The New Facebook Profile Videos Are Great for Your Photo Business

Facebook is rolling out a cool new feature that will become a lucrative sales and marketing tool for photographers. Profile videos are here and they can help your photography business stand out, whether you're a travel photographer or a portrait and wedding shooter. Read on to see how it works and how your business can make smart use of these 7-second profile video loops.

Why Facebook Profile Videos Are Great for Business

Profile videos are a great new way to express yourself and share your work as a photographer. They're also an awesome new addition to your photo sales packages.

Express Yourself

Profile videos help you advertise yourself as a photographer. My own profile video shows me with camera in hand, making it clear to new visitors that photography is what I do. But there are many more ways to use profile videos to showcase ourselves. Consider creating an animation showing a series of your best photos. Studio photographers can share moments behind-the-scenes on set. Travel photographers can share a clip from their latest location.

Surprise Your Clients

Incorporate video profiles into your business to help sweeten the deal on any photo package you offer. Imagine creating a clip of the moment the bride and groom are announced as husband and wife up on the altar. Or an adorable giggle from a baby's first portrait shoot. You can offer a video profile service to all of your portrait clients to stay ahead of the competition.

Getting Started With a Facebook Profile Video

Facebook is still rolling out profile videos to users. You'll know the option is available for your account once you see a flashing video icon across your profile picture. Get ready for it by prepping a video clip today.

Create a Profile Video Clip

If, like me, you've been a still photographer your whole life, it can be a little intimidating to dive into video. It was actually ridiculously easy to record and edit a moving self-portrait, all on my iPhone. I used a tripod mount for my iPhone and recorded a few minutes of video. Using iMovie, I sliced it down to a few seconds, then slowed down the video for a dreamy feel.

Your Facebook profile video will be a square-cropped loop, a maximum of seven seconds long. It's important to keep this in mind, because I originally spent a couple hours creating the perfect 15-second clip (captured with a Canon 5D and carefully sliced in Final Cut Pro), only to find out it was way too long. Whoops! The iPhone route is much more efficient and any quality gained by going the "pro" route will be lost in Facebook's compression anyhow. 

You cannot trim or filter the video on Facebook; so, prep it beforehand. If you're less technically inclined with video editing, you can record and tweak your whole profile video clip right in Instagram. 

Upload Your Facebook Profile Video

Right now, you can only upload profile videos via the Facebook mobile app. Simply visit your profile, click on your profile picture, and follow the prompts. You'll get a chance to select a single frame to use as your profile thumbnail across the site.

The final video will loop on mobile and desktop views when anyone visits your profile. It was easy and fun and definitely captures attention!

How will you use the new Facebook profile videos for your business? Let us know in the comments below.