Instagram… It can be a photographer’s best friend or their worst nightmare. Personally, Instagram has always been my favorite for obvious reasons — it lends itself towards a photographer. It’s the social media I check the most and the one that inspires me. I have met SO many amazing people through the app and I am constantly using it when I travel to find things to do or places to go. As a business owner, we are forced to use these tools at our fingertips but sometimes we don’t quite know how. If you use Instagram correctly, you can connect with vendors/brides and you can even book weddings! I’m not a social media master but I’ve been using this app since right after it came out and ever since I became a photographer, I’ve learned a few things that I wanted to share with you! So here we go….

1. Use relevant hashtags. We hear this ALL the time. But for me, I want to tune in to what brides might be searching. #Virginiaweddingphotographer and #Weddingphotographer are huge ones for me! Now that Instagram shows some of the top posts within each hashtag, if my images appear there, a lot more people see them. So always hashtag no matter how dumb you look. 🙂
2. GEOTAG! This is so important especially for business owners. I am always tagging venues, towns, and businesses because you never know when a bride or potential client will be at a place you were and starts searching a tag.
3. If you’re a photographer or business owner trying to connect with clients, post old work. I haven’t personally shot at Pippin Hill or Veritas as a MAIN shooter but I really want to shoot at both of those places so I’m always posting old work from when I’ve second shot there.
4. Check out the app WhentoGram to figure out the best times to post.
5. Post ONCE every single day. You can post twice or even three times every now and then but being consistent with one great post every day is really crucial. Consistency is key.
6. For a long time I got annoyed with the whole “beautiful feed” thing but it really does help, especially if you want to impress vendors, planners, florists, etc. For me, it’s not as much about followers as it is about just using my feed as a portfolio for potential vendors I’d like to work with. They may never see my website but when I’m commenting on their feed often, they might come over to take a look at mine.
7. Try to either post all iPhone shots or all DSLR shots. I found that when I started posting all DSLR shots, I gained more followers.
8. Edit consistently and don’t post duplicates of the same thing or from the same shoot too close together. You want to alternate between people and details or locations and people, etc. Mix up your feed with wide shots, closeup shots, and alternate images with lots of green. Too much of the same in a row is unappealing.
9. Genuinely follow and interact with people in your industry. I used to follow only about 200 people but then I realized I was missing out on so many amazing, talented artists. I love following planners, calligraphers, graphic designers, and florists. I get to encourage them in their businesses and allow them the opportunity to see me.
10. Be real and write good captions. I hate writing captions and this one I tend to be lazy on but a good caption will get you likes just as much as a photo will. People don’t want boring, impersonal captions about how you love the weather and your favorite color is blue (I’m totally guilty….).