instagram is a place where photographers love to be! this platform houses an opportunity to showcase your work for anyone in the world to see! (i mean…how cool is that?!?) i know you’ve got beautiful pictures to display on the gram, but coming up with words to go along with the photos can be TOUGH — especially trying to do it every. single. day. 

you might feel excited when you hop on the instagram app and have an amazing photo ready to share, but then you get nervous and stuck in the caption box. you need to use the captions to tell stories to go alongside your images so that your instagram can not just be a place to store beautiful photos but be a great tool to grow your business!

but here’s what you’re thinking…

“what do I post? i’ve run out of ideas, and i don’t have anything to say.”

“posting on instagram takes up too much time, and i have other things i need to be doing.”

“is anyone even seeing what i share?”

it’s time to totally step-up your insta! and you’ve come to the right place!

here are a list of tips to help you nail your ig captions each and every time you post:

be relational.

social media creates bonds and helps people truly connect with who you are. there’s a method called “know-like-trust.” it’s the formula needed before you can sell. you see… people have to know, like, and trust you, and social media is the perfect place where that can be built. but it can only be built if your instagram starts with your people and you show up in a relational way. 

for example, even though it’s your instagram, you actually need to be making your posts about those you serve. you are not the “hero” of the story…your potential clients are, so be sure that each post is engaging them and serving them in a relational way. don’t just post random stories about you and your work. in a relatable way, talk about the couples who you love shooting so that the newly engaged couple scrolling through your gram can see themselves in the stories you share and want to be behind your camera next! 

give tips and tricks to make their wedding day better than they can imagine. i mean…let’s be real…you’ve been to a lot more weddings and seen more behind the scenes than most people ever have! so share your knowledge. if a new bride can walk away from scrolling your instagram with newfound knowledge, she will trust you and be more likely to want to work with you as a result. 

be authentic.

authenticity is so incredibly important. if the person you are portraying isn’t the real you, then how are people supposed to connect with you? we know it can be so hard to feel like you may be judged for being the “real you” online, but luckily we’ve learned that the people who want to see the real you tend to stick around, and the people who don’t, leave! so it’s the perfect time to show up imperfectly, for the people who want to see YOU! 

don’t find an instagram you love and take on that personality as your own. yes, you can use it for inspiration, but don’t make it your online identity. the way you are is perfectly wonderful and acceptable, and you need to embrace who you are behind the camera so that potential clients can see what it would be like to work with you! think about it…if you hired someone who portrayed themselves a certain way on instagram, and then you met in person and they were completely different, even if they were wonderful, it would still seem “off.” and then you’re less likely to recommend them to others as a result. part of your job is to connect with your couples so well and deliver such great work that they can’t help but tell everyone to work with you! don’t miss that opportunity because you chose to be inauthentic on social media.

be consistent.

social media is all about consistency. you can post imperfectly as long as you keep showing up! your audience needs to know that they can expect you or they won’t follow along very closely. that’s one of my number one tips because it’s so important. you need to be appearing in the feed of your dream clients regularly or you will stifle that “know-like-trust” factor i mentioned earlier. 

to make it easier, pick a scheduler like later, planoly, or tailwind, and schedule out your posts in advance. that way you’re only having to sit down one time a month to come up with your captions and organize your photos. then it schedules automatically. (seriously, it feels so good to automate this part of your biz). 

**speaking of automations, i help a lot of photographers develop systems that work amazing for their business so they can focus on what it is they love and stop getting stuck in areas outside of their zone of genius. i help with this and more in my mentoring program, so be sure to check it out here.**

to start writing your own captions, here’s what you need to know…

1. introduce the topic and connect yourself to it.

this is the relational piece. share a personal story or share why the topic is important to your audience to hook them in. they won’t read if they don’t find it relevant, so do something like asking a question that you’ve heard couples or other photographers ask before. or touch on their pain points. pain points are the reasons we hire. we hire people to solve our “pain” that we can’t solve ourselves. 

example: “have you ever wondered what parts of your wedding details you should spend your money on and what parts are a waste of money…?”  

yesss this isn’t a photography-related question, but it does help the bride, and if she can hire you for more than amazing photos and gets a bonus of a sidekick with a bunch of wedding knowledge, then she will be more than excited about that win-win!

2. share your knowledge and give value.

this is where you go into more depth and share VALUE! value is key. if you want people to visit your page, they need to feel like they walk away with knowledge and value after reading your posts. the above example is great for value as well.

3. include a call-to-action.

give your followers a reason to engage with you. this can only be done if you tell them the next step. ask them to give your post a like, send you a DM to connect and schedule a call, or tell them to head to the link in your bio to learn more.

bottom line: it is important to show up on socials consistently and with a strong brand presence, so my friend Kae from KP media and i want to help!

we get it. those pieces of advice are great, but it still takes time and strategy that you are working to develop right now, so we want to make it easier on you…

we’ve created caption templates for you to plug into your instagram caption boxes and just add a few tweaks to make them your own! it’s seriously simple. they are fill-in-the-blank templates specific for wedding photographers that are proven to boost engagement!

here’s what you’ll get…

• a list of 15 captions ready to post on instagram. (if you need to tweak the caption a bit to sound more like YOUR voice, go for it! but they are ready to go once you fill in some blanks!)
• photo ideas to help you narrow down your hundreds (or thousands) of photos so that you don’t feel like you’re going to pick the “wrong one.” we tell you exactly what pose or image to look for! 
• personal caption ideas and inspiration. you can post about YOU too, ya know! just do it in the “right” way so that it connects to your audience instead of feeling seemingly random.

we made it simple for you, and all you have to do is download the caption templates and dive right in! oh…and i forgot to mention the best part…it’s FREE! i’m so excited for you to get your hands on this goodness, so click here to learn more!