With equipment more accessible and inexpensive than ever, freelance photography is fast becoming a highly competitive industry. To succeed, you must be able to set yourself apart from the rest. Having a strong social media presence is a good strategy to do that. Many freelance photographers get their big break through Instagram or Facebook. It’s a way to show off your portfolio and make yourself noticeable to clients in a fun and engaging manner. With the right steps, you can do the same. So, with that in mind, this article will list some tips to help you start your freelance photography career through social media.
Set Social Media Marketing Goals
Like with any marketing strategy, it’s best to start with setting specific and measurable goals. You will have to assess what you want out of social media and what can be realistically achieved in a certain amount of time. An initial goal could be increasing brand awareness by getting a certain number of followers or likes. Another could be generating leads and sales by finding clients through your social media accounts.
Find Your Niche Field
When beginning a photography career, you must identify your specialization. Travel, events, portraits, fashion; it helps to know where you stand among these different genres. The Broke Packpacker notes that even within travel photography, there are different types of niche jobs such as stock photo work. The advantages of starting a photography career, according to ZenBusiness, are its high profits, low startup costs and sustainability. However, having low startup costs require you to think strategically about how to sell your services online. Zeroing in on what your specialization is will help you market yourself strategically to people who should be seeing your expertise.
Creating Engaging Content
Professional photographer Aaron Delesie says that the photography market is oversaturated in the age of digital photography. He also says that many professionals don’t measure up in terms of technical ability. Mastering your craft is crucial in having a successful freelance photography career. This means creating high-quality and engaging content to share on your social media pages. In a previous ProDigitalWeb article on ‘How to Produce Photos That Grab Attention on Social Media’, we shared tips on composing photos that draw viewers’ attention. Using techniques such as the rule of thirds, framing, and a shallow depth of field are all helpful in creating content that show your viewers your expertise.
Understand Your Competition
Before creating content, it’s also important to have an idea of what your competitors are doing. While Social Media Examiner recommends free tools you can use to analyze your social media competitors, a simple review of your competitor’s social media presence would suffice at the beginning. Looking at their social media accounts helps you understand the kind of marketing strategy they are implementing. The goal isn’t to copy your competitors but to determine what’s working for them and what you can adapt to your own strategy. You also might want to take inspiration from the social media marketing strategies of other industries to know how you can translate it to success in your freelance photography career.
