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Instagram introduced the Stories feature to the social app in 2017 - a feature that was undeniably similar to Snapchat. Although Instagram Stories disappear after 24 hours, their direct reach to all the account followers is tremendous. You can post images, videos, and polls, add fun, creative effects to your media and do a lot more. Basically, what we are trying to say is that the sky's the limit when it comes to using Instagram to grow your wedding photography business! So here are some tips that could help you discover how to use Instagram Stories for business to take your social media marketing strategies to the next level.

Instagram Story Guide

Instagram Stories allows you to share quick photos and videos with your audience that disappear in 24 hours. The feature allows you to share more and even different kinds of content with your followers, which can be totally different to what you share on your grid. Additionally, it’s also a great way to know who your loyal followers are since they will be the ones who will view every story you post and engage with them as well. 

For wedding photographers, Instagram Stories give you a fantastic opportunity to showcase how your work - as static images and videos as well. As you learn how to use Instagram Stories for your business, you can use the social media platform to increase brand awareness and also your engagement level with the followers. 

1. Showcase Your Personality

Your personality and brand image is what makes clients fall in love with you. Couples are more likely to hire you for their wedding day when they feel a personal connection to you, your ideas, beliefs, and style. Just as you write your posts on Instagram with your personality in mind, use Stories to showcase additional aspects your followers do not normally get to see on your Instagram grid. All you have to do is take a photo or record a short video of your choice and share that with your followers. Using Instagram Story apps for photographers, pick from the different Instagram Story templates and share those that best suit you.

To showcase your personality, share aspects of your daily life that highlight your areas of interest. If you can’t start the day without a vanilla latte, share a Story about it. If you are passionate about making your own food everyday, share a video of your process. A morning run with your dog, an afternoon surf session, or an evening cocktail with a view – these are all unique aspects of your personality your followers can relate to. Learning how to use Instagram Stories also includes the process of opening up your personal life to your followers.

Keep your followers interested by sharing more about you as a person and you as a photographer. These are aspects that make up who you are and help you connect with your followers on a personal level. Use the features built into Stories, such as adding location, links (to your work), polls, or adding text or GIFs to highlight why it showcases something unique about you and engage with your audience.

Suggested Read: Use Instagram To Grow Your Wedding Photography Business

2. Take Your Followers Behind The Scenes

Behind the scenes videos show a unique and personal side of you and the process that goes into creating your beautiful work. For example, before the wedding shoot, you can take a video of the location you are at or the gear you packed during your morning prep. To get more ideas on how to use Instagram Stories for sharing some behind-the-scenes footage, you could also take a look at what other photographers are doing.

Also, if you are working on a new project or idea for your photography business, consider sharing it on Stories. Learning how to edit an Instagram Story, could also give your followers sneak peeks of your website design or a new album design or even your post-production process. Even if you are redecorating your office or studio, your followers will be interested to learn more about it. Plus, consider giving a sweet shout-out to the people you are working with!

After your images are edited and you create a blog post for them, you can share a sneak peek of the post on Stories, informing your followers that they can check out what you’ve been up to. The more connected your followers are to you, the easier it will be for them to trust you with the most important day of their lives.

Tip: As you learn how to make Instagram Stories, use them to highlight other vendors that you work with at a wedding. Not only are you showing your followers the behind-the-scenes of a wedding (with the permission of your clients, of course), but you are also sharing the love with a fellow vendor. Your followers will love the view into a real wedding, and your fellow vendors will appreciate the share. Don’t forget to tag them, so they can share too!

3. Share Your Daily Routine

How often are you sitting in traffic, waiting at the airport, or standing in line? These moments provide the perfect time for you to pull out your phone and take a photo or record a video to share with your followers. Not only does it keep you entertained, it also shows your audience that you go through the same things they do, which humanizes you.

Similarly, create a story when you are out buying groceries and see that PERFECT avocado or out walking your dog and they decide to act goofy. You may not be an Instagram influencer, but it’s all about creating relatable content! You can even learn how to put Instagram Story music to turn up the entertainment. Browse through the available music or pick one from your Saved Audio (saved audio clips from other Instagram Reels). Know how to use saved audio on Instagram Story, add a trending audio clip and share it with your followers!

Since you most likely already know how to use Instagram Stories business edit features and tools, you can showcase the things you may not post on your regular Instagram account. Maybe they don’t match your aesthetic or you would rather focus mainly on posting about your work, which is completely fine. But once in a while, people would like to see the real you. 

Suggested Read: Instagram Business Account Tips: How To Add Links to Your Stories

Save Your Instagram Stories Highlights

Instagram now gives you a place in your feed to save the stories you share with your followers. So even though they do disappear after 24 hours, you can save your best Instagram Stories as Highlights on your Instagram account. This gives your existing and new followers a chance to revisit those moments anytime they want. When you create different Highlights, make sure you name them appropriately, so people know where to go. Whether it’s work or your daily routine, or a bunch of your favorite comfort food recipes - you can easily save them on your account.

Suggested Read: Social Media Marketing For Wedding Photographers: An Overview

We hope the above tips have helped you learn a few things about how to use Stories on Instagram. You may think that you don’t need to add another task to your TDL, but sharing Stories could be the key to helping your followers and potential clients connect with you personally. Yes, they will hire you because you are an excellent photographer and offer top-notch customer service, but as human beings, they’d also love to see what you do when you are not behind the camera. So while you might think your daily trip to Starbucks or your baking skills are not that interesting, learning how to use Instagram Stories and recording and sharing your everyday life could prove to you that people actually want to get to know you like that. You are already a pro at photography, so this shouldn’t be THAT hard. Just take out your phone, point the camera at yourself or the subject, shoot/record, add the finishing touches, share, and track the results! 

Further Read: Instagram Shortcuts: 7 Timesavers To Implement Today

At ShootDotEdit, we love sharing social media tips and are passionate about helping you build your wedding photography business. We aim to help you get to where you want to be easier and faster. We also offer professional photo editing services to lessen your post-production workload so you can focus on other business aspects. To learn more about how we can help, check out our pricing plans.