How to grow your photography Instagram account: everything you need to know

The first step of social media marketing for a photography business is to identify the audience that absorbs your content. By understanding who your followers are, you’ll create content that is relevant to them. And engaging content that resonates with your audience increases the likelihood of converting them into clients.

When analyzing your audience, consider the following characteristics:

By understanding your audience’s characteristics, you improve your chances of growing your photography Instagram account.

The bio is one of the key elements of your social media accounts. It’s the first thing visitors see when they visit your page. Your bio should clearly communicate who you are and how you can help people, as well as aid in converting followers into clients. Therefore, in this section, we will discuss what to include in your bio for a successful social media marketing strategy for a photography business.

In social media, important information can be scattered across multiple places. For example, your best photos can be viewed in one of the posts, a price list in Highlights, to book a session with you, a client may need to search for your number and the address of your studio.

It’s important to bring all this information together in one place, and a link-in-bio page can help you do just that. A link in bio page is your digital business card where you can gather all the key details your clients need. For a photographer, here’s what you might want to include:

Plus, any other important info your clients might need.

Then, add the link to this page in the bio of all your social media profiles, like Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and others. And when you need to update any info, you only have to do it once on the link in bio page — no need to change it across multiple platforms.

Your photographer’s link in bio page could look like this one:

The full version of this photographer’s link in bio page.

This page was made using Taplink. With Taplink, you can:

Creating a link in bio page with Taplink involves 4 steps:

Read a detailed guide on how to create a photography link in bio page with step-by-step instructions and screenshots.

And most importantly, make sure to add your page link to the bio of all the social media where you promote your photography business. Now, your potential clients can find everything they need in one spot, without having to dig through posts or highlights.

As we said earlier, your bio should instantly tell visitors who you are and how you can help them. So, to grow your photography Instagram account, write a short and engaging self-introduction in your bio. Keep it short — here’s what would be useful to include:

Following these guidelines, here are the examples of bio you could create:

Get more ready-to-use photography Instagram bio ideas!

Many social media platforms allow adding a location. Take advantage of this for social media marketing for your photography business. Specify the city or region where you work or where your studio is in your bio.

The location also helps improve your visibility on social media. For instance, if someone in your city is looking for a photographer on Instagram, you’re more likely to show up in their search results if your location is listed.

Don’t forget to include your location on your Taplink link in bio page. Along with your address, you can also add a map. This makes it easier for potential clients to see exactly where you are.

Here’s what a map looks like on a Taplink page:

There’s plenty of other content you can share on Instagram and other social media. Mixing up your content will keep your followers interested and make your profile more dynamic. The tips below will help you grow your photography account on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, or any other social platform. Let’s begin with recommendations for the most essential type of content.

Your photos are the content that sells you as an expert. They help potential clients understand whether the quality and style of your work appeal to them, and whether they want to be your clients or not.

Therefore, the main thing in promoting your photography Instagram account is to demonstrate the variety and high quality of work. Focus on quality, not quantity. Carefully choose only your best pieces to maintain your reputation as a professional in your craft.

Add a story to your photos, for instance, in the captions. This adds depth to your photos and helps your audience connect with your work on an emotional level. For example, you might describe what’s happening in your photo or the events that led up to the scene you captured. Another option is to share a story of your client, with their permission, of course. Share interesting details about the client and what brought them to your photoshoot.

Remember to maintain a consistent aesthetic for your social media profile. A cohesive style makes your profile attractive and creates a recognizable identity. If you work in a specific niche, ensure it’s visible in your content. For example, a travel photographer might prioritize posting landscapes, local cultures, and adventure.

Sharing tutorials and educational content can help you grow followers on your photography Instagram account. This type of content establishes you as an expert in your field, fostering increased trust and loyalty among your audience.

You don’t need to post long tutorials to give your followers insights into the photography profession. Being a photographer is your work, not theirs. Stick to a few tips in a post or a short video on a specific topic. For example, you could film a reel demonstrating how to change the background of a photo in Photoshop or which poses work best for portrait sessions.

Incorporate visual elements in your tips to enhance clarity. These could be arrows if you explain something step by step or highlighted keywords in your images or videos.

If you’re selling photos, comprehensive tutorials, or guides, add your digital products to your Taplink page. You can add them as a PDF file or a document link, with an image, price, and description. Your audience can buy your guides right from the link in bio page without being redirected to external platforms. Moreover, selling digital products on Taplink is great as it charges no fees on any sale you make.

Below is an example of a digital product being sold by a photographer on their link in bio page.

Incorporating user-generated content into your Instagram photography marketing helps strengthen audience trust and highlights that your clients are happy with your services.

User-generated content includes any content by your followers and clients about you and your work. This could be images or videos they take during their session, reviews they leave about your services, or tagging your username on social media or other platforms.

There are many ways to gather this type of content. For instance, ask your clients to leave a review on their profile and tag your username if they post it on social media. If they leave a review on another platform, you can take a screenshot and share it on your profile.

Always make sure to ask for the client’s permission before posting their content to avoid legal issues. Also, don’t forget to credit the original creator by tagging their profile and mentioning their name when sharing their content.

People might start following you because they love your photos. But to keep them engaged, it’s important to show not just the final results but also everything that goes behind the camera.

Give your audience a glimpse into the process of making your images come to life. Tell and show them how you set up lighting or choose and prepare shooting locations. Demonstrate the editing workflow to your followers, showing before-and-after photos. Highlight the changes you make and the details you refine.

Let your personality shine through your behind-the-scenes content. Don’t be afraid to be yourself, even if it means looking a little quirky. Share funny moments from your shoots, inside jokes, or unique habits you have while working. Just like the photographer below.

If you face difficulties, consider talking about them as well if you’re okay with it. Talking about difficulties and setbacks will make your audience appreciate your work even more, showing them that photography isn’t just about fun — it also comes with its own struggles.

An effective social media marketing strategy for a photography business involves not only posting content but also actively engaging with followers. Interacting with followers enhances your visibility on social networks, as algorithms favor content that gets feedback from the audience. Below, we have compiled ways to interact with your audience so you can get more followers on your photography Instagram account.

One way to grow your Instagram photography account and increase engagement is by running contests. It’s also a chance to create a loyal community and foster deeper connections with them.

The contest theme should be related to your work and easy enough for a wide range of followers to participate. Here are some ideas that you can use to grow Instagram followers as a photographer:

Choose prizes that align with your niche and benefit your audience. This could be a complimentary photo shoot, a premium guide you typically charge for, or professional photography equipment.

Running polls as part of Instagram marketing for photographers lets you entertain your audience while gathering feedback and understanding their preferences. This helps you tailor your content to their tastes and offer products that feel more relevant to them.

Keep questions short and use simple language so your audience can jump in instantly. Don’t overdo the options as well. Two answers work best when the question permits.

Pair your polls with visuals. For example, share a photo from a session and pose a tied-in question, or describe an unusual moment you faced and ask how they’d handle it.

Questions can range from playful ones like “Chased by a goose mid-shot: Fight or flee?” to strategic ones that reveal audience characteristics. Say, asking what photography gear they’d love to own could guide your contest prize ideas.

If you want to get more followers on your photography Instagram account, go beyond simple polls with multiple-choice answers and start asking questions that encourage followers to think and express their thoughts. This will not only make them feel heard but also give you insights into their preferences and expectations.

Avoid yes-or-no questions — save those for traditional polls. Instead, ask open-ended questions that spark discussions in the comments. They allow your audience to engage more deeply and share their perspectives.

Before asking your audience a question, share a personal story. You could share an interesting or unexpected moment from a recent shoot and ask if your followers have experienced something similar. Alternatively, discuss a trending topic in photography and invite them to share their thoughts.

Just take a look at how a photographer told her story on YouTube and then invited her audience to share their experience.

Don’t forget to react to the responses. You can simply like their comments or take it further by replying and continuing the conversation. This will not only boost engagement but also show your followers that you truly care about their opinions.

One more way to promote your photography Instagram profile is by gathering your subscribers’ email addresses and providing them with valuable newsletters. Email marketing offers a higher likelihood of being seen by your audience as letters are delivered straight to their inbox without the risk of being buried by social media algorithms.

However, people aren’t always eager to share their email addresses, fearing spam or unwanted messages. So let them know upfront how often you’ll email them and what type of content they’ll receive.

Another way to encourage your audience to share their email is by offering a lead magnet. A lead magnet is a freebie your followers get in exchange for their addresses. As a photographer, you can offer them a discount code for your photo session or a PDF guide. A lead magnet is sent to the subscribers’ inboxes, which is an incentive for them to share their emails.

However, building an email list through social media poses challenges as platforms lack dedicated tools for this. Here, Taplink can help.

Place an opt-in form on your Taplink link-in-bio page, which we talked about earlier. Taplink will also help you send your lead magnet to the subscribers. Just set up a post-submission letter, and it’ll automatically send the freebie once a subscriber enters their email.

We’ve created an example of such a form on a link-in-bio page for a photographer.

Let’s summarize the whole social media plan for photographers we’ve discussed in this article. If you want to know how to grow your photography Instagram account, follow these steps: