Best Practices for Instagram: Wedding Edition; Bride and Groom

Wedding Season is Right Around the Corner!

Be Prepared with these Top 7 Best Practices for Instagram in the Wedding Industry!

Use Carousel Posts
Carousel posts allow you to get in front of your audience more than once! Not only will they see the post with the first picture, they’ll have a change to engage with it again starting with the second picture on your feed. Especially with wedding galleries, this is a great way to advertise yourself, gain engagement, and get your content out there for potential new leads.
Sharing Posts and Stories You’re Tagged In
Taking advantage of content from other users is a great way to get more content without doing any of the work. By reposting content you’re tagged in, your followers see that you’re not the only one bragging about you! They see that vendors in your region also love working with you and that you create great work.
Tag Other Vendors in Your Content
Just like you should share posts others tag you in, you should be tagging other vendors in your own posts. This not only gets their attention but also encourages them to post it on their own platforms, getting them free content and getting you in front of their audiences! This causes a ripple effect. Their followers will engage with your post and potentially give you a follow if they like your work. Continuing to promote the work of others definitely has its positives on social media.
Use Videos to Get More Engagement
Videos are not only a great way to showcase your work, but also a great way to gain engagement. Research shows that over 50% of consumers want more video content from brands. This could range from IGTV, Reels, or Stories. Videos help you connect with your audience and can help you give them a look at some of the things that happen behind the scenes. Taking time and being creative with your video content gives you a step up not only with your audience, but also on the explore pages as 1/3 of the most-viewed Instagram stories come from businesses!
Use Social Ads
Taking advantage of social ads is a great, and inexpensive, way to advertise your business. You can use them to get in front of newly engaged brides during engagement season or you can showcase new products to current brides in the midst of planning. Either way, getting your business out there and in front of potential customers is key to building clientele. And social ads are an inexpensive way to do so without just relying on organic content.
Utilize Instagram Features
Whether it’s location, stories, reels, polls, etc., Instagram has so many features that help engage your audience.
- Hashtags allow you to get in front of people looking for your kind of content. Use #pittsburghwedding and #weddingplanner if you’re in the planning industry to get your designs in front of newly engaged brides.
- Location will help you engage with couples looking in your area. Did you photograph Phipps Conservatory last wedding season? Put Phipps in your location so other brides know that you have experience shooting there.
- Polls give you the opportunity to personally connect and engage with your audience. Play this or that with wedding trends using photos from weddings you’ve done. This gets followers engaged with your page so they remember your brand and keep coming back for more content.
- Stories have so much power in the Instagram world. You can use stories to highlight a new post or a new blog. You can use them to show behind the scenes footage of some design meetings you’re attending. You can use them to create sneak peaks of the setup at a wedding before highlighting the final product on your feed or in your stories.
We know it’s a lot but utilizing these features will help up your Instagram game to keep your followers more engaged.
Be Aware of Your Content
Some of our biggest advice is to be aware of the content you’re posting. This comes in 3 Parts:
1. Be Relevant
  Make sure that your content is relevant to the season you’re in or the projects you’re working on. Don’t post galleries that are five years old, unless you’re posting to celebrate an anniversary… in which case, post away! Other than that, make sure your feed is full of fresh, beautiful weddings so your audience sees the new things you’ve been up to.
2. Be Creative
  Don’t let your content just look like everyone else’s. Be unique and different so you have something that stands out. This could mean posting specific detail shots from a wedding. This could mean posting a certain percentage of photos in black and white. This could mean being super creative with the stories you post. Whatever the case may be, optimize your content and keep it fresh and new!
3. Be Consistent
  Keep a similar style in your photos so your page looks consistent. Nothing is worse than going onto a brand’s Instagram and seeing a multiple of different styled photos. It’s overwhelming and unimpressive. Choose photos that match the vibe and aesthetic of your business so that it looks clean and consistent to new viewers! Plus, being in the wedding business, we know how important it is to have a consistent look!