7 Quick Steps for Finding Clients on Instagram

f you're a wedding photographer, there is no doubt that you're active on Instagram. Instagram marketing can feel incredibly daunting, though! How can you use Instagram to locate your ideal clients? There are a lot of wedding vendors and businesses on Instagram, so it might feel like you won’t be found.

Instagram is an incredibly powerful tool for photographers. It's not just for the every day user, but for couples looking for vendors. These couples are using Instagram essentially the same way that the common individual uses Google, or any other search engine. Because, let’s face it, Instagram is just a visual search engine!

It’s basically free advertising!

You need the right marketing

Having these newly engaged/wedding planning couples find you is easier than you think! And the best part is that it doesn't require you to spend money to get your posts out there.

Below, we'll break down this down into seven simple steps that allows not only random couples to narrow their search to you, but your actual ideal client! We all know that having one ideal client find and book you through Instagram is much better than 10 clients who won’t (or who probably won’t even fill out your inquiry form). Not every couple is going to gravitate towards your feed on Instagram and book you, and that’s ok.

You know the value of your business and what it can do to benefit others. All that's left to do is put in the work to get your content in front of them on their feed (over, and over, and over…).

The Seven Step Process

1. Post Daily

Instagram is a time-sensitive platform, not evergreen. This means that once you post to Instagram, it’s only a matter of minutes before it’s gone from your follower's feed. Now, it’s not really gone (unless you delete it), but it becomes extremely difficult to come across again (unless you are ready to get your thumb workout in and scroll for a while. Posting daily allows couples and individuals more opportunities to come across your work and content.

2. Use Hashtags

Trusting people to come across your work without the use of hashtags is like trusting that you'll winning the lottery. However, once you start utilizing hashtags by adding them to each of your posts, people will search for your work! This is how Instagram is like Google; like we mentioned earlier, Instagram IS a search engine! It’s searchable with and through hashtags. Now all you have to do is figure out what your ideal clients are searching for and then you use these as your hashtags!

3. Know Who Your Ideal Client Is

Knowing who your ideal client is probably the most important part when getting found through Instagram. Because not every couple out there wants to work with you, and you don’t want to work with them. You want to work with people that get you excited to do your job! This is your ideal client, and knowing who they are, what they do, and what they’re interested in makes finding those useful hashtags so much easier. You have to get in the mind of your ideal client and the words they are using to search.

4. Speak to Your Client

Once you have figured out what your ideal client does, what they’re interested in, and what makes them happy, all that's left is to write captions that speak to them specifically. Again, do not try and speak to everybody in general on Instagram. Be specific to the person you want to work with, to you, and your brand by being authentic to who you are. They may not check off every single box on your ideal client checklist, but it only takes one of the boxes for you to get noticed by them. For example, if your ideal client is a coffee drinker, speak to that person! If they are a tea drinker, speak to that person! These captions should come with ease to you.

5. Connect With Their Values

Knowing your ideal client is a must. While the image you post may be what stops them scrolling in the first place, they will read and connect even more with your captions. So be sure to show the type of work that you are proud of that will make that person stop scrolling. They will want to stop, look at your photo, and say “I want that to be me.”

6. Create a Connection With a Call to Action

Going off of step number 4, your captions should have a Call To Action (CTA).  Meaning that at the end of each of your captions, you should state something that sparks a conversation! Give the person scrolling permission to want to write a response. This also allows the scroller to feel a connection with you and your brand. It also will increase other people to want to comment as well. And then it becomes a domino effect, as one comment leads to other. Which in turn gets your post more popular. Instagram then notices this and will start pushing your content in front of more people.

7. Make the First Move

Expecting people to comment on each of your posts is unrealistic. Instead, treat commenting on Instagram like the Golden Rule that you learned as a child, “Comment onto others posts, how you would want to be commented on.” Meaning, don’t expect people to comment on your posts until you’ve done that on theirs. Be the first to make a move, and set the tone. The tough part about this is that it will not happen overnight. So be authentic with your comments, and be consistent. If you are struggling with words to write on other peoples posts, then it’s probably not a good fit for you. But don’t worry, there are plenty of others who are.

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Congratulations!

You’ve just done Instagram Marketing!

Yes, we know Instagram is time consuming. Whether you are on there to be a spectator and scroll like it’s your business, or you are literally on there for your business. These seven steps are not a cure-all for Instagram, but they are created by us to put you in the position to help you and your business thrive. All you have to do is put in the time and work. Again, it will not happen overnight, so be sure to be persistent.

Put in the time, and it will pay off.

Seriously! As soon as you get that first booking, you'll know it was a worthy investment.

Don’t quite understand hashtags? Don’t worry!

Download our free hashtag cheat sheet? Just click here!

And don’t forget to view our Resources Page for lots of freebies and information on our Virtual Cooney Classroom!