Facebook Struggles + Ideas for Photographers

Note: Something new I am starting this year is putting my years of experience in online marketing and web design to work to help photographers. Before Amanda Stock Creative, I worked in both client and agency settings helping people create and market their websites for years. And now I have all of this knowledge locked up in my head. I will not let it go to waste! Expect more articles and tools to help your business throughout the coming year.

A little while ago, Facebook made changes to the way users see friends & pages in their feed. They now filter the main feed based on what you interact with and how often you visit the website. And I can’t help but notice the effect it has had on a lot of photographer pages, especially the ones who relied on Facebook as a their main (or only) marketing avenue.

Facebook still provides great exposure for photographers. But the lesson here is that it is not a wise decision to put ALL of your energy into one place that you have no real control over.

If you are serious about your business then it should be a fundamental part of your online marketing strategy to have a central place online that you have control over, i.e. your own website on your own hosting account.  Then use tools like Facebook to drive traffic to your place. This is one of the reasons I sell both on my own website and Etsy, why I am on Facebook and Twitter, and why I have one central place for my business online.

By relying on these tools as the foundation of your business you are creating risk, since at any time they could delete you or decide to drastically change. Diversify. That way if something like this happens you aren’t hit as hard.

At a basic level the changes make sense. Facebook is trying to increase the conversation and interaction that happens on their website. So, I say: stop complaining and figure out how to make use of the new changes.

I’ve seen SO MANY photographers posting things like “Like this status if you can see it” or “Facebook has made changes, please like this status”, etc. In my opinion, this is a bit lazy.  Sure, you get confirmation that people can actually see your posts and they “like” it so that you’ll probably show up in their feed again. But Instead, why not step out of the box and try posting updates that people naturally will like? Why not create a sensational page so that you do appear more often in people’s news feeds just because you are awesome?

Need some ideas for an awesome page?

• Post your watermarked images on Facebook and tag your clients or ask your clients tag themselves.
• Provide a “Social Sharing” CD with low resolution, watermarked images to your clients so they can upload, email, and share your work with their friends.
• Share interesting content (blogs, videos, etc) that your clients will like or related to photography (industry news, tips, tutorials).
• Instead of always broadcasting about yourself or trying to sell your next session, ask questions & interact.
• Use Facebook as your page (just go to your page and in the top right click the link that says “Use Facebook As…”) and start networking with others (photographers, designers, event planners, prop shops, etc).
• If you find it works for you, hold giveaways of your own and participate in others by donating services or products. Just make sure you follow the rules.
• Promote events you are a part of.
• Reply to fans.
• Post consistently, but not everyday. Aim for 2-4 times per week and quality posts.
• Treat your Facebook photo albums just like your website portfolio.
• Share the photographs you create of your own family and friends on your personal profile. This reminds people you know about your business and can lead to more work.
• Be funny. (One photographer specifically comes to mind, Jasmine Star).
• Start a creative project and share the results.

This just scratches the surface. What kinds of things are you doing on Facebook these days? Have the changes affected your page at all?