What makes one person or business stand out over another is highly variable and hard to quantify. But even if you are struggling with getting leads from your social media or you want to take your photography brand to the next level, you can make small changes today to see its profitability.
Pinterest is often difficult for businesses and entrepreneurs to understand how to use because the return on investment is not immediate. But the advantage that Pinterest has over other sites is that the content remains relevant in the long-term, so consistency is a must to get the most out of using this platform.
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Is Pinterest Marketing Good for Photographers?
In case you’re not yet familiar with Pinterest, this platform is part social media and part visual bookmarking site. Unlike Facebook or other social media platforms, Pinterest is strongly visual—perfect for a creative business owner. With more than 175 million monthly users (75 million in the US alone), if you don’t “pin” on Pinterest, you are missing a huge opportunity to show off your work and attract new clients.
Here’s how Pinterest can help you market your photography business:
- Drive traffic to your website from posting your images and from other users pinning your images on their account.
- By pinning other people’s content (as well as your own), you position yourself as a helpful source of information rather than just a self promotion machine.
- When you encourage your clients to pin your images on their accounts, you will increase the number of people that see your work.
- When you create a board with your favorite images from your portfolio, you showcase your work for a different audience to see.
- When you comment on other people’s location-specific pins, those who are searching for those specific terms will see your comment and may visit your page or your site.
- You can tag others by using the @ symbol. This allows you to promote vendors that you work with (and for them to do the same for you) and to network with new businesses.
Pinterest for Photographers: How to Use Pinterest to Grow Your Photography Business
Now that you know the benefits that Pinterest can provide for your business, it’s time to take a look at how to use the platform to grow your business.
- Create a board to showcase your work. Choose your favorite photos that you’ve shot throughout your career and post them for potential clients to see.
- Create inspiration boards surrounding your specific niche. If you are a pet photographer, your inspiration boards may include grooming products, pet fashion, or tips on how to get good photos of your pets. If you are a wedding photographer, you may want to include makeup tips, wedding bouquets, tips for how to pose for the perfect picture, wedding dresses, and more. Think about your ideal customer and pin whatever would help them along their journey.
- No matter what your specific niche, clients will always have questions about how to prepare. Create a board that offers suggestions on dress, makeup and hair, posing, and tips for how to make the most out of your shoot.
- Create theme boards with suggestions for themed shoot ideas.
- Create a board that is all about you. Consumers like to do business with people they know. Allow your potential clients to get to know who you are and what makes you tick by pinning photos that matter to you.
- Create a client testimonial board and showcase your happy customers and what they had to say about your service.
- To encourage interaction, host a contest on your Pinterest asking people to either vote on a selection of images you will post, or post their own photos to enter.
- Sell your services or packages by including a price and description. This makes it easy for people to add them to wish lists, and for others to click on the pins and be taken directly to a the website where they can purchase them.
- Offer incentives to those who follow you on Pinterest and share your photos.
Pinterest Tips for Photographers
Here are a few “best practices” to make the most of your time and effort.
- Use the search function at the top left of Pinterest to find images to pin to your boards. This saves you from scouring the internet looking for inspiration.
- Find out if others have pinned your images on their Pinterest by visiting: http://pinterest.com/source/YourDomainName.com
- Leave comments on other’s posts and engage with the community to build your following quickly.
- Add the Pinterest browser button to your browser to make it simple to pin images without interrupting or distracting from your work. You can also download the Pinterest app for your mobile device.
- Put words on your images to make them stand out.
- Use a couple of intentional keywords that your ideal client may be searching for.
- Describe each pin with your name, location, and the type of photography you do. You can also include a copyright symbol and the year in which the photo was taken.
- Watermark your images to prevent them from being used without crediting you and to give the viewer something to search for in case your links don’t work.
- Use storyboards to create a collection of images that highlights a specific event or session. This allows clients to get a good feel for your style.
Pinterest Mistakes Photographers Make When Promoting Their Business
Pinterest is priceless for its ability to elevate your customer’s experience. Therefore, it works best as a relational and organizational tool in addition to a marketing tool for creating new clients. To make your Pinterest use more efficient, avoid these mistakes.
1. Forgetting to read the Pinterest analytics
These tools help you be a more effective pinner. As a photographer, looking at the data will help you understand how your target market pins their ideas. Improving based on insights can also lead to greater customer engagement; making them happy will lead to word-of-mouth.
2. Using Pinterest strictly for products
This marketing strategy is a mistake because it turns people off. Only pinning new services with a price is perceived as pushy. You want the things that you post to engage your clients in their photographic journey with you. Tell a story, provide valuable content, and win their hearts over time. Not everyone is ready to buy the moment they see your stuff.
3. Abandoning your Pinterest account altogether
Pinterest is an excellent tool to drive traffic to your website and blog. But if you forget about your account before you can use your following to your advantage, then you are missing out. Pinterest has the longest lifespan for content out of any of the social platforms, so don’t give up before you start seeing lasting ROI!
4. Neglecting to watermark your photographs
If you do not watermark your original content on the web, then you are giving someone else the opportunity to capitalize on your content. There are plenty of savages who will take your pictures and screenprint on a shirt to make money without giving you any kickbacks. If you have the same handle on all of your social sites, then this can be a useful watermark, or you can simply use your business’s logo.
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5. Forgetting to describe your pictures
Without the description of your images, then your pins do not come up in the searches. Also using relevant hashtags as well as creating some for your brand is a great use of this space and linking it to the other social platforms. It will help you to make your content easily found when someone does become interested and distinguishes you from other photographers on Pinterest.
6. Keeping your pins too broad
Someone may not be searching for any photographer. Chances are, they’re gathering information for an upcoming event or occasion. Focusing on a particular niche that you like and gearing your content toward that niche may be a better use of your time. For example, newborn baby photography is an excellent niche, and you can tailor your photos and pins to showcase your newborn shots. The content should be varied but geared to your niche, helping you create more relevant boards.
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The love and passion you feel for your craft will always translate in your photos. The talent of encapsulating an ephemeral moment is an important aspect of human communication. It is also part of the reason why you choose to do this profession. Pinterest users are compiling ideas for creating a piece of their life, and you can provide them with beauty and knowledge with your photographs. With this in mind, Pinterest for photographers is a no-brainer.
