Like This: 6 Tips for Promoting Photography on Facebook

Facebook is a great place to show photos if you can stay on top of the continual changes that they make and know how to post what people want to see. Relevancy is the buzz word for 2014. Everyone is on Facebook, but for them to see your photography, it has to be relevant.

Here are my six tips for promoting photography on Facebook:

Photo via Nick & Erin Photography

1. Make your photos relevant

The last study I saw on organic reach showed that the average piece of content you post only reaches 6 percent of the users who like your page. This rate has been dropping over time, and is even worse for businesses with large amounts of followers. Facebook, with its magic algorithms, decides what content will be more relevant than other content and shows it to more users. More relevant content will be shown to more than 6 percent of your followers and less relevant content is seen by very few people.

Relevency depends on your audience. Posting things that you know people will “like” or comment on or share, boosts your organic reach. Also, posting consistently and having consistent engagement tells Facebook that people find your photos relevant and future posts have a good chance of being relevant. There are a ton of studies out there, but there are some colors, subjects, or photographic styles that tend to be engaged with over others. Pace yourself so there is a steady stream of work.

2. Encourage engagement

If relevancy depends on clicks, likes, shares and comments, you should post things that encourage these things. Show some photos of behind-the-scenes or that document your process. This allows people to feel like they are a part of your work and can start a conversation. If someone comments, comment back. Thank someone for sharing your post. Help to start the conversation.

3. Promote posts

If you are a small business and don’t really have a group of followers or a base of content, it may help to pay to have your posts seen, at least at first. You can go about promoting photography on Facebook by paying a certain amount based on the how many people are guaranteed to see your post. It’s best to boost posts that already have a decent organic reach, so you know that it’s resonating with at least a few people. Promoting posts is a more targeted way of reaching a greater number or users and requires a little more strategy and thought.

4. Tag people

Facebook is about connection. When you post a photo, be sure to tag the people in it. This ensures that at least the people in the photo see it and increases the chance they will share it. Tagging reinforces the web of connection and boosts engagement.

5. Watch the terms of service

From time to time, Facebook will change their terms of service. Recently, they changed the legalese to allow them to sell your photos without your knowledge or consent. This was quickly reversed after an outcry from users. Try to keep up on the latest policies so you know what your photos are being used for and to protect your work from people trying to steal it.

6. Play by the rules

Of course, you must use Facebook by their guidelines and understand how they display photos to use it to its full potential. The cover photo and profile photo have specific dimensions: 851 x 315 pixels for the cover photo and 160 x 160 pixels for the profile photo. You do not need to upload these exact dimensions (Facebook will crop and resize for you) but it is helpful to do your resizing before you upload to insure the best quality display of your work.

Facebook displays images at 504 pixels wide on your timeline but recommends uploading photos at either 720, 960, or 2048 pixels wide and under 100Kb in size. To keep files sizes small, Facebook applies compression to images and these sizes work the best with their compression methods. If your photo is under 100Kb, it may not get compressed at all. Photos are best uploaded as JPEGs in the sRGB color space.

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