Social media has truly changed how we do business and has made it incredibly easy for people to reach an audience and attract clients, so, I am a fan. You can find me on the Gram, on Pinterest and yes, I’ve even tried my hand on TikTok.

But with an ever-changing algorithm, it can feel daunting to try and reach the right people, so it begs the question – where should you be spending your time marketing yourself?

If there is one marketing platform that I believe you need to spend MOST of your time and energy – IT’S YOUR WEBSITE!

1) Website. Own your own domain

Why? You own your website; you are just renting on social media.

Benefits of owning a website:

• You can craft a detailed and customized client journey through a well-crafted website. (Attracting the client that is perfect for you, and repelling those who are not a good fit)
• A website is an excellent way to establish yourself as an expert in your field (by sharing knowledge that is tailored to your client and their pain points and needs)
• A website builds trust with your ideal customer (not only through the content and messaging you share, but in showing that you are serious about what you do, by investing the money and time to build a beautiful and impactful website)
• You can save yourself countless hours of work, by referring clients back to content you have already created on your website (like pricing guides, FAQ’s, Blog posts etc.)
• And, like said before – YOU OWN IT. You can make it look and feel exactly the way you want to best represent your brand your voice.

I have seen how a well-crafted website consistently converts the right clients into bookings (and as cool as it might seem to be popular on the gram – a viral reel doesn’t put money in the bank)

Okay, so after you’ve invested in a website, where do you go to find clients:

2) Pinterest

Pinterest is basically a search engine (with pictures ;)) and any content that you post on there, has more longevity than the few hours it’s relevant on a platform like Instagram.

Using a few select keywords that your ideal client might be searching for, pinning regularly, and becoming known for those keywords are some of the basics of getting started on Pinterest.

It takes a bit of setup, research and trial and error, but it’s a simple and powerful way to drive people to your website.

PRO TIP:

Want to know what keywords to start using?

Use the Pinterest search bar and type in what you do (destination wedding photographer) and see what comes up, and what other keywords are suggested.

Don’t be afraid to repeat this process a few times to land on 5 – 10 keywords you want to use often. Then use them in your pin description, image description and board descriptions.

3) Blogging

Blogging is not dead.

I have booked clients through blog posts. Who has searched for and found me on Google through a blog post that I have done (and yes, also through Pinterest that led them to a blog, that led them to me)

The trick with blogging is to get better at SEO.

Some of the basics of SEO is, once again, using keywords in your post that clients are searching for (renaming images using keywords so they show up in searches) and blogging valuable content that your clients are looking for.

Lost on where to start to know what your clients what to know (check out answer the public for a helpful guide on what people are searching for)

This is also a great way to find content ideas if you are feeling stuck.

Writing good headlines, that speak to your ideal client and what they are looking for, and elicits a clickable response is important to encourage people to visit your blog posts.

For example, is you are posting about a wedding, instead of saying “Michelle and Greg’s wedding” describe the vibe and location in the title: “Elegant Beach Micro wedding” or “Harry Potter inspired DIY wedding”

Different brides will resonate with different types of weddings. So, make sure you blog the type of work you want to share more of.

4) Ads (yes, Facebook and Instagram and even Google ads work)

Running ads are IDEAL for creatives who don’t want to, not do they have the time to show up personally on social media (who need to get their business off the ground quickly, and don’t want to try to build a personal brand and following on social media)

The trick with running ads can be boiled down to a few basics:

•   Market yourself (not advertise yourself) Basically:  

How you setup your ad (through the copy you use) will make you stand out to the right people, so getting clear on who you want to reach, and what words will resonate with them, and not just make you look like a photographer saying “book me, I’m a photographer.

Basically, you want to build trust and invite them into the experience you offer so that they want to get in touch.

For example: “Cringe free couple photo’s with someone who feels like a friend” will resonate and probably be noticed much better than “Johannesburg wedding photographer”

Lead with connection and sell the problem you solve – not the product you offer.

• Target the right people

You don’t just want to boost a post; you’re wasting your money. You want to reach future brides who are currently looking for a wedding photographer, not reaching vendors in the industry or people that aren’t even engaged. So, setting up an audience, with the right interests is crucial. Otherwise, you will be spending a lot of money targeting wedding vendors instead of brides.

• It requires a bit of testing to get it right

Setting up an ad requires a bit of A/B testing to see which images works better, what copy is most impactful and if you have setup the audience correctly, and you are indeed reaching the right people and not wasting your money targeting people who don’t want your services in the first place.

So, plan to test each variable for about 3 days each before you will have an add that is correctly setup to run.

Not ready to give up on the gram yet? Yeah, me either.

– Intagram

Instagram is still a really great place to market yourself. If you are feeling burned out and lost when it comes to connecting with the right people on Instagram – I’ve got something for you:

Check out my captions that connect (and move away from chasing an algorithm and rather chase impact with my fool proof 30 day, done for you Instagram captions that connect)

Or if you are ready to get serious with meaningfully marking yourself and your business – check out my course Meaningful marketing.