My sweet sparkly photographer, have you been wondering how to get more social media engagement?  I know… it’s one of those necessary evils that you just don’t wanna do.  I get it. We’re supposed to make these perfectly groomed little social media pets who sit, stay, and speak when we tell them to… while balancing all of the other parts of our business as well!  It’s a lot.

Unfortunately, due to algorithms and so many theories on posting best practices, we can really start to abhor the whole practice and threaten to take our cameras and go off-the-grid. In reality social media engagement should be an amazing thing. Our business should hinge on it. However…

Our beloved social platforms are making it HARDER THAN EVER to rank-up in social media engagement. 

Did you know, the average Facebook post organically reaches less than 10% of the page’s fanbase? Meaning, less than one out of every ten of your fans is seeing your posts. That’s a sobering reality and, frankly, a social media engagement fright-mare!  To matters even worst, what happens on Facebook also happens on Instagram, so our beloved grid isn’t much better!

If you’re seeing the same decline in numbers on your own newsfeed, friend, you are not alone in this struggle! In fact this is the number one question I get asked about social media:

How do I get more social media engagement?!

Now, we can all sit and mope and complain over coffee that Facebook is the devil, and the latest Instagram update is ruining your favorite app, and that they’re killing small businesses. But… can I tell you something? Maybe, just maybe, you’re wrong. In fact, I will go as far as to say that if you know how to play by the rules, you can actually do pretty well on social media! Here’s the thing: we can look at this issue of social media engagement as a stumbling block or…

An opportunity to work through the weakness.

As entrepreneurs and small business owners, we need to have a special kind of stubbornness to succeed. There will ALWAYS be challenges and changes that we have to overcome. The photographers who chose to accept these challenges and face them head on? They will be the ones to succeed and survive long-term.

Pick up your couches {aka: businesses} and say it with me, Sparkles…. PIVOT!!!!!

How can you survive all the changes & rock your social media engagement?

I want to challenge you to change your mindset. The biggest mistake I see photographers making is focusing only on the feelings and the art of it all. And while that’s important {we’re photographers after all} you must use a business brain and focus on how you can redirect the future of your business. This will help your social media engagement, because you can start to think like a CEO and develop a long-term strategy for your social media engagement.

We won’t see the true rewards of our hard work for up to three months – once our audience has started to know, like and trust us.  So it’s imperative that we think of social media as a marathon, NOT a sprint!

Stop wallowing in the weakness!

Want to increase your social media engagement?  Shift your focus from yourself to your clients. Stop focusing on what Facebook is doing to roadblock your business and work, with laser-like focus, to overcome those obstacles. Has Facebook decreased our reach? Yes. But, at the same time, if we play our cards right, do we have the potential to reach way more fans? Absolutely. You must stop looking on the burdens and focus on the blessings!

They are there! You just have to choose to find them. That’s right. I said choose. And, in fact, when you choose to focus on the blessings and the things that are going well in your business a crazy thing is going to happen. You are going to organically start to attract more clients and increase the engagement on your social media pages.  People, it’s an attitude of gratitude!

So how do we have a “no more me” mentality???

My Top 5 {Tried & True} Tips for Social Media Engagement

1. Know your clients.

One of the most effective strategies for increasing your engagement is to know who is following you and loving your work. A high school senior might not bat an eyelash at a photo that a new mamma would love. And yet, a potential bride might book you solely on how much professionalism you ooze in your social media stream. Spend some time getting to know your clients – then you’ll know how to speak to their hearts.

2. Listen to your clients.

This sounds so silly, but this must be an essential part of your social media engagement strategy. Spend some time digging in your Facebook insights. Download an app that lets your track your Instagram engagement. Study what your clients are responding to the most! Is it perfect portraits? Is it uplifting quotes and encouragement? Is it behind the scenes photos? Is it selfies of you hard at work? Friends, if you listen to your clients – they will tell you exactly what they want to see from you.

3. Turn the visual spotlight away from yourself.

This is just as simple as it seems.  Instead of focusing on YOURSELF, and what YOU are promoting, and YOUR sessions, and YOUR business and and and… focus on them.  Shift the spotlight to your clients and focus on their awesomeness!  If potential clients see you raving and loving on your current clients…. they’re going to believe that you’ll do the same thing for them!

4. Focus on the needs of your clients.

We get so wrapped up in ourselves, our photos, our reservation books, our plans, our shoots… that we forget exactly how much we’re talking about ourselves in our social media newsfeeds. Instead of focusing on what you want to share or what you need from your clients – focus social media engagement on their needs.

What do they want and need from you?

If you always lead with value, you will begin to establish trust and relationships with your clients. Then, when it’s time for the sale, you will have built enough rapport that investing in your business is less of a risk and more of a reward!

Investing in your business is less of a risk and more of a reward!

5. Embrace, educate, & entertain your clients.

Here’s the thing. Most of your clients don’t obsess over Facebook numbers or social media engagement. They have no idea that a Facebook or Instagram algorithm even exists.  They don’t understand the value of sharing your posts and they certainly don’t know how they can best support your business. That’s where you come in. YOU need to train your clients and tell them what you need from them!  {To make your life super simple, here’s a post I wrote for you to share with your fans!}

Looking to grow your followers? Ask your fans to share your post. Need advice or another set of eyes? Ask for an opinion! Hoping your clients tag themselves in your photos? Send them an email {prior to their sneak peek} coaching them on what they should do when they see their photos pop up. As nice as it would sometimes be, our clients can’t read our minds. It’s up to us to accept that, embrace them for who they are, and educate them… all while providing a little entertainment along the way!

And entertainment?  How about a little video to make that happen?!  You could live stream on Facebook Live or share silly snippets of your day via Instagram Stories!  Find out what your audience wants and give it to them!

Your clients want to help you with social media engagement … they just might not know how.

You have to make it easy and enticing for them. And friends, I can certainly help you make that happen! I would love to link arms with you and give you the tools you need to be successful on your social media accounts and get that social media engagement you deserve!

I’d love to be the one to help you make it happen {and save you time in the process}!  Download my freebie {30 social media posts for your photography business} and schedule a month of posts in just a few short hours! Start eliminating stress and enjoying your business more!

Plus, you’d make my little sparkly heart so happy if you commented below and told me which of the five tips you plan to start using TODAY!  When you say it out loud, you’re more likely to actually do it…. so let’s give it a whirl!  Talk to me!