Short form video is eating (has eaten) social media. And for photographers this has changed the game.

The old game we knew: Post and curate a stunning feed of perfect photos on your instagram grid, get discovered, followed and fingers crossed, enquiries! But, in this short form video era we are seeing more and more photographers have massive success creating different forms of content to get attention.

*Head spins in confusion

What should photographers do in this new landscape? Are we doing behind the scenes content, personal stories, videos that click through images or educational content? Or are we sticking to what we know, curating a beautiful feed and staying somewhat mysterious? Many of us are confused. What kind of content should we be making?

Let’s stop the spinning here. We are going to talk some ideas.

But before you go an copy/repurpose the latest viral video from that influential photographer, let’s think about this KEY question:

Who are you posting for? Who’s attention do you want? ⬇️

Are you making content that other photographers might find and follow? OR content that could hook potential couples and clients. Because these can be two VERY different things. 2 million views on a reel might be nice but if you get no weddings from it, so what? If you want to book more weddings, you’ll want couples and clients to discover you, not just other photographers.

Motivational side note: we live in a golden age of audience building. The social algorithms right now are amazing and can put you in front of your exact target customer. There is a huge opportunity for creatives who can lock into a rhythm of creating content to build something amazing for themselves. Dive into this motivational vid on creatively “locking in” if you are that way inclined.

So, ideas, examples. Let’s go.

“Through my eyes” ⬇️
Love this hook line “through my eyes” as it directly speak to couples and clients and sparks emotion. ‘Here is what this looks like in my view.’ ‘This is what makes me different."‘ A super short video clip and then clicking through a bunch of photos:
*Always include something written as a kind of hook!

LOOK AT CONTENT OTHER BRIDES MAKE ⬇️
Sounds kind of obvious once you hear it, but the content brides make themselves for other brides proooobably has a lot of amazing ideas in it for you own content. Like this one: “Things you don’t think about til a month before your wedding.”

“POV You Hired a photographer… Because you wanted photos that…” ⬇️
This strong hook speak DIRECTLY to a bride and creates a feeling of what her photos could look like. It’s not just ‘here’s my photos’, it relates it to how a bride could feel. 10/10. Behind the scenes moment and then showing the results of what was captured.

Behind the Scenes Videos ⬇️
This simple video of Danilo and Sharon shooting has over 7 Million views. Incredible! But who are those viewers? Does including your gear like this garner views from brides or just other photographers? D&S are sharing so much amazing content on their gram, go check it out.

99% only Entertain or Educate ⬇️
Gary Vee said “99% of my content is to educate or entertain, 1% is ‘buy my chocolate.’” This video below EDUCATES on posing for both brides and also photographers. It’s not, book me for your wedding but delivers something of value to a potential couple. 100/100 👌🏼

The final result ⬇️
This reel is super interesting as it shows the ‘final result’ of where wedding photos might be used - as a phone wallpaper.

Until next week,