While the social media marketing landscape is ever-evolving, there’s a question floating amongst creatives… is Instagram still relevant? With social videos becoming so important in the landscape of marketing, it can be disheartening for photographers who primarily deal with still images. As virtual assistants for wedding photography professionals, we’ve been working with our clients to develop sustainable strategies on Instagram for wedding photographers that stand the pressures of algorithm changes and formatting updates.

The Power of Instagram for Wedding Photographers

First and foremost, this app is still the best way to market your still images to potential clients. Beyond that, it’s a social network that can make potential, current, and past clients feel valued by your brand. Our VA team for wedding photographers works with clients on engagement strategies that only add value to the visual aspects of Instagram. We’ll go over the best ways to make the most of this photography-driven app; and how to adjust to its modern updates.

Define Your Goals for Using Instagram to Market Your Business

When you take this platform seriously as a wedding photographer, you can reap some serious benefits. But let’s backtrack to start the refresh of your Instagram strategy. What goals do you have for Instagram in your wedding photography business? Do you want to build a big social following? Perhaps you’re focused on finding potential clients, or having them find you. Honestly, there are many reasons to use the app, and there’s no wrong answers. Ensure that you know what exactly you’re looking to achieve before diving into a strategic refresh.

Decide How Much Time You’re Willing to Dedicate to the ‘Gram

One thing about any social media strategy is… it takes a good amount of time. Between capturing, editing, client communications, albums… there’s a lot on your plate! You’ll want to understand just how much time per week you’re willing to dedicate to a consistent Instagram presence for your business. You may only be posting once per week, or it could be several times per day. Consider how aggressive you’re willing to get with your engagement strategy as well.

Track Demographics for Your Business with Instagram Analytics

As a wedding photographer, you may have a target demographic you’re hoping to speak to. When it comes to Instagram Analytics, this is an awesome tool to see who you’re actually reaching. For example, if you’re hoping to reach women-identifying individuals of a specific age range, you can track your progress on targeting those people week to week with your analytics. Plus, you can see if your followers are actually local to your area, and tailor accordingly on a regular basis.

Engage with Potential Clients in Your Area on this Social Network

Beyond the value of brand presence and credibility, you can generate actual business on the ‘gram. It’s an awesome tool for photographers to connect with those planning a wedding in your area. Plus, you can keep up with past wedding clients to share your maternity and family session offerings. This platform will keep you top-of-mind for your customer base.

Work with Our Team to Reach a More Local Audience

Our team of virtual assistants for wedding photographers has a ton of experience in tailoring a local audience. If you’re not sure how to market to your specific area, we can help you. The point of your wedding photography Instagram is to market to your area. It doesn’t help if you’re based in San Francisco but your following is primarily based in the Mid-West.

How to Use Reels on Instagram for Wedding Photographers

Reels can be a great way to develop a following on this app. Instagram is heavily pushing Reels to compete with TikTok, which is perfect if you want to build up your presence. You could talk to the camera… or even dance! But for those who are a little more camera-shy (isn’t that why so many become photographers?) there are other great options to promote yourself.

Use Video Content to Your Advantage as a Wedding Photographer

For those wedding photographers who don’t offer videography, the idea of Instagram’s video format can be daunting. What should you even put out there?! The great thing about Reels is that you can do a lot with still images. Try some templates on the native platform, or look at apps like CapCut that can make editing easier. Put together photo dump videos from weddings and engagement sessions that you love.

Upload GIFs as Videos to Instagram for Your Wedding Photography Business

One of the easiest “hacks” to get some extra engagement is to use GIFs of your wedding photos as videos. If you love to create moving images from multiple still frames, this is perfect for your video strategy. It could be a GIF of a great champagne pop, a flower petal toss, or just an epic kiss. Look through your archives to see what images you can “GIF” together for some Instagram Reels.

Stay on Top of Trends When Planning Your Instagram Schedule

Beyond trends in wedding photography, you’ll also want to look out for trends on the platform itself. When Instagram released Carousels, for example, it became super popular to make swipe-through posts. Wedding photographers also have the unique ability to create one large swipe-through image for their followers to absorb the details of a larger image.

Follow Along with Trends on Instagram Reels

Our advice is to follow other photographers who inspire you when planning your wedding photography Instagram Reels. There are some great trends to easily jump on to gain even more engagement. Plus, your potential clients will love to see that you’re keeping up with trendy content. They’ll want their photos to feel the way the ones you put out there feel. The more you put out, the more they can immerse themselves in your work.

Keep Up with Trends in Wedding Photography

We’ve all seen the oh-so-trendy motion blur wedding photos that have been circulating on TikTok and Instagram for wedding photographers. Be sure to throw in a couple of trendy images on top of your timeless classics. It’s a great way to show clients you can take their specific trend requests, while still maintaining your style. Plus, you’re more likely to draw in extra engagement for “trendy” content.

Do You Need Daily Posts on Instagram for Wedding Photographers?

The age-old question: how often should you post on Instagram? However, the great part about this is that there are no wrong answers. The best way to manage your Instagram as a wedding photography professional is to prioritize consistency. You’ll want to be posting on a realistic schedule that you can maintain. If you post once a week, post on the same day every week. That way, the algorithms will know when to expect to push your content.

Is There a Best Time to Post on Instagram?

The answer here is complicated because at this point, no one knows! It seems like the best times would be when you expect potential clients to be online. Lunch hour and after working hours on weekdays, and during the day time on weekends. But when it comes to your schedule, post when it’s the best time to do so for you. If you can only manage to do so in the mornings or before weddings, then that’s the best time for you to post.

Get an Instagram Scheduling App

For wedding photographers, these are such game-changers. You can get an Instagram scheduling app like Coschedule, Preview, or Tailwind to build a consistent posting schedule. This will save you hours… and ensure that you’re not always thinking about your next post.

Consider Outsourcing Your Wedding Photography Instagram Management

If you’re overwhelmed by the idea of managing this powerful social tool, you do have the option to outsource Instagram management. As a team of virtual assistants for wedding photographers, we love to help clients take on this strategic social network. Your outsourced tasks could be anything from curating, to writing captions, to building a schedule, to engaging with potential clients. Consider what brings you the most dread about Instagram… and have someone else take care of it.

Not Ready to Outsource? Try Our Instagram for Wedding Photographers Mini-Course!

For wedding photographers who want full control of this visual platform, we’ve got a great solution for you. Access our Instagram for Wedding Photographers Mini-Course to start gaining more clients from this social tool. We’d love to share our practices with you to help build out the best possible social media strategy for your business. Sign up here to get started on our strategies for the ‘gram, beyond the grid.

Reach Out to Our Wedding Photography VA Team for the Best Fit

If you’re ready to start developing your Instagram for wedding photographers, reach out and let us know. We’ll let you know if it sounds like outsourcing would be best, or if there are ways we can help you manage it yourself. We also offer hybrid options which take away certain stressors like comments and likes, but allow you the freedom to create the grid as you please. Reach out and let us know – we can’t wait to help you grow your company.

Photography Credit: Megan & Kenneth