When Instagram albums were rolled out last week, I was like REALLY, social media gods? Do we really need something else to worry about?
And I’ll stand by the fact that I really don’t think we need another something to worry about. But truth be told, I think these albums are kind of cool and have good potential – especially for photographers.
Here are five strategic ways to incorporate Instagram albums into your strategy.
1. Share multiple sneak peeks from a session. I’ve never explicitly stated this, but I strongly advise against going on a posting spree and posting picture after picture from the same session or wedding. It clutters your followers’ feeds and it does your grid zero favors – and y’all know how I feel about the grid.
But with these lovely little albums, you can incorporate multiple photos into ONE POST! This is huge for photographers, you guys. HUGE! You know how sometimes it’s seemingly impossible to choose that one photo to post? There are three or four that you just love SO MUCH and you can’t choose. We’ve all been there.
Well, problem solved. Select two or five or ten photos and make a little slideshow. They all stay in one square and don’t leave your audience feeling overwhelmed from what could have been a takeover of their feed by your posting spree. Your audience and your grid will thank you.
2. Use it for sharing tips. Add text to some of your pictures or use videos and go over a topic that you think would be useful for your followers. That could be advice on what to wear for an engagement session, or it could be tips on preparing for a photo session with kids, or it could be pointers for creating a wedding day timeline. Think about what your audience would find useful, and use an album to serve them well and help them out.
3. Make a how-to slideshow. This could literally be something as simple as how to make that yummy cocktail that you always mention on Instagram. Utilize your photography skills to capture the making of your cocktail beautifully (and maybe even throw a video or two in the mix), and mash them together into one album.
This gives your audience a little more insight into the details of your life, and it holds their interest a little longer than words might. Whatever it is that you choose to share steps on, make sure it’s true to you and your brand! For example, don’t put together a how-to album on how to decorate your mantel if you never talk about home decor, ya know?
4. Tell a story. Maybe you have a sequence of photos from a session or a wedding where something really touching and heartfelt happened. In the Instagram world we lived in last week, you would’ve had to have chosen one photo to represent all of that. But now you can show how the story unfolded moment by moment.
I would recommend captioning the story well and explaining what happened in addition to the album, but being able to tell the story visually is such an impactful opportunity.
5. Do a Friday introductions post, and show the details of your life and fun facts about you. These posts are all the rage on Fridays, and it’s such a fun way to get to know the person behind the Instagram account. Usually, you just post a picture of yourself, and then you list a few facts below.
Instagram albums give us the chance to share those fun facts in a visual way, which is kind of awesome. Share a picture of yourself, of course, but then also throw in a picture of your significant other, your child (fur or human), your favorite food or drink, where you work, a hobby you enjoy or something that’s really meaningful to you. Once again, go ahead with that #fridayintroductions caption, but show in addition to telling.
I would avoid doing an album for every post, but incorporating it into your overall strategy can be advantageous. Figure out what works best for you and your brand, jump in and start trying it out. You maybe surprised to find out you actually like it!
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Such good ideas! I have yet to do a #fridayintroductions post, this would be a great time to start!
I tried the album thing the other day…. it was weird! Haha! Thanks for these tips! I feel like I should try if again and rock it next time!!
Thank you for the post. Sometimes it’s a lot to keep up with all of the social media platforms AND their changes but these posts help tremendously. 🙂