Getting Started with Facebook and Twitter

One of the most basic concepts of marketing has always been ‘Word of mouth is the best advertising'. That concept hasn't changed. It's just that all that ‘Word of Mouth' stuff, instead of taking place over the backyard fence, now happens a lot on the Internet. Thanks to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, your satisfied customers can talk about your wedding photography business with people all over the world.  Now, all you need to do is give them something to talk about.

Make It Easy For Your Clients To Share Their Wedding Photos Online

Just because millions of people use Facebook and Twitter every day doesn't mean they know how to use all the features of those sites. Commenting and replying are one thing, but not everyone can figure out how to post a picture.  And what better way to advertise your wedding photography business than to get some of those beautiful pictures posted online?

With your Facebook page you can upload an unlimited number of images and place them into individual albums. Create an album for each wedding and engagement session you've photographed and upload it to your own Facebook page so that anyone visiting your page will be able to see examples of your work. Some people will spend an hour on your Facebook page and little or no time on your website. You want to meet them online where they are, and if that is Facebook, then so be it.

Tag Photos in Facebook

As you upload those photos, be sure to tag them with the names of the bride and groom and anyone else you know, including the bridal party.  When you do that, those photos will also appear on their Facebook pages so their friends can see them, which makes it easy to spread the word about your business.

To make it even easier for the bride to share those wedding pictures, provide her with a link to your Facebook album so all she has to do is share it with all of her Facebook friends.  That way, she won't even have to bother with uploading pictures and creating albums – you've already done the work for her.

Now that you have that album created you can also use that link to promote your wedding photography business on Twitter. First, send the link in a Tweet to the bride's Twitter account. Don't send it in a DM but Tweet it directly to her so the Tweet also shows up in your own Twitter stream.  Be sure to include names, again, so your Tweet would look something like this:

@AmySmith View #name of venue #wedding #photos of Amy Smith and John Jones at LINK via @YourTwitterAccount.

Setting up your Tweet in this format does 4 things:

• The @AmySmith makes it easy for the bride to ReTweet your message to her friends and family – all she has to do is click the ReTweet button
• The hashtags (#) will make your Tweet come up when people are searching for Wedding Photo information at that venue.
• The LINK makes it easy for anyone to find Amy Smith's wedding photos and see your work
• The @YourTwitterAccount makes it easy for someone to contact you and you'll also get a message every time someone ReTweets this

With Facebook and Twitter you'll have the opportunity to fill out a profile on each account. Be sure to use keywords – like photographer and (your town) wedding photography – to make it easy for potential clients to find you.  But also be sure to include a link to your website so people can see everything you have to offer. You want to be sure that you set up a Facebook page for your business, as the personal accounts are intended for personal communications with friends and family.

When it comes to social media, you can keep it strictly professional or you can mix personal and business together, it really depends on your personality and how much you like to share your personal life with clients. Some photographers like Jasmine Star, Becker and Jessica Claire have created very successful businesses by letting their clients get to know their quirky personalities. They have successfully mixed their personal lives with their business, and have attracted clientele that want to know their photographers personally.

Adding Content to Your Facebook Page & Twitter

A great way to create more content for your Facebook page or Twitter account is to do some selective auto-posting, mixed in with regular updates.

You can add your blog to an application within Facebook called Networked Blogs, and this will allow your blog posts to be accessible via Facebook. You can also find applications that will post your blog updates right to Twitter and/or Facebook. Twitter allows you to post your Twitter feed to Facebook (at the bottom of the profile), but you’ll need to decide if your Tweets are appropriate for Facebook.

To see how I do it, check out PhotoMint's facebook page

Follow me on Twitter

The key to using Facebook and Twitter to market your photography business is to understand that those sites only make it possible for people to communicate.  That doesn't mean they know how and it doesn't mean they'll talk about you.  But if you give them something to talk about, and you make it easy for them to pass the word, then you’ll be well on your way.

Tagged as: facebook for photographers, photography marketing, social media marketing, twitter for photographers, wedding marketing