As the online creative business world grows, more and more people have taken to giving their opinions on how we should be growing our businesses. This is especially true for content marketing for photographers. Some say you should be active on social media, never missing a day of posting. Others say social media is a waste of time and you should be growing an email list. Still, others say forget organic reach, you need to pay to play and run ads to get more bookings. Sooo which is true? Whose opinion is right? Which strategy will result in growth for your photography business?

Let’s break it down for you. 3 filters for your marketing strategy

Rather than contributing to the noise of opinions, I’m going to break down 3 categories of filters that you should run any marketing platform through to decide if it’s where you should be spending your energy. Those filters are:

1. Expiration 
2. Authority
3. Reach/Search

First, let’s discuss expiration.

Otherwise known as evergreen content. This is the type of content that can work for you over and over and over because it’s applicable as time goes on. Think about each type of content you can create. Blogs, Instagram posts, Instagram stories, Youtube videos, Facebook ads, Podcasts, and the list goes on. Now think about the life cycle of each of these pieces of content. When you create an Instagram story, how long is it visible to your audience? 24 hours, right? Unless you add it to a highlight, that content is gone pretty quickly. Contrast that with, say, a blog post or Youtube video. Blogs and Youtube videos are evergreen, meaning they live on long after they’re posted, sometimes years after. The first question you need to ask for each marketing strategy you are considering is this: if I spend energy on this platform, how long will the content last and result in growth for my brand?

Second, we’ll talk about authority.

Who owns the land where you’re building each piece of content? You’ve heard it before – you don’t own your social media platforms. And it’s true. The only internet real estate you truly own is your website (your blog). Facebook, Youtube, Pinterest, even podcasts are all built on someone else’s playground. Does this mean you shouldn’t use these platforms? Not at all. But they shouldn’t be the only place you create content, and your main goal should be to get people off of these platforms and onto your own land (a.k.a. your blog and email list).

Finally, you need to consider reach and search.

Think about the content you are wanting to create. Is it searchable? Meaning are you going to be posting it to a place that serves as a search engine. You may know that the three largest search engines in the world are Google, Youtube, and Pinterest. These platforms are great for creating content that our potential client might search for. But what about social media sites like Facebook and Instagram? These sites are searchable through hashtags but are not nearly as powerful at reaching potential clients as the three big search engines. 

So what does all of this mean? I said I wasn’t going to be contributing to the noise of opinions, and I’m holding fast to that. My advice is to take each piece of content you want to create and look at it through the three filters I just laid out for you. Find where your time is best spent with long term results and also have fun with it! If you enjoy posting to Instagram stories, keep doing it! But also consider putting some work into building that email list as well. It’s all about balance. 

As for where to start? We know how much you are balancing as a business owner. You’re reading this blog, so you know how important content marketing is! You may just not have the time. That’s where we come in! Our new Content Strategy + Execution service takes the day to day marketing tasks off of your hands. Find out more here!