BY HEADSHOT PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS COACH, Vanie Poyey

With my series of blogs on social media marketing, I bet you’re thinking to yourself, “Vanie, I have no idea what to post on social media!!” Well I’m here to tell you that social media marketing doesn’t have to feel icky.

To be effective, all you need to do is show up as yourself and NOT sell anything. Wait, what? What does that mean?

Well consumers have gotten very savvy.???? They won’t buy from a “company” without a face anymore. That’s why influencer advertising is soooo profitable. IF a consumer connects with you and trusts you, they’ll buy from you without you having to work to “sell”. This is especially true if you believe in your product or service.

So, I’m no social media expert BUT back in 2017 I took an Instagram class from the lovely Hilary Rushford and within a year of practicing practicing practicing, what she taught me became second nature. Now it does take work to feel at ease on social media and I want you to be realistic about your own expectations.

At first, you’ll need to think about what you’re posting and be really intentional about it but I promise you, like anything else, it does get easier over time and the ideas will flow a lot more naturally.

Here’s what you need to know about showing up on social media.

Be your authentic self as you do 4 things. Educate, document, entertain and inspire.

Educate your prospect on what they need to know the most– not from your perspective but from their perspective. What are their pain points, and their biggest struggles? Educate them on how you solve those problems. How you help them… as it relates to photography.????

Document your day to day. This is mostly in BTS (behind the scenes) videos or stills. This is an opportunity to show potential clients what a day with you is like. Maybe it’s fun, maybe it’s serious but showing whatever experience you provide as a photographer makes you that much more appealing to prospects!

Entertain them with your personality. This is where you can have fun and get really creative. There are no rules here. Whatever you like to do on your platform that makes this process fun is a go! Do you like to lip sync? Dance? Can you tie that into photography? Here’s an example of one of my videos I would categorize as entertainment.

Inspire your prospects with the encouragement and pep talk they need. Share your personal struggles and milestones. Share how they can be what they aspire to be or how they can get what they most desire… as it relates to your business.

See the pattern here?

Remember, be yourself. Don’t try to be someone else. It won’t work! Because people are attracted to people. People are interested in people and people are curious about people. In order to attract YOUR people, you need to show up as you. If you try to be someone else, you won’t attract your people and you won’t do well with the algorithm because it will never become second nature for you.

One last thought. There are many platforms to choose from. Pick the platform you’re most comfortable in and go all in. If you’re not comfortable showing up on camera, you don’t have to! Maybe go to Pinterest or Linkedin depending on where your clients mostly hang out.

But either way, show up! Show up consistently, show up authentically and show up every day. Give it a good 3 months (though I bet you’ll see results sooner) and see if a whole new world of prospects doesn’t open up for you! Let me know below afterward.