Friday, December 6, 2019

WHO IS YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACTUALLY ATTRACTING

(submission by Mark Laurie) - Have you looked "under the hood" of YOUR social media platforms, to see who you really are engaging? Before you start, take a moment and write down the Target Market you are trying to reach and engage with on your social platform.

Then write down what you expect or plan for your engaged people to do:

1. Book sessions

2. Build a community

3. Appreciate your amazing images. You can have several goals.

Now, let’s see if your social audience can deliver, or is delivering who and what your goals are.

FACEBOOK:

Start with Facebook. Go to Insights on the top of the page. (you need to have a fan page or business page for this). Select "PEOPLE" on the sidebar. Your graph comes up showing the mix of women to men in age breakdowns. Below that is a list of cities and countries. Your home base city should have the largest number. Is this the age range you are targeting? The Gender? Now, this next step gives a bit of a rough result. Take your targeted age group and gender. Apply that % to your fans in your city.  

Above the charts, are tabs; "Your Fans", "Your Followers", "People Reached" and "People Engaged". Do the process with each of those. The "PEOPLE REACHED" is the critical tab of the bunch.

From the sidebar pick Posts, select an Active Post click on it, this brings up the post with info. Below the photo, you are the thumbs up and hearts icons. Hover your mouse over the names to get a full list. You likely know or can guess who these people are. Photographers? Clients? Friends? There is also a full breakdown on the Right Side of the Posting.

INSTAGRAM:

Within Instagram, open up an image with lots of likes, hover over the image to get the number. Above the add comment line is the phrase "Liked by XXX and XXX others."

Click on the "XXX others" to bring the list of who they are. Are they photographers, clients, potential clients, family, and friends?

You can find the same type of research tools in LinkedIn and other social media programs. As you pour resources into your social media efforts, keep a running note of how close you are getting to your potential clients and past clients. Is it effective?

There are other research revealing tools in all the social media options — Check-In often to guide your efforts.

Knowing who you are hoping or planning to reach, (the answer to my first question). Is that type of person the majority in your lists? Are they likely to take the action you plan for this marketing vehicle? If it’s not, consider what you can do to appeal to them.

(images provided by blogmaster)

Article Submitted by Mark Laurie.

Mark is a Master Photographer with the PPOC and conducts business as Inner Spirit Photography, based in Calgary, Alberta. He was the 2017 Canadian Photographer of the Year. Mark has received many Internationally Awards, and specializes in Female Portrait Photography. He has written 4 Photography books and 1 Poetry Book. He currently teaches around the world. You can find his work at: www.innerspiritphoto.com