So you’re a photographer. You’re living the dream as your own boss, choosing when to work, and doing something you love.

That’s great, but perhaps you’re wondering how to grow your photography business.

Enter, Facebook.

With over 2.7 billion (yes, billion) monthly active users, Facebook is one of the most powerful advertising platforms out there. When done correctly, advertising using their platform is sure to help you expand. 

Don’t be put off by the thought of expensive advertisements; some of the most effective things you can do are completely free.

Here are a few tips to help you get started.

1. If you haven’t already, make a business page

This is perhaps the most crucial step, and best of all it is completely free. Having a business page will let you easily showcase your work, let customers leave (hopefully) stellar reviews, and provide those all-important contact details. Setting up a basic page takes minutes, and could not be simpler.

Once you’ve got a page up and running, you could even get your friends and family to like and share your content so that more people can see your page.

2. Post content regularly

People typically have short-term memories. Ever seen something around the house, then a few weeks later needed it? It’s incredibly frustrating to know that you saw it recently but just can’t remember where.

The same happens on someone’s Facebook news feed. They may see your portfolio once and love it, but don’t need a photographer at that moment in time. A year later they’re getting married but have forgotten about your page because they haven’t seen a post in months.

One example of a regular post would be to post something like a “photo of the week”, and engage with fellow Facebookers by asking what they like about the picture (or even to post their own!)

In addition to posting samples of your work, engage with your community by talking about your work too. Photography is a growing hobby, and there are a lot of people who would love to read little tips and tricks for things such as dealing with low light, bright light, red-eye and so on.

Try posting kit reviews, lens recommendations, and why you chose to buy the camera you love so much.

Remember that a like or share is important evidence of advocacy and essentially doubles up as free advertising for you, as a user’s activity will appear on other’s news feeds.

3. Make sure to stand out!

Every industry has cliches, and photography is no exception. We’ve all seen black and white photos where the lack of colour does nothing for the image.

We’ve all seen dozens of sunset photos at the beach where the sky has been overly saturated and almost looks ill. We all love a bit of bokeh, but is it needed in 90% of your photos? Set yourself apart by carefully curating your page to show your creativity.

Make your work your own. People can look at the works of, for example, Van Gogh or Picasso and recognise the painter instantly.

4. Understand paid advertising as a whole

If you’re new to advertising on a digital platform, then it can be a little daunting at first. Luckily, you’re not alone. Plenty of people have been in the same boat and, as such, there are plenty of free resources that go into great detail on the power of search terms, keywords, demographics, and so on.

The skills learned here can be applied to advertising on other digital platforms, such as Google, Bing and other social networks.

5. Know your speciality, and target that audience.

This one is simple – if you’re a wedding photographer, then it’s a little redundant to create a generic photography services advert. Instead, tell the potential client why YOU are the greatest wedding photographer the world has ever seen.

Better yet, use Facebook’s powerful advertising platform to target those who are suspected to be involved in a wedding (for example their relationship status may be “engaged”). Whatever your speciality, Facebook has the tools to let you target the community with pinpoint accuracy.

You’re able to target by location, gender, age, social interests, and much more.

So let’s imagine that you’ve taken all the steps above and now you’re a Facebook wizard. You’re starting to have to turn down business because there aren’t enough hours in the day. This is fantastic – more power to you!

Suddenly, you’re busy doing photography work when calamity strikes and a dog runs into your tripod, knocking it over and destroying your camera lens. Your plans of completing this shoot and moving on to the next are as shattered as the glass. Luckily you have insurance, right?

If not, you’re in the right place. Aaduki Insurance is a specialist photographer and videographer insurer. We provide competitively-priced insurance policies that cover you for equipment, professional indemnity and public liability – tailored to your needs and supported with expert advice.

Get in touch today to see how we can help keep your business going when the worst happens.