What is social media, why use social media, and what are practical strategies we can implement?

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Social Media Strategies for Photographers by Eric Kim

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What is social media?

Social media is a platform that allows you to share, interact, and engage with your followers.

Social media includes Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Flickr, Tumblr, etc.

Generally the social media platforms you use are free and don’t cost you anything. Of course, there is always a hidden catch — eventually you will have to pay money to these “free” platforms to connect with more of your fans.

Why use social media?

I personally think in some ways social media is overrated. I think it is more important to build your own website/blog, and build your own newsletter (I recommend mailchimp.com)

Social media is like the branches of your tree. Your website is like the trunk.

Social media is helpful, but we shouldn’t invest too much focus on it. I would recommend put 20% of your effort in social media, and use 80% of your focus building your own platform.

Practical social media strategies

Black and White Headshot of ERIC KIM by John Hall

Use these 10 strategies to build a following, build trust with your followers, and to stay to your own vision:

1. Ask questions

Ask questions to your audience to engage them. Empower your followers by asking them questions, to give them the opportunity to share their experiences, their opinions, and their perspectives.

For example ask questions such as:

What are your favorite photography quotes?
How did you get started in photography?
Why do you make photos?

I generally find the best questions start with the question, “Why?” because it encourages us to be more philosophical and deeper about our own motivations.

2. Make it personal

Whatever strategy you pursue in social media, make sure it is authentic and real to yourself. Use social media like how you would talk in real life. Use your natural voice, and share personal photos. Show your humanness, don’t just be like an anonymous brand.

Rather, build your own personal brand with your first and last name.

For myself, I share photos of Cindy, I write how I talk, and I use this as a strategy to connect deeper with my followers. I treat them like friends. I try to write these blog posts like letters, to be more relatable. I share my hopes, dreams, and also my personal fears and failures.

Lesson: Talk to your audience and followers like your real friends, don’t censor yourself, and be real.

3. Share what you would like

It is impossible to know what others will like. My suggestion:

Only share what you would like.

This allows you to build a following of people who think the same as you, and share the same or similar life perspectives.

Whenever I write content, I try to write and format it in a way which I would like to consume. For example, I like reading letters, tip posts, and a mix of practical and philosophical ideas. Therefore, I share these ideas in this style — because I like it when others do it that way.

4. For maximum engagement and social media boost, post once a day at noon (your time)

Of course timing will differ, but if you want maximum boost on Facebook and Instagram, noon at pacific time works best for me.

But also, don’t go overboard with optimization. I nowadays treat social media like a stream— keep flowing like a stream of water, with less friction and concern about “optimizing”. Because in truth, there is never anything fully optimal in life. Just do your best, and publish whenever you feel like it.

Also a new shift for myself:

Share more than less.

5. Follow your own gut

You will never know what is best, so just follow your gut.

Listen to your own inner voice, your own strategy, and what feels right to you. To be more authentic to yourself, put more trust in your own gut and intuition than data, page views, followers, and like numbers.

If you’re gonna do something on social media and it feels wrong to you, don’t do it. If you feel it is right (yet everyone else thinks you’re crazy), JUST DO IT.

By following your own intuition, you might be wrong, but you will feel less regret by following your own voice. Also you will be able to take more risks in your life, be more adventurous and have more fun.

6. Less is more.

Less is more if you want more social media reach. That means, the less frequently you post, the more traffic you will get. Also the less you publish, the less “noise” there will be, and more “signal.”

For example, I publish a lot on this blog, but I try to send out my newsletter less frequently (newsletter once a week or every two weeks).

Whatever “less” means to you — follow it.

7. 1,000 true fans

You don’t need a million followers. You probably don’t need 100,000 followers, 50,000 followers, or even 10,000 followers. All you need is “1,000 true fans”— to successfully monetize your photography, or to gain more critical acclaim for your photos.

This means, the quality of your followers matters more than the quantity of your followers.

If someone is a “true fan”, they will attend your workshop, attend your seminar, purchase your products, books, or prints, or enjoy your work, and spread the word about you.

Also realize a lot of people who have tons of followers have few “true fans”.

The best way to build a true fan:

Be unabashedly you.

8. Build trust

You wouldn’t marry the first person you meet. You wouldn’t become best friends with someone you just encounter.

In human relations, trust is the most important element.

For example, “branding” is nothing more than building trust. I trust NIKE and therefore buy their shoes. I trust LEICA to make high quality goods. I trust NORTH FACE to keep me dry and warm.

Realize you cannot build trust overnight. It might take you 5-10 years to truly build trust with your followers or audience. Even the average person who attends my (expensive) workshops has usually followed me for at least 1-2 years.

To build trust, be real, authentic, consistent, and genuine. People can smell bullshit from a mile away.

By being true to yourself, there are going to be people who don’t like you. But that’s okay. A good strategy is to polarize your followers.

Better to have people extremely love you, or extremely hate you, than to just feel lukewarm about you.

9. Don’t rush it

Always strive and prosper, and don’t rush your journey.

Consider when you go hiking, it is all about enjoying every step, and enjoying nature. It isn’t about getting on top of the hill. Sometimes when we rush hiking, we don’t enjoy it as much, because we are so focused on getting to the top, that we forget to enjoy the journey.

I think photography, social media, and building a following is the same.

A great redwood tree will take hundreds, and thousands of years to reach their great height. But it is steady— inch by inch.

Treat every new follower, subscriber, or fan as a small win. Be grateful, always, and enjoy the process and journey.

Like Saul Leiter, Don’t be in a great hurry.

Walk slowly, enjoy the walk, the beautiful blue skies, and the feeling of the pavement against your feet.

In life, enjoy the process of seeing your kids grow up, enjoy the dinners and meals you share with your loved ones, and like music — enjoy every note and melody.

10. Don’t obsess over the numbers

How do you measure “success” in photography or social media? Do you need 100 likes, 1,000 likes, 10,000 likes, or more? Do you need at least 1,000 followers, 10,000 followers, or 100,000 followers before you feel “successful?”

Only judge your success by yourself.

Don’t judge your success as a photographer by the number of exhibitions you’ve had, the numbers of books you’ve published, or the number of commas and zeros in your bank account.

No, in order to become stronger and more robust, we must judge ourselves. We need to have confidence in our own progress, our own evolution, and development of our own style. Be your own self judge and arbiter of success.

Conclusion

Portrait of Cindy with curved shadows. Lisbon, 2018

Social media is a blessing and a curse. In some ways, it allows us to connect and engage with our followers, and an easy platform to share our work. The downsides include obsession over likes, followers, numbers, and crowdsourcing your self-esteem.

Ultimately, the most important thing:

Never compromise your own artistic vision.

BE BOLD,

ERIC

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“Why monetize?”
The old school way and new school way to monetize your photography
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Practical photography monetization tips
You have unlimited potential: Why you should embrace 10x thinking and shooting for the moon.

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