While Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook hold their importance, photographers might be overlooking a hidden gem: pinning on Pinterest. Pinterest is a huge social media network that has expanded beyond hand-knit sweaters and DIY projects to encompass all types of visual inspiration. The platform offers a great way for professional photographers to build their brand and spread their work. In this article, we’ll expore Pinterest for Photographers and provide tips to maximize your exposure and workflow.
Creating Your Pinterest Account
Start with these basic steps:
Start Your Profile – Before you can start using Pinterest, you’ll need to create an account. Once you’ve created an account, it’s important to optimize your profile by adding a profile picture, bio, and website link. Make sure that this is consistent with your brand messaging on your website and other social media profiles.
Create Boards – Next, you’ll want to create boards to organize your pins by category or theme. Consider creating boards organized by your favorite shoot locations, your favorite themes, or your favorite post production styles. Don’t be afraid to get creative with your boards and make it your own.
Pin From Your Website – Finally, create more pins by uploading your own photos or by saving photos from your website and other sources to your boards. We recommend saving photos from your website, instead of uploading photos, since images saved from your website will automatically link to the source, providing traffic for your website.
Maximizing Your Pinterest Presence
To maximize your presence on Pinterest, it’s important to identify your target audience and create content that will appeal to them. Follow these general guidelines:
Niche Down – Create boards that focus on specific niches or topics, and consider the niches within your niches as well. For example, in the niche wedding photography, you can niche down further with specific boards for ethnic weddings. Or in the niche of high school senior photography, you can niche down by activity like sports or music.
Use Keywords and Hashtags – You’ll also want to utilize keywords and hashtags in your pin descriptions to make your content more searchable.
Focus on Quality – Creating high-quality content is key to attracting and retaining followers, so be sure to use high-resolution images and well-written descriptions.
Consistency in Your Efforts – Finally, consistency in pinning is important for keeping your audience engaged and growing your following.
Integrate Pinterest into Your Client Workflow
Have your clients Pin images from your website when they create their mood board. The moodboard is a collection of photographs that represents the desired style for a photoshoot in photography. When your clients pin your images from your blog onto Pinterest, they are essentially sharing your images on that social media platform.
Each of these images contains a link back to the source, which is your website. Therefore, these mood boards can serve as a significant source of traffic to your website, potentially increasing your online presence and visibility. For more marketing hacks, see our free ebook, 8 Marketing Hacks for Wedding Photographers that we created with Wedding Maps.
Create A Board Full of Past Work
Go through your portfolio, pick out your very best work, and create a Pinterest board –– or make a few and theme them! They’ll function the same way as a Facebook album, only Pinterest users will be able to easily re-post or “pin” your pictures, increasing their views on the site. With any luck, your images will be re-pinned, those re-pins will be pinned, and you’ll create a domino effect of exposure.
Pin Client Testimonials
Pinterest for photographers is more than just sharing pretty pictures. You can also use it to help in the client conversion process. Pinterest users love a well-designed pictographic, which works out great for you –– they’re a perfect way to showcase client testimonials!
Keep praiseworthy quotes short and use an eye-catching font that will grab pinners’ attention. For example, you can use Photoshop or Canva to place a testimonial over your most gorgeous photo. People will be attracted to the picture, and will simultaneously get to-the-point information about why they should hire you.
Engage with the Pinterest Community
A successful strategy of Pinterest, and any other social media, for photographers requires consistent and genuine interaction with the community. Engaging with the Pinterest community is important for building relationships and growing your following. Implement these strategies into your workflow:
Follow Users in Your Niche – You can start by following other users in your niche or target audience, and liking and commenting on their pins.
Collaborate with Group Boards – You can also collaborate with other photographers by creating group boards and inviting them to contribute. Finally, participating in group boards is a great way to increase your exposure and reach new audiences.
Measure Your Success on Pinterest
To measure your success on Pinterest, you’ll want to track your analytics to see how your pins are performing. You can evaluate your engagement rate by looking at the number of saves, likes, and comments your pins receive. If you’re not seeing the results you want, you may need to adjust your strategy by creating new content or targeting a different audience.
You can also dive into the Pinterest Analytics to see how your account is doing and adjust accordingly. You can see the gender, age, locations, devices, topics and more!
Set Up a Pinterest Business Account
With a Pinterest business account, you’ll be able to track which of your boards and pins are the most popular, as well as how much exposure you’re receiving on the platform.
Are users flocking to your wedding portraits like moths to a flame? Throw together another board of beautifully photographed couples in love. Do pinners love your tips on styling fashion shoots? Make a video tutorial of your process and pin it straight from YouTube! Having a business account gives you more insights on what your clients are looking for, and by catering to their interests, you’ll get more business.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Pinterest can be a powerful tool for photographers to showcase their work and attract new clients. By following the tips outlined in this article, you can unlock the power of Pinterest and increase your exposure and traffic. It might not ever replace the lead generation power of Instagram or Tik Tok, but the platform provides enough benefits to be worth some of your time and efforts.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with new strategies and techniques, and always remember to stay consistent and engage with your audience. With time and effort, Pinterest can become an essential tool in your photography business’s social media strategy.
