10 Important Instagram Tips that Every Wedding Vendor Should Know

Social media has changed the way that engaged couples plan their weddings.  If you have a wedding vendor business, being present across social media websites gets you in front of those engaged couples as they are gathering and sharing ideas for their big day.

Instagram is now one of the largest social media sites with over 800 million active users.  50% of those users follow at least one business account. Your wedding business could be one them -- giving you a big opportunity to market your products and services in a fun and interactive way.

Here are 10 essential tips for wedding vendors to optimize your Instagram page:

1. It's all about the photography.  When posting on Instagram, you are competing with tons of other images and videos that appear in a user's busy newsfeed.  To differentiate your business, post bright, vibrant images of your products or services at real weddings.  Avoid blurry/pixelated photos and try to take angles that would make someone stop scrolling in their tracks to pay attention to you.
   
   
2. Link to your website.  Make sure the (bio) link on your profile page is driving viewers to a page on your website where they can 1) learn more about your offerings and 2) easily contact you directly.
   
   
3. Build your Instagram following.   To do this, add an Instagram icon to all of your marketing materials.  This should include all of your website pages and your email signature.  The icon should link directly to your Instagram business page.  And why not send an email to your friends and family inviting them to 'Like' your Instagram business page.
   
   
4. Select a few big ideas for your content.  Consistently post about one specific theme or niche. Having a theme will create a perception that you are an expert on that particular subject.  More importantly, it will signal to followers as to what they can expect from your page. To choose a theme, think about what you are passionate about. For example, wedding photographers can publish a 'wedding photo of the day'.  Wedding planners can publish a wedding planning tip of the day.  This will attract attention. You can even showcase past customers! For example, select a "bride of the week," interview her, post photos and content about her, and encourage dialogue about that person - not your brand. I bet that bride will tell all of her friends and family to check out your page as well and help make your overall theme unique.
   
   
5. Try to post once or twice a day. Freshness seems to be one key to increasing your visibility, but you have to balance that with not boring your followers with uninteresting photos.
   
   
6. Focus on your tone. Do you want people to think you are funny, nice, reliable, intelligent, or positive?  Whatever your fabulous qualities are, be conscious of how that is coming across in all of your social media exchanges.
   
   
7. It's ok to be wordy.  Don't be afraid to write a paragraph to go along with each photo.  While this isn't effective for all social media platforms, it does draw in an audience on Instagram.  Use interesting words to describe what the photo is about.
   
   
8. Keep the conversation going. The more activity a particular item has, the higher its ranking. You can double the impact simply by responding to other people's comments. This will also keep your followers engaged in your conversation and with your brand.
   
   
9. Recognize other wedding vendors.  You don't always have to stick with your own content.  Highlighting photos from other talented vendors will make your profile more interesting and it will engage a broader audience.  Be sure to ask those vendors for permission to use their photos AND be sure to tag their profile in the post.
   
10. Use #Hashtags in your content.  Instagram uses a "hashtag" system with the pound symbol before keywords to help categorize the millions of posts shared daily.  By using keywords in a #hashtag form within your posts, it helps broaden the reach of your content by making it appear whenever someone searches amongst that certain hashtag. Using keywords relevant to your industry is best and taking advantage of any holidays or trending hashtags has it's perks too! For example, weekly, #MondayMotivation and #ThursdayThoughts are two broad and popular tags that are usually trending. Posting during those windows can help your content reach.  We recommend that you use between 5 and 10 hashtags in each post.

Social media is exactly that… social. Keeping your Instagram strategy authentic and in line with your other marketing initiatives will create a sense of trust amongst your followers. It's also a nice platform to let your clients and customers get to know you more on a personal level. When followers feel connected to you, they are more likely to think of you for their needs when shopping for products!

We hope you enjoyed reading about our Instagram tips for wedding vendors!