How to Avoid Over-Promoting Yourself on Social Media

Instead Focus on Providing Value to Your Followers

©Steve Gale

When I asked Janis McGavin, the Director of Marketing and Social Media at the Los Angeles Center for Photography (LACP), to tell me about a photographer with a very strong social media presence, I expected her to show me one of those accounts with millions of followers. Instead, she shared a success story from the editorial photographer Kevin Weinstein, who has a little over 3,000.  

“Despite having a modest following, Kevin was able to make a significant sale because an art director stumbled across one of his images on his feed,” she explains. “This happened because the art director was following a relevant hashtag and found Kevin's work. This is why social media is crucial for artists.”

When it comes to social media, quality always trumps quantity. Understanding your audience (and meeting them where they are) sets the stage for making genuine connections. In this guide, we’ll take a look at just a few ways you can create content that catches people’s attention and resonates with them in the long term, as illustrated by real-time examples from photographers. 

“It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers game of followers and likes, but that's not always the key to success,” McGavin says. “It's more important that your social media presence translates into meaningful opportunities.”