I remember the first time that I heard about Instagram. I was one of the very first users on the app back in 2010, but only integrated it into my business in November of 2014 and have seen huge growth in my business because of it. I do think that I lost a lot of potential clients by not jumping on Instagram earlier… And that’s why I think it’s so crucial to be on Snapchat now. Snapchat is here and it’s going to be the next big social media platform.
As a photographer, and as a business owner, it’s essential that your business is present where people are paying attention. Especially in the senior photography industry, Instagram and Snapchat are the two platforms where every senior’s attention is focused right now and soon they will be even more widely used by all ages. Snapchat is a app that is unlike any other social media platform that we’ve seen before. Snapchat is an app that allows people to follow users and see their “My Story.”
While platforms like Facebook and Instagram have content that you can see forever (unless the person deletes it of course…), Snapchat is entirely different. These stories consist of video and photo clips that are no longer than ten seconds and disappear after 24 hours. These can either be posted to the person’s “My Story” for their followers to see and actively consume, or sent directly to an individual person much like a private message.
The big reason that everyone should be on Snapchat is because people are actually paying attention to what content is on there.
There are several main screens on Snapchat. You navigate the app by swiping in all directions depending on which screen you’re on. The screen with your username is how you add people either by username or having them scan your “Snapcode,” which is like a QR code. The other screens are where you can take and send photos/videos to your story or other users, view what others have sent you personally and the last screen is where everyone else’s stories are displayed. What’s cool is you can add text, emojis, filters and draw on the images or video to communicate whatever message you’re looking to convey!
I jumped into Snapchat for my business this past summer for my Class of 2016 seniors. In doing so, I found that this brought another dynamic to my business’ social media presence. Here are some ideas that you can hopefully implement into your business, put your own spin on it and utilize Snapchat to help add a different dimension to your brand!
The biggest thing that I use Snapchat for is showing the behind the scenes. The reason that I do this is it lets prospective clients see what you’re all about. I believe that hiring a photographer is very personal. As the client, you want someone that you’ll feel comfortable around and who will be able to connect with you. Seeing the behind the scenes during a shoot puts any prospective clients in the middle of a photoshoot! They can be part of the experience and see what your shoots are like, how you direct them for posing, the energy of the shoot and envision what it’s like to be on-set with you! Since we as photographers are often really busy during the session, I like to have whoever is on set with us help run the Snapchat while the senior or myself are in the middle of taking photos. I usually just ask that they’re careful about what they’re posting in terms of duplicate content and the overall length of the Snapchat story. What’s even better is when they bring a friend along with them – this gets them extra involved in the experience and leads to them having a great time and something to do!
Another way that I utilize Snapchat is to show what I’m working on while I’m not at the photoshoot or on location. This includes things like editing, hair and makeup sessions before shoots, packaging orders, ordering sessions and anything that might be going on during the day. Since I primarily use Instagram as a portfolio of my work, I like to use Snapchat to put a face to the brand. This allows potential clients to get to know me a little bit better before booking me as their photographer. Plus, showing the things that I don’t post to my Instagram or Facebook pages allows me to treat Snapchat as a platform where only those that follow me get to see content exclusively shown on Snapchat.
My favorite thing to do is to show off sneak peeks early on Snapchat before I post them to other social media platforms! This is the quickest way to gain followers! Your clients will be so excited about showing their friends the photos that they will tell them to go follow you. This is built in word of mouth that happens naturally and is great for you since you don’t have to ask people to follow you – it all happens organically.
Finally, I use my Snapchat as a marketing tool. What’s awesome about Snapchat is that being featured on someone’s story, or what have become known as a “Snapchat Takeover,” is a huge selling point for your senior photography sessions! Being part of something that not everyone gets to be a part of is a huge selling point for this generation of seniors. They love exclusivity and being featured on someone else’s Snapchat story is a great way to give that to them. In addition, I make up a square image for every one of my seniors. This includes my Snapchat username, a selfie of the senior whose session it is and general branding. I then have them tweet the photo and post it to their Instagram account. Now all of a sudden, you’re reaching completely different audiences than you would just by posting to your own business Instagram account. Plus, they feel cool about getting to show off having their session with you and they get to tell their friends to go follow their session on your account.
The biggest thing that I have done on Snapchat is truly treat it like a takeover and let the senior post what they want to. As far as I’m concerned, this is the client’s Snapchat account during the session. They know the content that people like to see and they know what they get excited about during the session. I believe that this connects better with their peers and allows you to develop a brand that is centered around them. It shows you truly want them to have an incredible experience.
Snapchat is here to stay. It’s not a fad, it’s not going to grow old in the next year – it’s the real deal. Every photography business should be on Snapchat despite your target market. It’s better to get on Snapchat while you have time to learn it and figure out how you best want to utilize it in your business than waiting until everyone is on it and not knowing how you want to use the app.
Question from our readers: When you say takeover, are you meaning hand the client the phone?
For a Snapchat Takeover, this is where I physically hand the phone to the senior or their friend to run my business’ Snapchat account! To make sure they stay in the Snapchat app the entire time, I turn on Guided Access on my iPhone. This makes sure they’re only on Snapchat and not going through other parts of my phone (not that they would do that anyways!). Here is a link from Apple to help get you started on setting up your phone for Guided Access: https://support.apple.com/en-
2016 is the year for Snapchat! What are your thoughts on Snapchat? I would love to hear if you all are on Snapchat already or how you plan to use it in your business this year. Leave a comment below and let me know!
Sean Brown is a photographer based out of Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR specializing in high school senior portrait photography. Sean believes that photography should be personal and that each person should come away with images that reflect themselves and who they are as a person. Sean enjoys working with people and embraces the challenge of capturing each person’s personality in a different, unique way that’s true to who they are at this point in their life.
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Website | Instagram | Facebook | Snapchat: SBPphotos
