I was working with a client recently who has an awesome service-based business in the pre and postnatal space for women. She wrote beautiful captions, had great ideas to share, but was having a hard time showing up consistently on social media.
When I took a look at her work, I had to break it to her – her photos were (mostly) terrible.
She had a few great shots of her family, some nice Canva quote designs, but then a hodgepodge of random photos that weren’t in line with her brand or what her business was about.
I told her that if she really wanted to show up consistently on Instagram in 2019 and beyond, it was time to commit to a brand photoshoot.
What’s a brand photoshoot and how is it different?
When people hear the term, “photoshoot” we typically think about corporate headshots, and overly staged, cheesy photos. While corporate headshots can be useful for your LinkedIn bio and perhaps your website, they often don’t work well on Facebook and Instagram. Here’s three reasons to plan a social media photoshoot in 2020 for better visuals, engagement, and community building.
Reason #1: Showing the real YOU
A brand photoshoot is about capturing the real YOU and telling your story in a visual way. For anyone who works in the service industry, getting photos of what you do every day can be a challenge. Often what sets apart your coaching, wellness, or real estate services from one person to the next is not only how you conduct your business, but how your personality shines through.
There are literally thousands of mindset coaches out there for example, but there is only one you. A brand photoshoot helps to tease out exactly what makes you unique, and what your clients can expect when they meet with you and work with you one-on-one. What quotes inspire you? What tools-of-the-trade do you use? Are you a tea drinker or coffee lover? A brand photoshoot can help you tell your backstory in photos.
Reason #2: It makes you decide what to post and what not to post on social media
If you’re just staring out on Facebook or Instagram, you may have not yet decided what you will, and just as importantly, will not post on social media for your business. Will you include photos of your family? Your children? Does your dog make the cut? Why or why would you not post them? How does it (or not) relate to your business?
Will you always be formally dressed in your photos, or will you show off your Saturday morning pajamas? When you’re just winging it every day on social media, you may have not yet planned out what your brand will and won’t showcase.
If you do decide to mix personal and business, it will be important to set a boundary that makes sense for you. Planning a brand photoshoot can help you draw up some brand guidelines for your small business to make it clearer when something is appropriate to post.
Reason #3: Takes care of the planning for you
The third benefit of a brand photoshoot, is that it makes you stop and think about what you want to be posting and talking about on social media for the next several months. If there is an important event, holiday, or workshop coming up, then you’ll want to create that photo in advance so that you’re ready to promote it when the time comes. Sitting down and working with a content calendar can take all the guesswork out of posting.
The best part is that once you have your batch of social media ready photos and your content calendar ready to go, it’s just a matter of assigning them to their appropriate days, writing up your captions and then scheduling them in your tool of choice – I prefer to use Later for Instagram scheduling.
Back to my pre & post-natal client – she rocked her photoshoot, even though she was nervous, and now has over 3 months’ worth of content to share on social media. Most of the photos we took are “evergreen” meaning that they can be shared anytime, anywhere on social media, and can be used multiple times.
Her photos now see more engagement, she’s able to post consistently across her channels, and she is more clear about what she will and will not be posting, and how it relates back to her core message.
If you would love to learn more about how a brand photoshoot could work for your business, check out my package offer for photography and content planning.
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