Everyone has visited social networks like facebook, Instagram or Twitter – but are they also suitable as a marketing tool for photographers? How do facebook, instagram & Co. work? We would like to answer these questions in our current blog post.
There are more than 28 million facebook users in Germany alone (as of May 2014) – and the trend is still rising. Hardly any Internet user is not registered with at least one platform. For you as a photographer, they offer a variety of opportunities to present yourself and your portfolio.
Each network has its individual advantages … while Twitter is suitable for the distribution of current news and information (in only 140 characters per message), instagram offers you the opportunity to publish your images.
We have presented the most important social networks in detail:
With around 1.4 billion users worldwide, Facebook is by far the largest social network at present. With 28 million members in Germany, the biggest advantage of Facebook is obvious – the number of potentially interested parties.
As the operator of a so-called “fan page”, i.e. your company profile on facebook, you can specifically address your target group, for example users with an interest in “weddings”, and avoid large wastage. When posting photos, you must keep in mind that facebook compresses the photos when uploading them, which means that the quality of the images can be lost.
Acquired by Facebook in 2012 (for an estimated $1 billion), Instagram currently reaches more than 300 million people worldwide and continues to grow rapidly. In contrast to Facebook and Google+, the focus here is on photos. You are limited to a square format and can make your photos findable for everyone with so-called hashtags, e.g. “#portraitphotography”. On Instagram, you get a lot of feedback on your pictures.
Flickr, Fotocommunity & co
Of course, there are also social networks that are exclusively for photographers. Here you can upload your photos in good quality and get feedback from other photographers. The user numbers are often lower than on the “big” networks – but they are suitable for showing your portfolio, which can then be linked on your own website or in larger networks. With the photographer search, which was launched at the beginning of the year, you have the possibility to create your individual portfolio for free and to be found in your region and under your photography focus.
Keep profiles up to date
It is important that you keep your profile alive with updates – nothing is more boring than reading 3 year old news of a company. It can make sense to register on several social networks like facebook and instagram and benefit from a large user base. Selecting images that highlight your individual style can help clients decide if you are the right photographer for the job.
