The hybrid pro: Using social media to market your wedding photography and video business

In-demand wedding photographer and content creator Rebecca Carpenter says she owes her success to social media, in more ways than one. When she was just starting out, after her very first paid wedding shoot, she posted the pictures on her Instagram page. A wedding magazine discovered them and chose one as a cover image. Rebecca's career took off, so rapidly that within just a year she was able to go full-time.

"That's the power of social media," she says. Today, clients find her in the same way, and she does all her marketing using social media. Here, she shares her insights and best advice on how to promote and grow your wedding photography and video business using social media.

Rebecca Carpenter has built her business almost entirely through social media. Here are her nine top tips for using Instagram, TikTok and authentic content to attract more wedding photography clients.

1. Video is your key marketing tool…
2. …And reshares can spread the word for you
3. Post for your clients, not for your peers
4. Be yourself
5. Share what you want to shoot
6. Promote the experience, not the price
7. Be where your clients are looking
8. Adapt and engage
9. Don’t neglect your wedding website!

Rebecca's BTS and highlights clips are part of the package she delivers to clients – in fact, she makes a point of delivering them the next day, long before the final edits of the stills are done, and their rough-cut style matches the "authentic" aesthetic that people are familiar with on social platforms. It's "instant content" that clients love, and that they will almost invariably then reshare.

"I think lots of photographers are very guilty of this – posting photographs you think you should post because they're technically excellent. We've all done it. The composition, the lighting, the settings, may all be perfect, but if it doesn't appeal to your ideal client, don't post it. You've got to remember, you're posting for your couples, not for your friends and family.

"What's more, you don't want to appeal to everybody. Realistically, as a wedding photographer, you've got to ask yourself, how many weddings do you want in a year? You want to appeal to just that number of couples. So be really specific, really niche with what you're posting, and the right people will find you."

Rebecca advises against trying to follow trends and fashions. "I did that in the past, doing what I thought was cool and trendy because that's what everybody else was doing. As a photographer, you see things and think, ‘Oh, is that what I should be shooting? Are we all tilting? Are we all doing poses, or motion blur?’ But then I realised, this isn't me. You have to think, what is your shooting style? What lights you up? What speaks to you creatively? Post that, and couples will book you because that's what they want, not because they want you to copy another photographer."

In the same vein, Rebecca continues: "Don't post imagery that you didn't enjoy creating and don't want to recreate, because that's what you're going to get booked for. Couples are going to see that image and want you to recreate it for them."

Rebecca cites the example of an elopement shoot she did in Las Vegas. "I loved it, and I asked my husband to help me write a blog post about it. It performed beautifully – it was on the first page of Google – and for about two years I kept getting enquiries about shooting in Las Vegas. But I thought to myself, ‘What have I done? I can't be going to Vegas every month. I have a little child, and it's just not smart business sense.’ So again, just share what you want to shoot – and where you're willing to go! Be really specific with your keywording."

There's an ongoing conversation in the wedding industry about pricing, Rebecca says. With rising costs, photographers have to increase their prices, but what is realistic in a given case depends on the particular business's financial situation. Rebecca admits that she has occasionally dropped her fee for a wedding that will be a "portfolio piece" but believes it is self-defeating to try to compete on price. "There's always going to be people who can't afford you," she observes. "There's always people who can, and the key is just making sure you fit that particular client."

What she offers is not just pictures, she explains, but a personal service. "I'm very involved with my couples, and I want them to have the best day. Because I know this world, I know what's going to make a potentially better experience for them. Weddings are really stressful. They are high-emotion, and they're live – you don't get a do-over. For lots of couples, just being the centre of attention is their worst nightmare. I want them to be completely relaxed and completely themselves, so they don't feel they have to be a certain way around their photographer. The trust factor is massive. And as a consequence, the photographs are infinitely better. That's the difference between a good photo and a great photo: the relationship with the couple. Every single time.

"Some weddings are very much 'transactional', 'show up and shoot', and that's cool. But when I look back at my own photographs, I can see which ones are stronger, composition wise and emotion wise, and it's down to the relationship I have with that couple."

Discovery is the new search, Rebecca emphasises. Modern couples find photographers through Instagram Reels and TikTok rather than traditional search. The majority of her enquiries come from Instagram, she estimates, followed by referrals, then TikTok, and only then traditional SEO. "Lots of Gen X and Gen Z are searching on TikTok like a search engine," she says, "so you can't disregard it. TikTok is massive."

However, "it's a completely different audience, and a completely different algorithm," she says. "Instagram is typically for your existing audience, and your images have got to be perfect, with a perfect caption and perfect hashtags, and your grid has to look aesthetic. On TikTok, you can just post whatever you like, at any time of day. TikTok wants volume, and it doesn't have to be polished and perfect. They just want it rough, ready, real, raw, and relatable.

"So, post on both, but post different content. Or cross-post the same content but adapt it for the different platforms. I make sure my content is still on-brand, but on TikTok I'll put text commentary on top of a photograph, for example, and people really like that. If I did that on Instagram, that would be a massive faux pas and would not perform well."

"The marketing we were doing two or three years ago doesn't work anymore," Rebecca warns. "You'd post something and leave it, and that used to be enough. But now, you've got to post and cross-post, you've got to do videos and voiceover reels, you've got to be present online and chat with your audience. You've got to have a presence, and it's another job in itself. Lots of photographers find it exhausting. Many of us started doing weddings because we love photographing weddings, but now it's this whole other beast that we need to feed, really."

Her advice? "Don't ‘post and ghost’. If you're going to post, stay online for 45 minutes to an hour to engage – that's replying to every single comment and DM, posting a story, interacting with other accounts. Instagram then knows you're online and will push your content out to your followers."

"Your Instagram and your TikTok, that is the bait. That's what entices people in. But try to direct them to your website, because that's typically where they make a buying decision.

"A lot of us build a website and then just leave it, don't we. But you should be updating your website content as much as possible. Update it as much as your Instagram. And put some love into it. You don't want to sound like everybody else. You want to be memorable, even if it's just one or two lines that people will connect with. They'll read through your bio, they'll look at your portfolio, and then if they really like you, they'll hit the contact form.

"Some couples won't even have a call with me, because they're like, 'Oh, I've seen you online, I know how you work, I trust you.' That's when you know you've done very good marketing. Those clients are unicorns, but they do happen if you have really, really done your marketing."

Successful wedding photography marketing today combines authentic video, consistent social media engagement, a strong personal brand, and a regularly updated website. By showing couples how you work, not just what you shoot, you can attract clients who are the right fit for your business.