| Tuesday Takeaways |
Ooohh social media. As a Toronto wedding photographer, it can feel like another job along with the one you already have, can’t it?!
Showing up on social media is so important, but if you’re anything like me, you already have enough on your plate. The idea of adding even one more thing? I’m not here for it! So, I’m sharing FOUR quick and easy tips below that you can apply right now to up-level your Instagram game so it’s running efficiently and working for you!
Ready?!
#1 – Post at the “right” time
If you have a business profile on Instagram, you’ve probably seen your Insights feature (if not, go check it out!). This is where you’ll find all of your analytics saved – information on who’s seeing your posts, how many likes/comments/etc., each post received, AND, one of my favourite features – the “most active times” section. This tells you when your followers are most active on Instagram – i.e., the best time for you to be posting.
BUT – did you know that by default, your “best time to post” is displaying in Pacific Standard Time? Meaning, if you live in any other time zone, you’re posting at the wrong time of day if you use that as a guideline! Unfortunately, there’s no way to change this. No matter where you’re located, the analytics will always show in PST! So it’s important to keep that in mind when you’re planning your content.
#2 – Make your profile searchable
Instagram started rolling out SEO-like features during the first half of 2021. Now you can strategically insert searchable terms into your bio to get seen by potential clients! The best spot to do this is with the NAME field on your Instagram bio. Chances are, your business name is already a part of your handle, so your audience doesn’t need to see your business name listed a second time. Instead, use this field to input keywords. For example, my Instagram handle is @simplysandrayvonne, and my ‘name’ in my Instagram bio is “London ON Wedding Photographer”. “Toronto Wedding Photographer” or anything similar relating to your area will work perfectly!
Try searching a keyword related to your industry and see what comes up!
#3 – Caption your videos!
ALL of your videos. Your stories, your IGTV, and your reels. First, foremost, and absolutely most importantly, for accessibility reasons. When you don’t use captions, you are intentionally excluding the hard of hearing and deaf communities.
From there, we can also consider the many people – myself included – who CHOOSE to watch videos with their sound off. In 2019 Forbes magazine reported that 70% of views were done with the sound off. If you use captions, you are more likely to keep the attention of your viewer for an extended period of time and create more ways to engage and connect with your audience.
Thankfully this is now easier than ever, as Instagram has rolled out a “Captions” feature right within the platform. If you’re still waiting for the feature to be available on your device or want to try out another method, you can add text blocks the way you would if you were adding text to a photo in Instagram, or you can try apps like Caption This or Threads.
#4 – Keep it social
Speaking of engaging and connecting with your audience – remember that Instagram isn’t a portfolio to show off your best work. At least, that’s the least important feature when it comes to using it for your business. It’s called SOCIAL media for a reason – you want to be getting social and interacting with people if you want them to be interacting with you when you post! It’s a two-way street. I think it was Jenna Kutcher who said “social media is like a handshake” – it’s what introduces someone to you and your company.
When you write captions, are you making a closed statement, or are you being social, and opening up the start of a conversation? Think of how you would respond if someone walked up to you and said what you wrote in person.
For example:
The sky is beautiful.
Vs.
Doesn’t the sky look beautiful today?
Do you hear the difference? I know this is so cheesy but put the “social” back into your social media!
My goal for you this month is to dedicate just 10 minutes every day to Instagram – and think of it as work, instead of just scrolling aimlessly.
- Comment back to people who comment on your photos. Can you say something engaging to start a conversation?
- Interact with stories AND posts under hashtags that align with your ideal client (for example, #justsaidyes after the holidays to catch those newly engaged couples. It doesn’t matter that they aren’t in your area! I do this with London area hashtags as well and couples are doing a whole lot of nothing right now thanks to lockdown, but families are a bit more active on social media)
- Don’t forget to nurture the followers you have as well as looking for new people to follow you – try visiting the profiles of the people who are liking your posts, and interacting with their most recent posts. Show gratitude and appreciation to the people who have been following and supporting you!
OK Friends – that wraps up my four tips!! Here they are again, for easy reference:
- Post at the “right time” – i.e. within your timezone! If you’re not living in a PST area, you’ll need to adjust.
- Make your profile searchable by using strategic keywords in your Instagram bio
- Caption your videos – all of them, every time!
- Keep it social. Don’t forget to interact, and make socializing your top priority.
I hope these are helpful, and that you’re able to use them to take something off of that to-do list, instead of adding to it ;)
Get more helpful tips and inspiration for Toronto Wedding Photographers on the blog!
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