How to Book Clients with Instagram - Marketing Tips for Creative Entrepreneurs
DO YOU EVEN GRAM, BRO?
Instagram is undoubtedly one of the most powerful apps for business owners. For brands big and small, Instagram is all about reach. Unlike Facebook, you don't have to pay to access your target audience. This is especially valuable for the growth of new brands who don't have a strong following to begin with.
With the right strategy and a hint of aesthetics, you can easily access your dream market. Here's a few tips to up your gram game, if you will.
1. Use #hashtags
Without using hashtags, it's hard to draw in followers who weren't initially seeking you or your business. Don't be spammy with them, but include relevant hashtags that your dream client searches through. Ie. A makeup artist might hashtag the brands or techniques used in a makeup look. Search for popular hashtags that fellow creatives in your industry use on a regular basis. I like keeping a note open on my iPhone with relevant hashtags. You can also create a business specific hashtag to collect all of your projects of a certain category. For my wedding photography, I tag my posts with #pbcweddings so that potential brides can search that tag if they happen to come across my work. I also like adding extra tags in a comment instead of my caption, so that when people comment the tags are eventually hidden.
2. Build Relationships
Tag your existing clients when you post about them. Follow other creatives and comment authentically (ie. just writing "Beautiful!" or "Cool!" wont convince anybody to be your pal and seems spammy). Use photo stalking time productively and actually comment and connect with other people in your industry and potential clients!
3. Be Personal
Have just one account for your business + personal posts! Being personal allows your followers to connect with you as a human being, not just a brand, which means they are more likely to think of you if they ever need your services. Also, if a follower connects to you on a personal level, then they are probably your ideal client! Behind-the-scenes posts and "real life" chats are super relatable. However, you should avoid mass uploading personal posts (ie. 5 photos of your kids in a row). Choose your favourite, most brand appropriate image out of a set to post.
4. Host a Giveaway
Round robin giveaways with other creatives are an easy way to gain more followers that are your ideal clients. You could also do a giveaway of one of your services, requiring people who enter to both regram and follow you.
5. Only Post Your Best
Every post should be 150% your style/your brand. People should know from the moment they stumble across your profile what your signature style is and what it is that you offer. The quality of your most recent 6 posts are what people will use to judge your whole feed.
6. Find Your Sweet Spot
Oversharing seems spammy and is a lot to keep up with. On the other side, not sharing frequently enough means you're not using this tool to it's full potential. Good content once a day is enough to exponentially gain a following. Ps. you can use Latergram (it's free!) to get images from your computer to your phone with the proper Instagram format.
7. Edit Consistently
What posts are you most drawn to on Instagram? Identify what look you want to achieve and stick with that. Overfiltering is an undeniable no-go-zone nowadays, but you still want your images to be clean and consistent. Apps like VSCO Cam, Afterlight, and Pic Tap Go are big time savers for editing your smartphone shots. When a user visits your feed, everything should flow without any images looking out of place.
What are your favourite marketing tricks for connecting with potential clients on Instagram?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Thanks for dropping by! I'm Caileigh and I create killer brand identities and offer coaching for creative entrepreneurs with gumption. When I'm not helping people build profitable businesses, I document love stories as a fine art film photographer. Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, & Pinterest.