social media strategy, make sure you know who your target audience is. This audience will become the basis of your social strategy. First, ask yourself if you are looking for a wide appeal, or if you are more interested in a more distinct or niche market. If you are looking for mass appeal, then broaden your voice so it is amiable to as wide a group as possible. If your goal is to be a popular outlier, then focus on what makes your work unique and go full force in that direction.

Narrow down your target audience by thinking about what kind of photographer you are and what type of person your work appeals to most. If you are primarily a landscape or nature photographer, you may want to tailor your posts to people who also love nature and the outdoors or people who love to travel.

2. Focus on Audience Engagement.

Once you have figured out who your audience is, it’s time to engage with them! Getting followers is great, but then the next challenge is keeping them. By engaging with your followers, you start to create a community and get people involved with your content. It is much better to have a small amount of followers who are truly engaged with your content, than a large amount that do not interact with you!

The easiest way to start engaging with your followers is to simply start replying to comments on your posts. The more you interact with your followers, the more you will get your name out there, and the more interested your followers will be in your content. If you want people to care about your work, you need to care about your audience!

3. Use Plenty of Hashtags.

Hashtags are pretty commonplace at this point, which can make it so that people forget how important they really are and how to properly use them. Hashtags help platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook sort content into manageable categories, and promote those categories to the people who will be interested in them. Make sure you are up to speed on trending topics and relevant hashtags so you are always using the most relevant ones on your posts!

4. Find Your Voice.

Perhaps the most important part of any social media strategy is consistency. Before you start posting, determine what image or brand you want to promote on your page. As a photographer, you probably already have a brand image – maybe this is a particular type of photography, your own unique style of editing, or any other way you differentiate yourself. Showcase this brand on your social media! Keep your image consistent on all platforms and continue this style and theme throughout your social media profiles.

5. Determine Your Objective and Track Goals.

When developing your social media strategy, ask yourself: What is the goal? All good social media strategies start with a goal in mind!

For many photographers, the intent is to expand their photography brand and become better known. With your name out there and attractive social media profiles, you can attract significant client work and recognition. But in order to get there, break down what kind of clients you are seeking, and what kind of recognition you want, and then create goals based on that.

6. Use Multiple Platforms.

In order to maximize your reach, you should be active on multiple social media platforms. But, this does not mean you need to be on every single one. Once you know who your audience is and what your goals, you will be able to determine where you need to be present. If your desired audience is not present on the platforms, then it is a waste of time for you to be making content for that platform!

 

Social media can be a lot of trial and error. Keep an eye on your post insights and other social media metrics to see what is working and what does not. Maybe you get better reach with one type of post than another, or more reach on one platform than others. You might even find that you get more engagement on your posts when you post at specific times of the day! These tips are a great starting point for developing a strong social media strategy. Once you have the basics down, you can start experimenting and determining what works best for your brand!