Like me, you are trying to figure out all the social media possibilities. There are many to choose from to help market your brand.

I am falling in love with Instagram.

It is a photographer’s friend. It lets you post your photos, tag them, and write a complete caption if you choose. You are not limited to the 140 characters of Twitter.

One of the people I like to follow is my friend Alex Garcia. Here is a link to his work https://www.instagram.com/alexgarciaimages/

Another photographer I like to follow is Dave Black. https://www.instagram.com/daveblackphoto/

You were limited to a square image space when it first came out. Well, that is why I didn’t enjoy the medium, but then Instagram finally allowed you to post rectangle proportions.

Now the cool thing with any social media is the #hashtag. #Hashtag is when you keyword your photo so that others who are following this keyword will be able to find your picture amongst the millions posting daily. For example, I tagged the above image with #TybeeIsland & #Lighthouse.

Now here I didn’t do such an excellent job with my post. I didn’t use the #hashtag for Romania or the town name. I did, however, use them in the location, which is almost as good. So be sure and use both.

When I posted this photo, I used the #hashtag #headshot and #actress, and within a minute, I had people in Hollywood like the image in the industry. Woo Hoo!!!!!

Did I get a job? Unfortunately, no. However, I am making a connection now within the industry.

In this photo, I tagged #IslandBreezeiwt, the name of the company that this dancer performs with in Hawaii and around the world. So to be sure they see it, you would tag the photo @IslandBreezeiwt because this is the name of their account.

Start typing @nameofcompany and see if it pops up as a choice. Suppose it does, be sure to use this if you want that company to see your photo.

Talk about getting the marketing department’s attention. That’s what I am talking about!!

Why # and @?

Without using a # or @, your photo is not discoverable. It is the same as walking into your public library and just sticking an image between the books on the shelf and leaving. But, on the other hand, you may hope people find it, and someone day might stumble over it.

However, people use the web much like the public library; they use search terms to help them find the things they are interested in. If you have no tags on your photos, they will not pop up on their feed.

Captions alone are not very helpful for searching as a #hashtag. The @ symbol sends an alert to those with that account. The odds increase by using the @ character with their name that they will see it if they check their account. They will most likely get an email when you link to them like this.

Once people see your image and maybe even like it, they can click on your account name, go to all your pictures, and see your account like mine here. https://www.instagram.com/stanleyleary/

My marketing strategy always drives everyone to my main website, where my complete portfolio, blog, contact information, and more reside. I want everyone to find me quickly and to connect.

If you are a photographer, you need to be on Instagram because this is where people look for photography and photographers.

Could you not take my word for it? Read this article 160+ Interesting Instagram Statistics.