Pinterest is for photography marketing! Who knew?

There are so many different ways you can market your business. The platforms are endless, but I have one you may not have considered.

That’s right… Pinterest.

It’s a search engine that could be furthering your business awareness and potential leads.  As a photographer and potentially a wedding pro, you might be leaving money on the table.

But I get it… you may not even know how to use Pinterest for your photography business.

That’s alright, I got you!

My friend Gabby Pinkerton & I teamed up to film not 1 but 2 videos giving you ten expert tips to grow your photography business.

So let’s get started.

1. Start with an optimized profile

Show your best work as your background photo. Showcasing your best work wherever you can add a picture helps to optimize your profile.

Using keywords is just as important because keywords drive Pinterest. In the wedding industry, you have to be clear on who you are, what you do, and who you do it for. This is the way to stand out as there are a lot of wedding pros on Pinterest.

Use a location keyword or a style keyword like Boho Weddings or Nashville Weddings. Take the time to go through your profile and optimize your bio, imagery, and the name of your profile. Your profile name should have your name and some other keywords that describe who you are, what you do, and who you do it for.

RELATED:  6 Places to Use Keywords to Optimize Your Pinterest Profile

2. Create relevant boards for your audience

Pinterest has recently created a new algorithm, which is basically a new automatic delivery and indexing of Pinterest images on the platform. So, as soon as you pin your pins to the platform, you should be delivered through the algorithm right to your ideal audience, as long as the keywords in the board that you pin it to are really relevant. However, it can take some time.

So, relevancy is really important with your keywords and the boards that you are pinning to. Make sure your profile is really relevant to the audience you are trying to target.  For example, if you are a vegan food blogger and you are trying to target boho wedding clients. It doesn’t connect as it is not relevant.

RELATED:  The Ultimate Guide to Create Your Pinterest Board Strategy

3. Tag vendors to your pins

This is one of the most exciting parts of the new changes on Pinterest.  In the wedding industry, we are used to tagging vendors on Instagram. It is good for engagement on Instagram, but it is also essential to credit everybody who has worked on an event. That was previously not possible on Pinterest, but now you can tag specific accounts on Pinterest. As a wedding pro, that is a game-changer.

It is …. essential to credit everybody who has worked on an event. As a wedding pro, that his a game-changer.”

According to Gabby, whenever she is making a fresh Pin, she makes sure to click that little mention button or do that @ symbol on the caption of her pin. This helps bring up the name and the accounts of the vendors that have worked with her.

So, if you are a photographer, you should be tagging the vendors you’ve worked with on your events. The vendors should also be tagging you in every single photo that they are posting on Pinterest. This helps bring more audience to your content.

4. Use as many features as you can

Many people do not know what all the Pinterest features are or what is available because they aren’t actively using or familiar with the platform. Here are some of the features that you should be using.

Test out story pins

There is a huge boost in visibility with story pins.  If you just want to play around with your account, see if you have access to story pins. If not, you can request access. It’s like an Instagram story.

In the wedding industry, you want to see a little bit behind the scenes. They are not as curated as a beautiful pin that you would usually add, but they can be a mix of videos and photos. You can mention or tag your vendors. So play with story pins and see what your audience likes.

RELATED:  Will Pinterest Story Pins Help You Grow Your Brand?

Use text overlay

Do a mix of beautiful imagery and some with text overlay on them. In my experience, the text overlay images get more click-throughs. This is because pins with no text on them give no context of what the pin is about.

People generally scroll through images at great speed. If there is no text, people have no reason to stop unless something in the image catches their eye. And then they pin it to a board that is really not relevant to what you want them to pin it to.

For example, they can pin a wedding-related pin to a woodworking board because the table in the image was wood. This might not connect, and the engagement after that also may not connect too.

So adding text overlay with your images gives double the information and help to the viewer in finding more of what you offer that meets their needs.

Use video pins

Instagram is pushing reels, and TikTok is all video. All social media platforms are pushing videos. This Is true on Pinterest as well.

When you cover your next wedding, you can get your assistant to record a little bit of you working as a photographer. You can also make a little video montage of photos you have taken. Make a video that is relevant to your business that you can show as a video pin on Pinterest.

Even though video pins have been available for several years now, they are becoming the next big thing. Using them will help boost your engagement greatly.

RELATED:  How to Make Video Pins on Pinterest Effortlessly

5. Write compelling keyword-optimized descriptions

There are two places where you use descriptions on Pinterest, pin descriptions and your boards.

Pin description

One of these places is your main pin description. Focus on one main keyword that is relevant to the image that you see.  It will also be relevant to the blog post or gallery of work that you are sending them to. The keyword should also be relevant to your business as a whole.

Make sure your title is optimized with the keyword, and then that keyword is repeated in the pin description.

Boards

The next place that you are going to use your descriptions is in your boards. The SEO Gabby was talking about is vital to use throughout your profile, including your board descriptions.

The keywords are so important to use throughout your videos, including your board description. That’s how you get found because Pinterest is a search engine. You use the keywords that you want to be found for, just like Google.

So your pin descriptions help your pins to be found in search, and your board descriptions help your boards to be found in search. This helps drive you up in the algorithm.

The keywords are so important to use. That’s how you get found because Pinterest is a search engine, just like Google.

6. Eye-catching images to stop the scroll

If you want to grow your wedding photography business on Pinterest, you need eye-catching images to stop the scroll. As a photographer, you have endless amounts of images, so use that to your advantage.

I am usually looking for details in the photos. That’s what stops the scroll for me. Up-close shots of tablescapes, flower bouquets, and little flower girls’ dresses are what make me stop.

People generally stop scrolling when they see something that answers their questions or vision.  It can be a beautiful colorful bouquet or a wide shot of the ceremony space.

7. Niche marketing

Figure out who your niche market is. When Gabby started in the wedding business, she did all kinds of weddings. However, she started to grow her business when she started to niche down. She picked a specific style of wedding that she was really good at, and she doubled down her marketing efforts on that. That is what made her the expert in adventurous festival-style weddings.

The same is true on Pinterest. If you are trying to target too many kinds of clients, or you are trying to cover too many kinds of keywords, you are doing yourself a disservice. If you love to cover all kinds of weddings, you can niche down on a location or time of year.

RELATED:  How to Use Pinterest Marketing for Service Providers

8. Location-specific keywords

Get specific on your location keywords because that is what couples are looking for before they find you. If you are a couple about to get married, you may not know who you are going to hire for your wedding photography, but you might know what your venue is and what your city of choice is going to be.

As a wedding photographer, you have to think about how you can pop up in these location keywords. Location-specific keywords really helped Gabby attract clients in specific wedding venues that we love and dream of.

So even if you haven’t worked in a certain location before, you can have a board dedicated to that location. It can be a country you want to work in, or a city, or even a specific venue. You can curate that for your clients and hopefully add some content of your own when you do work there.

9. Detail and lighting photos

We’re not just talking about well-lit photos, which of course, they should be. What we’re trying to focus on are fairy lights and bistro lights. People love night shots with starry lights.

When people search for images on Pinterest, they are looking for photos that evoke specific feelings. While dining under the stars or the bistro lights, your future customers know now the design style they want, they love the look of that. If they can find a vendor that can recreate that look for them, there is a high chance they are going to click through to your website and poke around.

10. Detail shots instead of full wedding shots

Photographers sometimes like to do romantic shots of couples holding hands instead of a decor tablescape or a wide shot of the ceremony. Only having couples shots doesn’t do as well because people cannot associate with the people in the pictures. It is not relevant to how they are planning their wedding unless they are looking for a particular dress style.

Think of a client’s journey when they are typing in a search term on Pinterest.  They are going to be thinking of a detailed shot or a vision of a ceremony or reception. So if you are spending just an hour or so on Pinterest per week, prioritize detailed shots instead of all romantic couple shots. 

When you have more time to dedicate on Pinterest, you can add photos of romantic couples and see what does better.  When you eventually do add romantic couple shots, add the keyword-based on attire. That will help you pop up a bit more in the search results.

If you’re using Pinterest for wedding photographers then you definitely should be pinning all of those gorgeous shots you take from the wedding ceremony to the reception to Pinterest.

RELATED:  How to Repurpose Content for Pinterest

Final Thoughts

We hope that this post helped all the photographers out there to learn how to market their business better on Pinterest. Pinterest is a wonderful platform that can help connect you with many new users and potential clients.

Just make sure to follow all of these tips, work it for at least six months, and see how your business grows.  Cheers!

Pin It For Later