We, as photographers, have been using social media for a while now. Some of us use it for work, and some of us use it to chat. Social media, however, is a great tool to enhance our photography. With it, we can get ideas, meet mentors and find answers to problems. Through it, we can see trends form it styles develop. For photographers, social media is important.It’s a level playing field and anybody can use it. Here are some ways social media can enhance your photography.
Do Not Try To Keep Up With Every Platform
There are many social media platforms to contend with now. An extremely short list (in no particular order) is: Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and OKDoit. Unless it is your job, it’s hard make use of every platform. I am not going to tell you which platform is the best. I will let you decide that for yourself. As a photographer you have to do your research and consider which platform will best suit your needs. Make a choice of one or two social media platforms, focus on them, build your followers, then expand to other social media platforms if you have the time.
Solidify Your Brand
In social media it is best to have more followers in one platform that have a few followers on many. If you become popular on Twitter and you want people to find you on Instagram, it will not help if you have a completely different name and avatar. You want to be found easily everywhere on the net. If you have to have a different name, make is slightly different and make sure your avatar is the same. As a photographer, you want to be found easily online.
Have A Center
As a photographer it’s best to have one center location so that people can find out more about you and your other social media profiles. It can be a blog, an About.Me page or an image sharing site like 500px. When you give people a central place, you give your followers a chance to follow you on every social media platform you use. This will enable them to find you and your photography easily and promote your work more.
This, combined with effective SEO tactics, will make findability a breeze.
Do Not Over Share
In social media it is possible to be too social. You have to be selective about what you share and how you share it. As a photographer you do not want to be repetitive in your work. You also don’t want to bombard your readers and followers with too much information. If you have a lot of information to put out, schedule it up to feed it to your followers over a period of time. There are sites and apps like Hootsuite and Buffer that will allow you control the flow of information. A steady pace will keep people interested in what you are doing and allow potential customers to have a chance to view your work as well.
Keep It Clean
When keeping a steady social media flow, you want to make sure as many people can view it as possible. You have to keep your social media profiles clean and you want to put you best foot forward at all times. Some people will make their first impression of you through social media. If they think you are going to curse like a sailor around their kids, they are less likely to hire you or follow you.
Engage
You just do not want to repost stuff from your blog constantly. You want to let people know you are real and not just a bot. Interact with people, talk, and share images. Just don’t over do it. Invite others to comment on your work. The most important thing is try and make connections and friends. These people will help you get your name out and be there to bounce ideas off of. Be yourself as well. Do not try and be a “personality”. It works for a few people, but not everyone. Not trying to be a personality is easier on your sanity also. Just do your best to be a good photographer. Your work will do the talking most of the time.
Socialize Off Line When You Can
To enhance your photography through social media, get off the web at times. Some of your best friends on-line will be the people you meet in person. You can participate in group photowalks or just hang out and have a coffee. It is with these people you can build a synergy. You can gain their followers and they can gain yours through collaborations. Getting off-line also helps you build a network of people who can vouch for you and recommend you for photo jobs.
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