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FB Marketing a Photographer

by Benny L
9 replies
Hey folks. So I have a photographer friend I'm working with right now and we want to see if we can get some exposure for him on FB.

What he's already doing is posting up a couple of high-quality street portraits each day. No watermark. Free to take or use. He's just sharing his passion for street photography, while making money on portraits and other work through other avenues. The street work is just his passion, and he wants it to remain free and open.

We're thinking about doing a giveaway. "Like this picture, and you can be the lucky winner who will receive a signed photograph of your choice, shipped straight to your door."

The difference between this and most other similar contests is that his page likes on FB are people who legitimately "like" his work and like seeing his stuff on their feeds, although they may not be frequently inclined to click the like button. So this just gives them a reason to.

So what tips, tricks, or techniques would you recommend using to set this up on FB? Any and all advice is appreciated.
#marketing #photographer
  • Profile picture of the author SiteSmarty
    Hey Benny. Forget FB. Get started on Google Plus+. He can create his personal profile, a page for his work and create his own community. You need G+ to rank in search engines now, even more in the future.
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  • Profile picture of the author MisterMunch
    Yeah, I totally agree on Google+. There are a lot of photographers there with great follower counts.

    Make sure to be active and respond to comments. Also interact with other members.

    As to "click like and win": Thats againts their terms of service and should get you banned. Just because Facebook are a little lazy do not make it OK. The rules are there because that activity annoys their users.
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  • Profile picture of the author eClicker
    I can agree with sitesmarty on the Google+ recommendation. Google plus is made for picture and video sharing maybe even teaching a class or two and connection with clients via the hangout feature.
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    • Profile picture of the author Benny L
      Thanks for the suggestions.
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  • Profile picture of the author LilBlackDress
    Originally Posted by Benny L View Post

    Hey folks. So I have a photographer friend I'm working with right now and we want to see if we can get some exposure for him on FB.

    What he's already doing is posting up a couple of high-quality street portraits each day. No watermark. Free to take or use. He's just sharing his passion for street photography, while making money on portraits and other work through other avenues. The street work is just his passion, and he wants it to remain free and open.

    We're thinking about doing a giveaway. "Like this picture, and you can be the lucky winner who will receive a signed photograph of your choice, shipped straight to your door."

    The difference between this and most other similar contests is that his page likes on FB are people who legitimately "like" his work and like seeing his stuff on their feeds, although they may not be frequently inclined to click the like button. So this just gives them a reason to.

    So what tips, tricks, or techniques would you recommend using to set this up on FB? Any and all advice is appreciated.
    What kind of photography does he do? If he does wedding for example, he might try and book a few weddings then post pics up which the happy couple will share with friends, wedding guests will share and so on and so forth.

    I see this happening with a photographer on FB whose work is just breath taking and everyone shares it around and she gets bookings and more bookings.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    Drive traffic FROM Facebook back to your own property - then monetize.

    Getting likes etc is merely wank factor.
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  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    I disagree with the Google+ fan club.

    Don't do Google+ in place of FaceBook, but in addition to FaceBook.

    Originally Posted by John Romaine View Post

    Drive traffic FROM Facebook back to your own property - then monetize.

    Getting likes etc is merely wank factor.

    I seldom disagree with John, but in this case, I do.

    1. Most people on FaceBook don't want to leave FaceBook.
    2. If you ever move into FaceBook's paid advertising, clicks are cheaper if you send them to a FaceBook page instead of an off-FaceBook site.


    Personally, I would watermark the give-away photos, with something to the effect of "Public Domain, courtesy of Me.com"

    Then offer to remove the watermark for anyone who wants to use the image without watermark, for a small fee ($5 or $10).

    I would also follow this advice:

    Originally Posted by LilBlackDress View Post

    What kind of photography does he do? If he does wedding for example, he might try and book a few weddings then post pics up which the happy couple will share with friends, wedding guests will share and so on and so forth.

    I see this happening with a photographer on FB whose work is just breath taking and everyone shares it around and she gets bookings and more bookings.

    While the street art photos are cool, the give-away photos should honestly match the type of photography your friend does for a living. As said above, if your friend shoots weddings, use the wedding pics to drive traffic.

    Beyond FaceBook and Google+, an account on Flickr, Pinterest, etc. could be very useful.

    On Flickr, you can set the photo rights to "Free to copy, share, transmit, adapt, or use commercially WITH attribution," as seen HERE.

    One more suggestion. If your friend operates his business in a local community, I would advise taking photos of local attractions and events, then place the "WITH Attribution" rights on the photos. The reason why is that if he can get local publications to reprint his photos, then he can get loads of free local advertising on Attribution.
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    • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
      Originally Posted by tpw View Post

      I disagree with the Google+ fan club.
      Google + is great, people just disregard it without taking a closer look. It's a solid way to drive traffic.

      Originally Posted by tpw View Post

      Don't do Google+ in place of FaceBook.
      That's right. Do both.

      Originally Posted by tpw View Post

      1. Most people on FaceBook don't want to leave FaceBook.
      But they do?

      And they buy stuff.

      Originally Posted by tpw View Post

      2. If you ever move into FaceBook's paid advertising, clicks are cheaper if you send them to a FaceBook page instead of an off-FaceBook site.
      Yes, you know why? Because Facebook is retaining the traffic.

      It's never wise to invest all of your time, money and effort building out on a platform you don't control. Have a look at all of the "My Squidoo lenses are locked/gone" threads here. A Facebook page is no different..

      You don't own it. You don't control it. It can be taken down at any time. And there's nothing you can do about it.

      Sure, spend some time on Facebook, but at least drive the traffic back to your own property so you have some level of control.
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    • Profile picture of the author stevoarnold
      Hey,

      Firstly, I would advise figuring out who your friends target audience is before figuring out what giveaways etc to do. If he mostly has other photographers liking his stuff, they're unlikely to want one of his prints even for free.

      I am a photographer myself, with many photographer friends, and many of them have tried the free print giveaway thing, but it just doesn't work if you're only marketing to a bunch of photographers who all like their own stuff.

      These days, the lure of a print isn't enough to get people on board because the perceived value is so low. It doesn't matter how much the true value is, because the "general public" tend to fall into the "it's just a photo, a print only costs $10 at walmart, why is he saying its worth $200?" trap. They dont really value the artistic input of the photographer. My girlfriend for example, has sold 2 photos to ad agencies recently for a total of $4,500... but when she tried to do a print giveaway to the public, nobody was interested.

      So find your target customer first, and then figure out what they would want, what they would value - and then give that to them.

      With this said, if you simply want to get "likes" it's probably a better idea to start discussions on controversial topics that provoke debate, rather than doing a giveaway.
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