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With billions of users on both Facebook and Instagram, social media ads are a fast way to place your images in front of ideal clients. As a process that changes quite often, though, photographer ads can be challenging to master. How can you quickly learn the ins and outs of advertising to expand your reach on each platform?

Social Media Ads

In our Online Training: How to Use Facebook and Instagram Ads for Your Wedding Photography Business, Jesse and Becky Morquecho of Idealust provided solutions to help you create effective Facebook ads and Instagram ads that get you the results you need to grow your photography business. Here are the top 5 tips from their Online Training.

Related: We specialize in wedding photo editing, and we love to partner with industry leaders to bring you the latest tips, tricks, and techniques to help grow your photography business. Check out our Free Resources Page to access additional education for your photography business!

1. Advertise with Purpose

Before you get started with a wedding photographer advertisement, take a step back and look at the bigger picture. The goal is to advertise with purpose through creating a plan and making your ads (and the money you put behind them) effective. To be profitable with ads, there should be two distinct parts to your marketing. The first part (the funnel) is what content you share and the second part (the ad) is making sure you have a marketing plan, and you are boosting what will help you reach your target audience.

Image Compliments of Jesse and Becky Morquecho

Related: Are you using the best hashtags for your business on Instagram?

2. Understand the Funnel

Within the funnel is the game plan or path you want to lead your potential clients down that ends with you getting inquiries and booking clients. Jesse and Becky have a breakdown of exactly what the funnel looks like:

• The Ad: Your potential clients see this social media ad and it is a tool you use to get your brand, your images, and your business in front of the audience you desire. It is important to place your images in front of clients that are part of your target market, and not just to anyone on the platforms.
• The Offer: After they see your ad, you have your offer or lead magnet. It can be an eBook, blog post, or anything your ideal client would find valuable, entertaining, or inspirational.
• The Landing Page: Once they’ve seen the offer, they click on the ad and hit the page that is all about what you are advertising. This can be a page where they have to enter their email address to receive the content, or can be a simple blog post or video. Once they are on the page, you want to make sure you get their info so you can follow up with them. Even if you don’t get that info upfront, you still need to think about this page in a way that helps you bring them closer to becoming your next client.

Related: How to Increase Social Media Engagement with Wedding Clients

3. Build an Appealing Offer

To create a successful ad, you must have a good offer or lead magnet to share. An offer or lead magnet with nothing of value to an ideal client may look something like this: “Hey, I’m a wedding photographer – hire me for your wedding!” In comparison, an appealing offer could say, “Here are 5 things every couple must know to have an amazing engagement session.”

With the latter, you offer something your ideal client finds valuable, grabs their attention, and gives them an opportunity to connect with you. A few ideas Jesse and Becky share are to include a complimentary consultation, a PDF guide, or a great blog post (with a call to action).

Quick Tip

Ask your past couples what would have been helpful during their wedding planning process to decide what to include as an offer or lead magnet.

4. Create a Strategic Landing Page

Once you have the offer or lead magnet, you can start on the landing page. This is the first thing your potential clients see after they click your ad, so you want your landing page to give them every reason to stay. Jesse and Becky share a few tips to make that happen, including a page that is specific to what you are advertising and is:

• Easy to scan at a glance
• Focused on benefits
• Mobile-friendly

Also, ensure there is a clear call to action on the landing page to entice clients to click and take further action.

Quick Tip

Don’t forget to share the best of your images. After you receive your images back from a company, like ShootDotEdit, that provides wedding photography editing services, share them with clients in your wedding photographer ad and landing pages.

Related: Do you have a strategic social media plan in place to attract ideal clients?

5. Develop a Successful Ad

After you build your landing page, you can start to create the ads. Unlike traditional marketing efforts, social media ads allow you to be in complete control. In each of your ads and all social media posts in general, it is important to create relevant content. If you can receive engagement on your ads, Facebook and Instagram will make it less expensive for you to get in front of more people.

You can also create native advertising, which means it can look like non-paid or non-ad content. Use that to your advantage and play to each platform’s strengths. An Instagram ad should not always look like a Facebook ad. Look through posts your ideal clients interact with to gain inspiration for what yours should look like.

When you have the tools to build social media ads for your business to post on Facebook and Instagram, you can quickly reach ideal clients. What else can you do to expand your reach on multiple social media platforms? Click the banner below to download our Comprehensive Guide to Social Media for Wedding Photographers to find out!