5 Pinterest Tips for Your Wedding Photography Business

With over 400 million people using Pinterest every month, it’s a platform for people to seek inspiration and serve creative content. However, due to the dominance of Facebook and Instagram, Pinterest is a marketing tool that’s often neglected by wedding photographers.

As business owners, we all know how social media is considered a must-have for promoting your products and services. It’s an avenue where you can connect with your audience on a deeper, more meaningful and “human” level. From fun reels to behind-the-scenes sneak peeks, most of us have our Instagram game covered. Due to the “needy” nature of Instagram relying on your constant activity to stay present, and their constant algorithm updates, it’s important not to put all your eggs in one basket! Why? If you decide to take a sabbatical from the ‘gram or the algorithm changes, you run the risk of losing all traction.

What does this mean for you and your business? It means you need to diversify your business and marketing strategies, ensuring you’re investing your time and energy wisely. Remember: 80% of your results often come from 20% of your efforts. So, know where to channel that 20% to create maximum impact.

HOW TO TURN PINTEREST INTO A TRAFFIC MACHINE WITH CAROLINA GUZIK

Most people think Pinterest is just another social media platform but it’s more than that. Pinterest is also a search engine, catering to those that are searching for inspiration and ideas. And it’s not just for fashion, crafting or home renovation ideas either! A Pinterest study revealed that more than 40 million people use it to plan their weddings, proving just how powerful this underutilised platform can be for photography businesses. Think about it…even if you managed to only attract 1% of that 40 million wedding planning audience, wouldn’t that be a huge benefit for your business?!

Podcast: How to turn Pinterest into a traffic machine with Carolina Guzik

Image: Carolina Guzik Photography

I have to admit that I’m far from a Pinterest expert – I’m guilty of not using it enough myself! That’s why I’m so glad that I crossed paths with Carolina Guzik through Clubhouse back in the day. With over 10 years of experience, Carolina is a wedding and lifestyle photographer based in Miami, Florida. She also hosts a podcast called ‘The Tog Republic‘, sharing her marketing tips and strategies for photographers. Carolina is also deeply passionate about all things Pinterest, with her very own self-paced Pinterest course ‘The Art of Pinning‘ for wedding and lifestyle photographers.

In this podcast episode, Carolina walks us through some of her biggest Pinterest tips for wedding photographers. It’s a must-listen!

Carolina’s top 5 Pinterest tips for wedding photographers

Before we get stuck into it, I just want to emphasise that marketing isn’t about using the same cookie-cutter strategies over and over again! Don’t add to the “noise” with constant selling – you need to get creative with it and make it fun. Explore how things work and make them work for you. Find new opportunities that other people overlook and use them to your advantage. Be impactful, not busy. Even if you don’t see immediate results, be resilient and maintain consistency. Don’t give up. There are so many ways you can show up with intention, create real connections and give value to your audience!

Tip #1: Use a Pinterest Business account

Carolina strongly recommends that every wedding photographer should have a Pinterest Business account, not just a personal account. With a business account, you can run Pinterest ads to grow your audience, increase website traffic and drive conversions. More importantly, you’ll be able to track your analytics and use the data to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

Tip #2: Optimise your account name

Don’t just put your business name! Think of Pinterest as a search engine – you’ll want to include relevant keywords that will help you attract more search traffic. For example, rather than having “Free the Bird” as your account name, you can update it to say “Free the Bird – Melbourne Wedding Photography”.

Tip #3: Optimise your Pinterest bio

If you want to maximise your chances of being found and attracting followers, you need to have the right search phrases in your Pinterest bio. But don’t just mindlessly throw in keywords without rhyme or reason, otherwise, it will sound spammy! Carolina recommends writing as though you’re talking to a friend and naturally weaving in the keywords where relevant.

You’ll also want to include a link to your website. It’s much better to link to your website rather than your Instagram because you have full control over your website’s client experience. On the other hand, if you send traffic to your Instagram, your potential clients will have other distractions fighting for their attention.

Tip #4: Create specific Pinterest boards based on your ideal audience

Be intentional when creating your Pinterest boards. Think about your dream clients and what they might be using Pinterest to search for. Are they looking for wedding venue ideas? Are they seeking inspiration for new wedding styles and trends? Solve their problems by providing solutions that match their search intent.

Carolina mentioned that you can niche down as much as you like! For example, if you have a favourite venue that you love shooting at, you can create a Pinterest board dedicated to it and title it ‘Venue Name Wedding Photography’. That way, if a potential client is searching for more photos of a venue they’re interested in, it increases the chances of your Pinterest board prompting them to visit your website.

Don’t forget to give your Pinterest boards good titles and descriptions with keywords to maximise your exposure!

Tip #5: Optimise your Pinterest images for search indexing

If you want your Pinterest images to be indexed, you’ll need to write appropriate image titles and descriptions. Similar to working on your website’s SEO to rank in Google’s search results, you can optimise your pins to rank in Pinterest’s search by adding helpful descriptions that include relevant keywords. You can also update the image alt-text.

Once you’ve done that, make sure you also link each photo to a specific page on your website. Don’t make the mistake of linking all your pins to your homepage – you want to lead visitors to helpful content that’s relevant to their original search intent. For example, if you have a venue-specific Pinterest board, you can link the image/s to a gallery or blog on your website that features the venue.

Image: The Tog Republic

Carolina’s bonus social media tips & thoughts…

• Pinterest ads – Unlike Facebook and Instagram ads, your post doesn’t disappear when you stop allocating the budget. Once your Pinterest ad stops, other users can still use your ad image as a pin, carrying on the momentum!
• Evergreen strategy – Form a strategy and be consistent with it. Not all content will stick but stick with it! Unlike Instagram, your pins and boards don’t date. You could pin 1-2 images a day and as long as they’re aligned with your strategy, they can deliver qualified traffic to your website forever.  They’re evergreen! Carolina had pins that successfully took off a year or two after they were posted, so don’t be disappointed if you don’t see immediate results.
• Choosing the right social media platform – Take the time to understand who your ideal clients are and whether they’re part of the audience that each platform attracts. You can then nurture the audience accordingly, empowering their purchase and/or decision-making process. For example, Pinterest has been shown to attract highly-educated people who are actively looking for inspiration or preparing for a purchase. They’ve also seen a spike in usage among Gen Z and millennials in recent years. On the other hand, Facebook has seen an influx of boomers and older demographics with more money to spend.
• Always network – Share the love around! For example, every week you can share an Instagram story or post that shout-outs another local vendor. You can even go the extra mile and create a blog specifically about them. This can create the boomerang effect, knowing that your kindness will be returned in some way or another.

Looking for more marketing inspo? Check out Stephanie Fisher’s 5 marketing tips for photographers!

Let’s show Carolina some ❤️

Check out:

Instagram @carolina_guzik

Podcast The Tog Republic

Pinterest course The Art of Pinning