Continuing the social media theme this month, The Photo Life team is sharing another helpful article about how photographers can use Pinterest to market their business and engage with their clients. Many photographers have asked us to keep sharing info about this new social network that’s spreading like wildfire! Special thanks to Wendy Roe and Matt Herron for their contributions to social media mega month!
The social media to-do list gets longer every day. Between Facebook, Twitter, and Blogging it seems like there are a lot of platforms on the modern wedding photographer’s daily list. Well, get ready, because there is one more to add – Pinterest.
Since Pinterest hit the social media scene it has become hugely popular with home decorators, exercise and beauty buffs, and above all, brides. It’s the new “place to go” for wedding inspiration, so wedding photographers in a moving marketplace should get familiar with the platform quickly if they want to stay ahead of the game.
What is Pinterest?
Currently invite only (don’t worry, it’s easy to get on board upon request), Pinterest in the internet’s take on inspiration boards. Tons of content is added to Pinterest on a daily basis, and it’s almost all photographic ideas. Here’s a little visual depicting how it works:
- Your clients can use a “Pin It” button while on your website. This will bring up a visual list of all photos on your website (think…your blog), and clients can “pin” an image to send it directly to their own Pinterest account.
- Once they send it to Pinterest, it will show up on their selected board (i.e. “Wedding Photo Ideas”), and it will be searchable by other Pinterest users. The photos from your site will link back to your site. This is the KEY benefit of Pinterest.
- The pin will then be viewable in the client’s feed, so their friends who follow their pins will see it too. This may cause them to like, comment, or re-pin the pin.
As you can see, Pinterest is a potentially huge source of website traffic, and allowswedding photographers to share their work easily. This may lead to increased referrals, oh-ing and ahh-ing over your photos, and potential destination weddings!
How Photographers can Creatively Use Pinterest
- Encourage your website viewers to Pin: Pinterest offers free code for pinning, and you can easily add it into your blog post footer or website code. Place it on your website and encourage visitors to share your images on their boards!
- Create your “favorite photos” boards: Pin your own work, and create boards of some of your favorite photos. Share why you love them. Keyword them and hope they spread!
- Create inspiration boards for your clients: Have you photographed lots of pink weddings? Modern weddings? Rustic-chic? Create boards based on the style of your previous weddings.
- Hold a contest: Ask your blog readers to search through all of your photos and find their favorite photo of all time, pin it, and comment on why they love it the most!
Caveats
- You can view all of the images that have been pinned from your website at: http://www.pinterest.com/source/leeannmariephotography.com (change it out for your URL)
- Make sure clients and users are pinning and crediting your source! It’s more important than ever to make sure that the images are coming from you directly, or that they are being credited in an updated link source.
- Watermark your images! If you don’t, and there is an incorrect source link, your image is as good as gone. If you at least watermark your images, they can be shared on Pinterest and a potential client can still find you.
- Don’t be a jerk – Pinterest states in their user etiquette listing to “avoid self-promotion.” Don’t post every single image you ever shot onto Pinterest. It can be annoying, and look like you don’t care about anything else. Participate. Be creative. Contribute and offer ideas.
Happy Pinning!
About Leeann Marie
Leeann is a Pittsburgh-based wedding, engagement, and boudoir photographer. An avid blogger, she loves connecting with her clients, friends, and other photographers around the world. She holds an engineering background from the University of Pittsburgh, which has led to a love of technology and teaching.
She loves Lady Gaga, champagne, and kettle-cooked chips. She has traveled the world to places such as Russia, South Korea, China, Vietnam, and Panama, and believes in living the life you have dreamed.