UPDATED 12/6/22

Social media is a space, a realm that all visual creators of this generation are most likely familiar with. When it comes to social media marketing strategies, photographers use different platforms to market their work, their products, their campaigns and—most importantly—to connect with people around the world. Being a photographer in this competitive industry can be tough. However, this access to various social platforms that showcase the community and let us know we are not alone is something that we need to truly celebrate. As a photographer and visual content creator myself, I have had my own shares of highs and lows with the use of social media platforms. I am not here to tell you to do “these 10 steps to grow your following” or ask you to “buy this guide on how to get tens and thousands of followers.” Instead, I am here to share my thoughts on how much influence social media does in fact have on our creative lives and four things to keep in mind as you move forward with your social media strategies.

1. Remember that social media is a tool for your business, not the other way around. 

Whatever platform you use to stay relevant and have an online presence, it is important to remind yourself that you are the owner of that account and it’s simply a tool to help you elevate your online presence. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and Tik Tok are the most relevant social sharing apps that are available for use to you as a photographer. These are the apps that are powerful enough to help you become relevant, and give you and your business the exposure you need. But they don’t own you. They don’t own your business. Repeat that to yourself again and again.

[Read: How Wedding Photographers Use Instagram to get Followers and Clients]

I realized many years ago that having an online presence to stay relevant as well as possibly to find new clients was important for my photo business. There were times when I wanted my Instagram following to grow and I would hand over my IG url as my “business website” to clients, despite having a professional website myself. In my opinion, having your own website (domain name and url) has always been the more reliable way to share your online presence. The way I see it is that if tomorrow Instagram shuts down the photo sharing app for any reason, what would happen to all your work and the portfolio that you have so carefully curated to share with the world? And as recent changes to Instagram has shown, it already has prioritized reels and videos over photos. That means it may no longer be the best only place to share your beautiful work with the rest of the world!

2. Diversify your online presence.

While Instagram has been the photo sharing app for many years now, there are certainly plenty of other platforms where your work can still be showcased to reach a larger audience.

Pinterest is a great app to create mood boards or find inspiration when needed in styles and explore creativity from other photographers around the world.

Facebook is another great app to showcase your work as well as maintain an online presence through Business pages.

Tik Tok has certainly taken over the online social media platform in the past year! Short video clips that are fun, engaging, or even simple behind the scenes of your shoots, what’s in your bag series etc are some amazing ways to showcase your brand, your business while staying relevant.

Keep in mind that diversifying your online presence does not mean going all out and spending days and days putting out the exact same content through all the platforms. It’s really more about diversifying your online presence strategically such that it is tailored to fit into that particular platform. If that still sounds tedious, at least some kind of online presence across the platforms is still always better than putting all your eggs in just one basket!

3. Perspective always helps. How was business conducted many years ago? Would someone in Australia or Africa ever hear about what you do and who you are without your online presence?

I always try to realign myself by thinking of artists and photographers back in the day without any photo sharing apps at their fingertips. How did they get noticed? How did they reach their target audience? How did Ansel Adams get noticed or even Vivian Maier’s work get discovered (despite her work being discovered posthumously)? Thinking about the influence of social media in the past decade versus (non existent) versus now (overwhelming presence in our daily lives) really gives us a good perspective to pause and think and appreciate what we have at our fingertips today. The accessibility of what we want to offer, be it a service, a product, a sale or even just bringing attention to what we have to say has now become so much easier!

Stepping back and appreciating that we do have that option is something that will help us artists, creators and influencers to be more grounded as well as appreciative overall.

4. Social media marketing strategies: there’s much more to it than just the “likes”.

Having representation of your brand, what you offer on social media in itself is a great start. Sharing your work consistently is really the key to be seen, to be respected as an artist as well as sharing your work with the community and people that follow you and love your work. While the latest set of algorithms and likes and comments can certainly play with our minds, it’s important to remind ourselves that these likes DO NOT reflect our capabilities as an artist or photographer in any form or shape. There are so many factors that go into seeing which posts show up when based on the time of the day of posting and engagement etc.

Personally, I really love using social media as a way to inform my followers of what’s coming next in my work as well as a way to keep up my online portfolio (without ever replacing my website). Every now and then, especially when there are frequent changes to the algorithms, I  try to go back to perspective, to think about my “Why”. Why am I sharing my work with the community? Is it to market myself and constantly sell? Or is it to maintain a relationship, foster a friendship with my community of followers to engage, to lead, to educate, to share, to inspire and to be inspired? Without this reminder and this sense of purpose, it is really easy to get lost into the hollows of likes and engagement and let it impact our self confidence as an artist. And honestly, self confidence is everything as a creator!

When it comes to using social media platforms and implementing social media marketing strategies, it’s pretty apparent that it all certainly has an influence on how we conduct business, and how we present ourselves and our brand online. The key to finding balance as a creator is to realign and remind ourselves of the sense of community we create as well as to stay present and informed of the photography community in general!

Jyotsna Bhamidipati (Jyo) is an electrical engineer as well as an award-winning published fine art & lifestyle photographer plus a mentor/educator based in Sacramento, California. Recently, she spoke during her sold out class at WPPI 2022 on Befriending Harsh Light. She is a lover of light and shadows and seeks to capture the everyday perfectly imperfect beauty around her. She strives to be experimental in her vision and constantly works on pushing the boundaries in her photography. Jyo is also the instructor of the highly popular workshop with Click Photo School called The Imperfectionist, where she encourages everyone to embrace imperfections in their everyday lives and practice creative artistry! She’s currently represented by Institute Artist and is also the co-founder of Call Me Artist Retreat!

Social Media Links:

Personal: instagram.com/mbmphotographs

Website: momentsandphotographs.com

Email: makingbeautifulmemories

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