If you’re in a creative business, Instagram is the secret free marketing tool you’ve been looking for. About a year ago, I had never really tried to figure out how Instagram could benefit my business, but once I did, I tripled my number of clients for the next year.

Keep in mind, every business is different so cater this advice to what works best for you. In this post, I’ll specifically be talking about what works as a wedding photographer.

1. FREE Portfolio
   It’s becoming a normal thing that when someone hears of a creative business, they look at their Instagram. It’s become the best way to showcase your work quickly and easily for those who are just browsing. This is key, because you want to capture the attention of those just casually browsing & give them the baby step of “following” you. This gives a small level of commitment that you can build upon as they start to LIKE and Comment on future posts and eventually become potential clients.
2. Simple Networking
   While there is no comparison to meeting someone face-to-face or working alongside them, Instagram does serve as a simple way to “get to know” others in your industry. For wedding professionals, this means adding other venues, florists, photographers, planners, etc. and learning about their business, style and personalities. When I see another wedding pro share their work on Instagram, I’m sure to like and comment to show my support for how hard they work!
3. Meet New Clients
   Whether new clients follow you or you follow them first, building your community of potential clients is easy to do through Instagram. If we are truly in business because we want to serve our clients well, it won’t hurt our feelings if a potential client doesn’t hire us but remains in our Instagram community. I have lots of brides that follow me on Instagram, comment on my posts, participate in my Instagram stories but haven’t booked me. While I would love to meet each one, I still count it a win if I get to help and encourage brides during their engagement season.
4. Show Your Personality Before You Meet Someone
   Through your Instagram stories and personal posts, you can share your personality, build connections & join in a community. Today, people give money because they believe in the person behind the business, not just because of the business. This is the easiest way to showcase this to people who have a minor commitment level (following you on Instagram). Otherwise, they would have to schedule an appointment or talk to you on the phone which is a much higher level of commitment.
5. Website Traffic
   One of the most important aspects to Instagram is that you can include a link in your profile that leads to your website, or a page on your website. (Tip: try using LinkTree to add multiple links in your profile). This gives you the opportunity to advertise blog posts, link to your pricing, share your about me, etc. This helps with SEO, creates a habit in people to view your content frequently, and builds a deeper level of commitment.

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