Are your social media platforms falling flat? Make sure you’re choosing the right marketing photography for each social media platform — so you can speak to the audience that’s already there.
These days, digital marketing is all about finding the right audience to hear your message, and then cultivating your viewers into raving fans who snatch up your offers faster than you have time to book them. I mean, that’s the dream, right?
It’s less about attracting as many followers as possible and more about attracting the right followers to support your business.
So how do you zero in on that perfect audience? How do you find the people out there who would buy your product — if only they knew about you?
Well, that’s where some serious social media strategy comes in. But to get started without all the fancy algorithms and expensive strategists, there’s an easy way to begin defining your audiences.
All you have to do is start thinking about the demographics of your social media platforms. Different types of marketing photography appeal to different types of people. That means you want to find the best marketing photos for each platform, so you can speak to the audience that’s already there. So let’s dive in!
How To Choose The Right Marketing Photography For Each Social Media Platform
Since each social media platform appeals to different audiences, it’s also best to use your marketing photography accordingly. The goal is to speak to the audience that’s there — not use the exact same strategy and content across all platforms.
But don’t worry — we’re breaking it down for you, so you can simply start implementing.
Facebook
The Audience:
While Facebook began as a social networking platform for college students, those college students have since grown up, and Facebook is quickly becoming a platform that best targets adults, professionals and even the Baby Boomer generation.
Yes, Millennials and Gen Xers still love their Facebook feeds, but Facebook is also, generally, the most attractive platform for Baby Boomers, as well, which gives you a wide range of ages to reach from this platform. Also, Facebook has a high percentage of college-educated users (71%) and high wage earners (75% earn $75,000+), according to a demographics survey by social media researcher Sprout Social.
Conversely, Generation Z — today’s teenagers and early 20-somethings — has largely abandoned Facebook for platforms such as SnapChat and the latest app to hit the market, which is TikTok right now.
The Content:
When it comes to content, you can really mix it up on Facebook. It’s designed to support live video, professional video, professional marketing photography and ads, as well as more personal content such as candid photos of your daily life and shareable news stories.
From a visual marketing standpoint, Facebook is kind of like the catch-all platform. Post your professional video, marketing photography and headshots, but keep up the personal candids, as they provide a nice break from your business-related content. Facebook users are much more accustomed to seeing business-related content on their feeds than they were a few years ago, but you still run the risk of irritating your friends by posting incessantly about business.
The Audience:
While Instagram has a small user base than Facebook, it’s rapidly growing due to added features such as Stories and IGTV – making it a rising star you don’t want to miss. The largest population of users comes from the Gen Z teenagers, ranging in age from 13 to 17, and followed by the 18-29 age group that rolls over into the Millennial generation. Generation X uses Instagram pretty consistently, but the numbers drop off considerably after age 49. Income and education levels drop slightly as well, when compared to the Facebook user base.
In addition to different demographics, Instagram also has a different general vibe. From a consumer standpoint, people use Instagram to follow their niche interests, including super small businesses like Etsy shops and online-only businesses like box subscriptions. It’s a haven for finding and tracking your niche interests, as well as developing a community around those interests. However, Instagram is still useful for larger brands, especially if your products or services are particularly visual. It also has a heavy focus on lifestyle that’s created a large presence of influencer marketing.
The Content:
Since Instagram has a strong lifestyle focus, it’s the perfect platform to feature your lifestyle marketing photography. That includes your Cityscape outdoor portraiture, as well as indoor lifestyle photos that capture you doing your thing in life or at work. Generally, the style for these images is bright, airy and happy. Ideally, the Instagram look is professional lifestyle portraiture that appears candid — so professional quality with a casual vibe.
Since Instagram is a photo-based platform, this is also a great place to curate and feature your very best images, rather than using it as a platform to show what you’re doing on a daily basis like Facebook.
LinkedIn
The Audience:
As a professional networking platform, LinkedIn’s audience is a bit more obvious. Essentially, it’s the place to be for B2B marketing. LinkedIn hasn’t quite hit the ubiquitous popularity that Facebook and Instagram are achieving. It’s user base is still in the millions (590 million), compared to the billion+ user base of Facebook and Instagram. However, it has a highly educated and high-earning audience. Nearly half of all adults who make $75,000+ are on LinkedIn, and 50% of users have a college degree or advanced degree. However, 70% of LinkedIn users are located outside of the U.S., compared to a roughly 50% international audience on Facebook and Instagram. So if you’re marketing locally, make sure you’re building a strictly local audience, or your metrics could be skewed.
The Content:
With a B2B focus, your content choices are a bit more obvious, as well. For example, LinkedIn is perfect for traditional headshots, team photos, and shots of your team working in the office. It’s also useful to have some shots of your business location, such as the exterior of your building and signage, because LinkedIn is a great place to post about business announcements and events. Conversely, you wouldn’t want to post lifestyle photos or candids of your pets on LinkedIn, but rather save them for Instagram or Facebook.
The Audience:
While Twitter has the smallest user base at 126 million, its growing followers are typically superfans of the fast-paced platform. Its largest demographic is Millennials with 40% of people age 18-29 using the platform. There’s still solid participation from the Gen Z and Gen X users, as well, but a low representation from Baby Boomers. When it comes to earning potential and education levels, Twitter falls in the middle ground with 32% of adults earning a college degree and earning $75,000+. It also has the largest international audience with 79% of users located outside the U.S.
When considering audience behaviors on Twitter, it’s a great platform to follow breaking news and even catch major stories before they’re announced by major news outlets, including sports news. From a marketing standpoint, one of the best opportunities is the ability to speak directly to your audience from a customer service standpoint. Users often hop on Twitter to praise, thank or criticize businesses, usually larger or national brands. This gives you the opportunity to respond, connect and control the message. Additionally, it’s a great place to post about business updates or timely messages to your customer base.
The Content:
Since Twitter is more of a news-based platform than some of the others, you’ll want to feature your foundational marketing photography here, typically accompanying a press release, announcement or update. That could include your traditional headshots, your team photos, shots of your building exterior, or even shots of your staff working in the office.
Visual Marketing In Santa Clarita
At SchlickArt, we offer more than photography and video services to the Santa Clarita area and beyond. We do our best to provide our clients with marketing expertise and direction every chance we get. We know you need your images and video to help grow your business — that’s why you invest in them, and that’s why do, too. Please take a minute to search through our blogs to find the visual marketing information that will help your business, or give us a call. We’re happy to help!
About SchlickArt Photography and Video
SchlickArt, a boutique photo and video studio in Santa Clarita, started in March 2012 with the simple idea that empowerment creates a kind of beauty and authenticity that shines through every camera lens. Built on a philosophy — rather than a product, service or person — SchlickArt has rapidly evolved, meeting professional portraiture, business photo and business video needs as diverse as the community we capture. It’s the desire to take care of you, the client, that drives us at SchlickArt.