The business value of social media can’t be overstated, but not everyone wants to vamp in videos—the common path to stardom. Luckily, you don’t have to, says Janis McGavin, director of marketing and social media for the Los Angeles Center of Photography. “How do I know this?" she said. "I’ve done it.” She took the LACP’s following from zero to 18,000 followers (and growing) without appearing on camera. If you follow a few basic principles, you can expand your audience and your business without stepping in front of the camera (and even more if you do).
Do I Have To?
Yes. Yes, you do. You may consider social media a festering hellscape wrapped in a soul-sucking cesspool, but it’s where potential customers are looking for you. Statistics back this up. According to marketing firm Reputation X, 75 percent of consumers use social media to research products, 39 percent only trust brands they have interacted with online, and 76 percent purchased a product after seeing it on a social post.
Galleries, agents, and institutions (like the LACP) no longer choose artists based solely on a packet of prints. “We aren’t just looking at a portfolio anymore, we are looking at their social,” said McGavin. “What can they do to sell a class?” Or to bring customers to a gallery.
So What Do I Post?
The painfully obvious answer is … your best work.
“If your images are strong enough, they are going to get attention,” said McGavin. “At the end of the day, it comes down to good content.”
But too many photographers spoil good images with rookie errors. “The mistakes I am seeing, photographers will upload a low-res image,” said McGavin, which degrades the quality of the image when it gets clicked.
Make the captions visually appealing—if it’s long, break it into paragraphs. Put a few spaces between your caption and the monolithic block of hashtags. “No one needs to look at all of your hashtags,” said McGavin. And for Pete’s sake, “Spelling and grammar matter,” she said. Pro tip: Caption with search words that relate to your business; it will improve your results.
Finally, make your handle your name or business name. “I am so sick of seeing, ‘HotWashingMachine_72,’” said McGavin. “Your name is Bonnie!”
Three Rules: Post, Post, Post
Good content alone is not enough. You have to tickle the algorithm’s fancy, which determines who and how many people are going to see your images.
There are established strategies to boost your posts. First, post, post often, and post consistently.
This is true across every platform from LinkedIn to TikTok, but you don’t have to hit every outlet. To keep it manageable, “Focus down to the two that suit you,” said McGavin. “The average photographer should concentrate on Instagram and Facebook, that’s where it is right now.”
For that reason, we’ll focus on those two, although the principles apply everywhere.
McGavin has posted twice a day for five years, but said that for most photographers, three to five times a week is enough.
The most important thing is consistency, which the algorithm heavily favors. “I see photographers who post once every six weeks,” said McGavin. “That’s not going to get you anywhere.”
Also mix up your post’s media formats. “I try to do a reel, then a story, then a post,” McGavin said. Somehow the alchemy of a mix seems to boost results, she said.
Repurpose, Recycle, Reuse
You don’t need two metric tons of content to publish three to five times a week. One image—or a group of images—can do double, triple, quadruple duty.
For instance, if you post a single static image on Instagram, find it in your feed, tap on it, then tap the paper airplane icon, and choose “Story.” Now you can add text and sound to make a story from that image.
Then you can take that static image and add some outtakes or other images to make a “Carousel”—a series of photos that people can scroll through.
Then—this is where the algorithmic alchemy happens—your Carousel can be made into a Reel: an automated slideshow with music and text. That counts as a video, which Facebook and Instagram are currently more likely to share widely than static posts for a very self-serving reason. “It’s because of TikTok,” said McGavin. “Instagram is really trying to win that race.”
Both Facebook and Instagram can use AI to make a rudimentary video for you—once you load up the stills, it will suggest music and you can post. You can also use apps like Canva, which can make a video for you, but it also gives you a lot of pre-made templates to make basic customization easier.
For optimum effect, you should learn how to make customized Reels to suit your business. “You can do an automated Reel, but I like to keep creative control,” said McGavin. “You can use apps like Canva, load up photos, and it will make a Reel for you. It won’t look that great, but you can tinker.”
One other advantage to concentrating on Facebook and Instagram is they can be synchronized so you can post once and appear on both, reducing the time and effort.
Reel 'Em In
Whether putting up a single static image, a Reel, or a Story, you have to tell an engaging tale.
It doesn’t have to be elaborate. For instance, a before and after. “Go back to when you first picked up a camera,” said McGavin, “and if it’s not very good, it’s funny.” Especially if you juxtapose it with a masterful, more recent image to show your progress. So run the first shot with text reading “before,” then the second image with “after.” It can work as an Instagram Carousel, a Story, or a Reel.
Or literally tell a story. “I like it when photographers tell the story behind the shots,” said McGavin. “It can be as simple as, ‘It was raining cats and dogs that day,’” she said, “but I got the shot.” Make it into a Story with a voiceover. If you think your voice sounds like a cat in a blender, “AI voiceover is pretty freakin’ good,” McGavin said.
Make a Workhorse, Not a Show Pony
If you put time in to post regularly, you’ll want more than a few likes in return. You want your posts seen by the right people.
Start by strategic hashtagging. What search words does your audience use? Sunsets? Destination weddings? CEO portraiture?
When you create a new post, step one is to add the image, step two lets you make adjustments like exposure, then step three offers a space to add your hashtags.
Type the hashtag symbol, then type in a word you think customers will search, such as “portrait.” As you type, suggested tags will appear with the number of posts under that hashtag. For instance, I got as far as “#portra” when Instagram suggested “#portrait” with 190 million posts, “#portraits” with 28 million posts, “#portrait_perfection” with 8 million posts, and more. Pro tip—the more posts on a page, the faster yours will be pushed down from the top.
You can also use a free hashtag generator such as Predis.ai to help you pick a good selection.
Add hashtags both broad and narrow on words people might use to find your work. You might go broad with a hashtag like “#wedding,” narrower with “#wedding photographer,” narrower still with a location, “#Albuquerque” or “#AlbuquerqueWeddingPhotographer,” and even narrower with your specialty, “#DesertWeddings.” You can have up to 30 hashtags, but most pros keep it to a tidier, well-chosen 7 to 10.
Tag, I'm It!
Tagging is slightly different than hashtagging. Tagging can show your work to a specific account, with the image showing up in their messages. Use this sparingly—it can get annoying. “Find someone whose attention you want, and tag them,” McGavin said. “And just keep doing that. I mean, be cool, like you are dating.” Overuse it and you’ll get blocked.
Say you do a pet shoot at a doggy daycare center—tag the facility. Maybe they will even reshare. “The goal is to be reshared as much as possible,” said McGavin.
You might even use Instagram’s Direct Message feature to reach out to the social manager at the doggy daycare to offer more images. You can ask them to share your work on their account, but—I can’t believe I have to remind people—ask nicely. “I have people that send an image and just write ‘SHARE.’ No. Who are you?” said McGavin. Explain who you are and why it’s to your mutual advantage for them to share. It’s a request, not a demand.
You can also use geotagging. People searching a specific location may find you. Sticking with the pet theme, if you do a dog portrait session at a local dog park, geotag it. Dog owners looking for the park may see your shots and decide they absolutely can’t live without dog portraits. You find the geotagging option on the same page you enter your hashtags. Hit the icon that looks like a fat exclamation mark, and if your image has location data attached, Instagram will geotag it.
Less risky than tagging is a request to collaborate—with a caveat. A collaboration puts your work in someone’s feed, where all of their followers can see it, with their consent. Instagram seems to share collaborations more widely than single posts, even ones with tags. Collaboration also gives you tacit endorsement, and you may pick up some followers from your collaborator’s audience. But only ask if the person, business, or product appears in your images. There has to be something in it for them.
Slow and Steady
Los Angeles Center of Photography, has taken it's Instagram from zero to 18,000 and growing.
Even if you apply every one of these principles, don’t expect to grab thousands of followers a week. Once more with feeling: Consistency counts. “You need to be aggressive with your posting. It needs to be quality content, and you can build your audience, but it takes time,” said McGavin. “It’s like weight loss before Ozempic.”
