Social Media for Photographers Series
When discussing Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram over the past several weeks, we have been addressing how to market yourselves as professional photographers on social media. Today we’ll be discussing Pinterest, which is unique in that it is not optimal for social media marketing for photographers.
We won’t be sharing how you can book more clients through the use of Pinterest, as marketing services on the platform is not particularly effective for small businesses. Rather, we’ll be discussing how you can use Pinterest to simplify your client interactions, provide greater value to your clients, and organize your inspirations.
Simplify your client interactions.
Although we don’t feel Pinterest is a time-effective way to market your photography business, it can certainly simplify your conversations leading up to existing clients’ photography sessions or weddings. You can safely assume that a client has booked you because they appreciate your talent and style.
To further narrow down their tastes, you can request clients pin images to a board dedicated to the photo shoot and send you the link! Clients should understand that recreating exact portraits is not a wise way to approach a session, but knowing ahead of time what they envision their portraits looking like can help you to meet and exceed your clients’ expectations.
On your Pinterest photography business page, you can also create boards that you can easily share with clients to help them prepare for your sessions. One example would be to have a “What to Wear” board offering recommendations for coordinating family outfits prior to a session. The beauty of Pinterest is that you don’t have to create your own content; you can quickly search for outfits and repin them to your board to pass along to clients.
Another option is to create a board with links to all of the forms and resources your clients could possibly need prior to your session. You can link your model release form and contract if you have them available on your website, and any digital brochures. Want to go above and beyond with your “What to Wear” guides and similar resources? Create StickyAlbums with your suggestions and link them to Pinterest—your clients can download the apps on their home screen for quick reference!
Provide greater value to your clients.
We’re okay repeating ourselves on this point every week, because it’s crucial for effectively using social media as a small business: focus on providing value to your clients. Your social media pages will be vastly more attractive to your clients and potential clients if you are frequently sharing with your client’s interests in mind.
What is valuable to your clients will depend on your photography niche. For wedding photographers, your boards would be geared toward wedding décor, local wedding vendors, and honeymoons. For pet photographers, your boards would be focused on pet grooming, training, and care.
You don’t have to spend an inordinate amount of time pinning to these boards. Pin a dozen or so images to each board when setting up your account, and pin two or three new images each day. Add the “Pin It” button to your Internet browser so you can quickly pin any articles you come across on other websites that your clients may find useful.
Organize your inspirations.
While we do not consider investing time in marketing to new clients on Pinterest as worthwhile for most professional photography businesses that is not to say that there are not opportunities to do so. If you do have the time, you can create a board with your favorite images from your portfolio. Use descriptive captions (including your location) and be sure each links to your website. We also recommend watermarking your images, as is wise any time you display your work online.
You can also increase visibility for your business by commenting on pins related to your location. For example, search “[Your location] weddings” and comment on popular pins with a short remark and a link to images from a wedding you did in that location. While the person who pinned the image you’re commenting on might not be interested, others searching the same terms will see your comment.
We haven’t covered specifics of setting up a personal or business Pinterest account in this article, but there are some great resources on this topic available online (this article is a great place to begin). The tips we have shared should provide a basis for using Pinterest as an organizational and relational tool for your professional photography business—again, not as social media marketing (with the exception of the couple of optional suggestions above). We’d love to hear from our photographer readers who are already using Pinterest—in what creative ways have you used Pinterest for your business?
