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Facebook measure a post's value based on the amount of time users spent with it, so isn’t it about time you embraced Facebook live? Yes, it’s scary but braver, bolder, more creative marketing is essential if you want to stand out. So stay tuned for some Facebook live ideas for photographers!
Are you more of a reader than a watcher? There’s a blog post under the video if you’d prefer...
Facebook made a big announcement a while back about how they’re shifting their goal from helping us to find relevant content towards helping us to have more meaningful, social interactions. I did a very in-depth facebook live on this last weekend so if you’d like to understand what this all means for you - make sure you give that a watch or read the summary.
Zuckerberg mentioned that they see much more engagement under live video, and since engagement and realtime conversations are what Facebook wants, it would seem that live video is still going to be one of the best ways for you to engage with your followers.
If you follow my videos here you’ll know that I think you need to level up your marketing if you want to show the world why you are the ‘go to’ photographer in your area. And part of levelling up is engaging in marketing activities that scare the crap out of you. Bigger, braver, bolder - remember?!
I know you’re listening to this thinking,
‘ME - GO LIVE?!! NO WAY!!!’
If that’s just because you’re scared to then it’s no reason not to. There are truly amazing things on the other side of your fear. And there is nothing worse than that sense of regret when you miss the boat on something that you secretly would have loved to do but were too scared to.
More and more photographers are going to be jumping into Facebook live. How would you feel if you kept putting it off out of fear and then your biggest competitor dived in before you and started engaging the local community live every week?
Would you kick yourself?
So I’m not even going to talk about fear anymore. You’re hopefully not going to let fear get in the way of you doing something that will help you reach and connect meaningfully with your dream clients. Instead, let’s address the other obstacle that’ stopping you from going live…
‘But I have nothing to say! What on earth would I talk about?’
Well let me give you some ideas and hopefully, it’ll get your own creative juices flowing:
We love a good nosey into other people’s goings on. We’re inherently inquisitive. The next time you’re working with clients who seem open to it, ask them if they’d mind you going live on your Facebook page to share some aspects of the shoot with your audience.
You could talk about the outfits your clients are wearing and why they work so well. You could show one of your sleepy newborns curled up in a cute pose and talk through the safety aspects of it all. Or you could show your audience a really quirky favour idea or the beautiful little details from the wedding you’re shooting.
If your clients are up for it you could do a short, informal interview about how they felt before the shoot and what they enjoyed the most. Maybe you could go live during one of your headshot shoots and interview the business person you’re working with about what they do or live steam part of your next networking event.
The possibilities for this kind of live are endless!
You know how important it is that your clients know what to expect when it comes to working with you. The communication and touch points throughout the customer experience are vital to customer satisfaction and a great sale.
Wouldn’t it be great to just show them?
You could go live whilst you’re post-processing and show them how you would take an image from straight out the camera to its final version. You could go live and show them your brand new wall art sample and talk about how and where you would hang it for maximum effect.
Show your audience how you go about creating mock ups of beautiful wall galleries and the process you go through to make them just right. Maybe you could visit your clients who’ve purchased wall galleries from you and go live inside their home showing how they’ve displayed it.
Again, this is a drop in the ocean. You could do the same kind of live over and over again because there will always be a different story to tell.
Facebook loves nothing more than seeing that you have followers coming back to engage with you over and over and over again. Especially if it’s happening consistently on the same day and at the same time each week.
So what could your Facebook Live show be centred around?
If you’re a newborn photographer could you do a show for expecting parents and parents of young kids? You could go live each week and engage with them about stuff that’s relevant and interesting to them. Talk about breastfeeding in public and get some conversation going. Talk about home births and ask them to share their experiences and their concerns. Get some ideas for easy family recipes from your followers. Provide them with some local information that they’ll love to know. Is there a new baby class starting up soon? Maybe you could interview the person behind it?
You’ll find that lots of parents will get involved with something like this. Not just parents-to-be and new parents. We love to talk about our experiences bringing up our kids. And doing this locally could spark new friendships and help parents in your community. You’ll soon become known for a show like this and you’ll be the first name on everyone’s lips when they need a newborn photographer or when someone’s asking for a recommendation.
This wouldn’t just work for newborn photographers. A show for dog owners to discuss all things canine, a show for brides-to-be to discuss all things wedding (and you know you’d have more than just brides-to-be in there because past brides LOVE to keep talking about their wedding for years to come).
Your potential client wants to work with a photographer they’re going to like and trust. They can’t know that about you if you’re faceless and humanless on Facebook. These days it’s the business owners who show us their human side who seem to get the most engagement and build the most trust.
I’m not talking about sharing your deepest and darkest secrets here. I’m just talking about giving your followers a glimpse of who you really are and what makes you tick.
Maybe you’ve just finished reading an amazing book and you want to share the recommendation live with your followers and ask them to recommend a book you should read next. Or you’ve just discovered an amazing new cafe or boutique in the area - go live and share the love! You could go live just to share an awesome sunset that you’re experiencing on your walk with the dog. Perhaps you could go live to talk candidly about the challenges you experience every day being a working parent - you’ll get a lot of engagement around that topic for sure.
Don’t underestimate the power of letting your potential clients get to know you. You’ll attract the people who relate to you and you’ll love working with them. And believe me when I say your fans will choose you as their photographer when the time comes - even if you’re more expensive. At the very least, they’ll be recommending you to everyone they know.
The only thing that’s really in your way is fear and resistance and the only way to beat those enemies is just to go ahead and take action. Don’t think about it too much. Just go live and get your first one over and done with. Hardly anyone will watch to start with so you don’t have to worry about it being crap! No one is a pro straight out of the box. That just doesn’t happen.
All you need is your computer or your phone to go live. Nothing fancy is required. If you want to take it up a level in time, then great, I can help you with that. For now though, the important thing is to start.
Don’t expect ‘through the roof’ numbers and engagement to begin with. It doesn’t work like that. It will build over time and if you can stick with it and be consistent you’re going to love what happens to your enquiries and the quality of your clients.
Before long you’ll find that you’re attracting clients who love your live streams and want to be in them!
Now if all of this sounds great to you but you have no idea where to start and you have problems with consistency and taking action on these bigger, braver marketing activities then look no further than our Togs in Business membership. This is what we exist to do. We help you take the action you need to take to move your business forwards. It’s hard to be disciplined when you’re your own boss. You need accountability. If that sounds familiar then get yourself over to the membership.
So tell me, are you going to go live? I’d love to hear your ideas and your concerns and challenges in the comments. I read them all!
[…] about the wall art they purchased. Use video to show your samples off in the best possible way. Do behind the scenes live streams showing how you go about designing wall galleries or how to hang them in a hassle-free way. Take […]