Build a Social Media Strategy That Works for Photographers with Angela Shae

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Angela Shae (00:00):
As business owners, there needs to be clear

(00:03):
boundaries, between like workhours, client communications,
how much you shoot, setting timeaside for personal time.
I think that's probably if Icould talk to younger
photographers, that are juststarting out or maybe not
younger, just like people thatare transitioning from hobby
into business is to haveboundaries that won't make them

(00:25):
burn out.

Raymond Hatfield (00:29):
Hey, welcome to the beginner photography
podcast.
I'm your host, Raymond Hatfield.
And today we're chatting withwedding photographer and owner
of social templates, AngelaShea, about creating a social
media strategy that will attractraving fans, but first the
beginner photography podcastbrought to you by cloud spot,
sell your photos through printsproducts, and of course,
digitals, you can set up astorefront in minutes and start

(00:51):
earning more with every galleryyou deliver.
So grab your free foreveraccount over at deliverphotos.
com and only upgrade when youare ready.
If you follow me on socialmedia, you probably already know
that I'm not great at it.
I tend to overthink everything.
I mean, what to post, where topost it, how to actually make an

(01:12):
impact instead of just chasingfollowers.
But at Imaging USA, TaylorJackson introduced me to Angela
Shea, and within minutes, I knewthat she had this social media
thing figured out.
Not only does she reallyunderstand the roles of the
different platforms, but sheexplained it to me in a way
that, well, it just made sense.

(01:32):
And since then, I have beenmaking an effort to post more on
Instagram stories.
And to my surprise, it has beena bit easier than I expected.
It's even sparked some, like,real, fun conversations.
One of the things that I love todo is go to new restaurants and
try out their nachos.
So I started posting some ofthem on my Instagram stories,
and surprise, surprise, y'allstarted sharing with me some of

(01:56):
your favorite nacho spots.
What does that have to do withphotography?
Uh, nothing.
And that's okay.
My rebuttal before would havebeen, What does this have to do
with photography?
And how is this helpful?
But Angela shared something withme that really changed
perspective, and you'll hearabout it in today's episode.
Now, as I mentioned earlier,Angela is the founder of Social

(02:16):
Templates, and, Social Templatesis, it's a game changer of a
tool for photographers, thatoffers customizable, done for
you, Instagram real templates,that are designed to get more
eyes on your work.
Now, before trying out SocialTemplates for myself, and then
later actually signing up forit, I struggled to know the

(02:37):
difference between, a reel and astory, and any time I tried to
make a reel, it took forever toedit, anything decent.
And then at the end of the day,it's like, wait, I got into
photography because I like totake photos, not spend hours on
editing videos that, willprobably only last for 15
minutes in this sociallandscape.
But I think social templates,for me has completely changed

(02:59):
that.
Because now you can create thesereally beautiful, polished, beat
matching reels.
And what I'm about to say here,I don't take lightly.
You can create them And Ithought in the beginning, maybe
there'd be like, 20 or 30different templates that you
have to just keep reusing.
And, but no, like Angela isuploading new templates, uh,

(03:19):
with trending audio every singleweek.
So there's always something new.
So in today's episode, Angela isgoing to break down how to build
an easy and effective socialmedia strategy, whether you're
in business or just shooting forfun, how to identify and then
connect with your targetaudience.
And how to leverage InstagramReels and Stories to grow your
presence and attract those newfans of your work.

(03:42):
If you want to step up yoursocial media game, if you really
want to get into Reels, Asyou'll hear from this interview,
reels are really at thecornerstone of what Angela
believes a photographer's socialstrategy should be.
So if you want to check outsocial templates, you can, use
my link by heading tobeginnerphotopod.
com forward slash reels.
beginnerphotopod.

(04:03):
com forward slash reels.
R E E L S.
They'll take you to a page whereyou can sign up and just try it
for 30 days for free.
So again, if you're listeningand you're interested and you
think, Hey, maybe there'ssomething that I want to check
out, beginnerphotopod.
com forward slash reels to tryit out for yourself.
All right, let's get into thisinterview with Angela Shea.
Angela, my first question foryou is, when did you know that

(04:25):
photography was first going toplay an important role in your
life?

Oh man, that's a hard one.
I think since I was a child, Iwanted to take pictures and be
in pictures.
we back when we had, the littlepoint and shoot that you would
develop at Walmart.
we would set up backdrops athome with my sisters and we
would just like shoot a ton.
And then in I was applying to bea dental assistant, for like the

(04:51):
program and I was walking to thedean's office to submit all my
paperwork and literally like itwas like a movie scene I like
stopped halfway and I was like,there's absolutely no way I
could be a dental assistant.
Like this is not happening Anddidn't submit my application.
I had all the prereqs donearound and went and took a
Photography elective class justfor fun

What?
Why?

I just it was always such a creative person
and my parents really wanted mein the medical field and I just
like Could not even

Mm.

that stuff.
And I was the first oldest childof four.
And so I had, I felt like I hadto like live out my parents
dreams, and do like all thesethings that they wished for me.
We were also an immigrantfamily, first generation.
So there's like a lot ofpressure there.
And so when I went into graphicdesign, I actually ended up
applying for a graphic designprogram.
And, like, I didn't, I couldn'teven afford a camera.

(05:44):
The instructor was so kind andjust lent me his own camera.
there was this class of 30people and I was the only person
that couldn't afford a camera.
And he was like, here, use mine.
And so then I just, I've never,like, not, wanted to shoot since
then.
Well, no, that's not true.
Later, if I share my story, I'lltell you.
But from then on, I like jumpedinto photography headfirst,

(06:06):
launched my business at 19.
started shooting like seniorportraits for, cause I was
really young.
So like all my sister's friendsneeded senior portraits and then
a few of them ended up likegetting married really early.
So I like shot their weddingsand it just kind of like
snowballed really quickly soyeah, that's I guess like that's
how I ended up in photography.

(06:27):
It was a little bit by accidentI didn't plan for it.
I'm also a very spontaneousperson like I just follow my
heart for better or for worse,you know and so I just Yeah, it
just kind of happened

I have to ask, this may be a tough question,
what was your parents reactionwhen you decided not to go to
school for, being a dentalhygienist, but go for, to be a
photographer?

They were, I think, confused and disappointed.
they just were like, okay, wellThis is like just didn't
understand for a long time.
So then, I was in graphic designI actually still lived with my
parents the first year that Iwas in graphic design school so
i'd be like on the dinner diningtable like cutting out newspaper
clippings for like collages Iwas making and they just were

(07:12):
like this is college like what'shappening?
Like they just didn't understandFor a long time, even after I
was traveling all over Americafrom coast to coast shooting
weddings, they still would askme like, so when are you going
to get a real job?

Oh, wow.

and I think they never took it seriously.
and I still don't know if theytake my business social
templates that I have seriously.
Like they're like, Oh, you'relike on Instagram.
Cool.
Like, I don't know, like, Idon't think they really, really
understand what

Yeah,

doing.

we've had such a huge shift in technology over
the past, like not very longthat like, even my mom, who I
would consider to be relativelysavvy, like there's sometimes I
talk to her and I'm like, whatis she talking?
Like, what does, how does shenot understand this?
Like, this has been around fordecades at this point.
And, that's totallyunderstandable, but, let's go a
little bit deeper into that.
Right.
I want to go back to those daysof learning photography.

(08:08):
First of all, how cool that youwere like setting up model
shoots at home with just adisposable camera.
That sounds like so much fun askids.
How did you learn though thephotography side of it, as far
as the technicals, right?
Like the point and shootdisposable camera.
That's all easy.
I think we can all figure thatout.
But one of the biggest issuesthat new photographers have is
getting to learn the technicalside of photography.

(08:29):
Was that difficult for you aswell?
Haha,

creative.
And understanding the technicalside of things is like extremely
hard for me.
So when our photographyinstructor was trying to explain
the difference between shutterspeed and aperture, I absolutely
had no idea like what he wastalking about, like why we're
turning these dials.
I would do the exercises whereyou would take like, a photo at
like different apertures andlike compile them together to

(09:01):
see the difference.
And I would do all the work.
But in my head it wouldn't clickand it sounds so silly saying it
out loud and I actually feel alittle bit dumb.
You know, like how do you dothese exercises?
And it still doesn't make sensein my head.
So the first few weddings andshoots actually probably for the
first two years, I literallyjust shot on aperture priority.

(09:24):
didn't understand ISO for a verylong time.
Like why do you change thisnumber?
I just thought that you wouldchange this number to add more
grain.
Oh my gosh.
I've never publicly like

purely a creative, purely a creative
effect, yeah, that's hilarious.

And so it honestly I felt like a fraud for a very
long time because I didn'treally understand how to use my
camera my images were coming outgreat because I had great
composition I knew how to editthem so they don't look cheesy.
But it wasn't until I was secondshooting for a photographer, we
became really good friends, thatI was like, I really looked up

(10:01):
to him.
His name is Daniel Usenko.
Actually, he's the founder ofPixaloo, the smart albums
company now.
So it's been fun to see hisjourney as well.

Oh

coming up.
Come second shoot for me ifyou'd like.
And so it was like very excitingbecause he was actually, we,
actually in a different state.
I lived in Oregon at the time.
He was in Washington and he wasoffering, like, this is someone
I, like, really admired andsomehow he noticed my work and
was like, I think, you're on theright track.
Come shoot these weddings withme in New York and San

(10:40):
Francisco.
And so, like, for a whole year,he took me to all these weddings
as a second shooter.
But I was so embarrassed that,like, when we showed up to our
first wedding, we were shootingthis insane wedding in Brooklyn,
like Botanical Garden, they shutdown the whole garden for us.
And he was like, you know how toshoot in manual, right?
And I was like, Oh yeah,absolutely.

(11:02):
And so he,

no.
Wow.

a couple clarifying questions, I literally had to
learn on the fly during thatday, that wedding.
and for the most part, it justlike, I just figured it out and
I never went back.
Like, that wedding, I switchedit to manual and never went back
since.
Like, it was like a turningpoint for me.

(11:28):
Somehow everything kind ofstarted to make sense.
Things clicked.
He was always like not far away.
So if something was like lookinga little bit off, know, I could
always ask him.
But I don't remember asking himvery frequently, so it was, I
don't really know how to explainthis.
Like that, it was just kind of aweird thing that happened for
me.
Like it just one day clicked.

(11:48):
What is Aperture?
Okay, it does this thing.
Why do you use ISO in certainscenarios?
and so I don't think most peoplehave the same journey.

Um,

So if you do, please share with me.

Yeah, I definitely don't think that most
people are getting requests tobe a second shooter all around
the country.
That is very unique for sure.
But I will say that even though,I went to school for
cinematography, so like Ilearned all the technical side
before I learned the creativeside.
And when I first startedshooting weddings, I thought to
myself, Oh, I can figure thisout.
Like it's just technicals.
Like I got no problem here, butI was so nervous that I put it

(12:23):
in aperture priority myself aswell, because as you know,
there's just a lot of movingparts during the day for those
first few weddings, but then Idid the same thing.
I went to a wedding, just put itin manual.
And I was like, let's see if wecan figure this out.
And just like you said, you putit in manual once and then it
just stays there forever.
So I appreciate you sharingthat.
I think a lot of listenersthink.

(12:44):
I wish, guests would share onetip that would just make it all
click for me.
but what you just sharedbasically was like, no, you got
to put in the work.
Like I can share theinformation, but until you
actually go out and do thething, that's the only time when
it will, quote unquote click foryou.
So, that's super helpful.
So thank you.

I think that I also stayed in the safe zone of
shooting an aperture for so longbecause there wasn't that
pressure.
But in that situation, it waslike my mentor kind of
questioned my ability, like, Oh,do you know how to shoot manual?

It's do or die.
Yeah.

I had to challenge myself to be like, okay, I get
out of my comfort zone?
So sometimes I think we can getstuck in a comfort zone.

Oh, for sure, for sure, I am actively trying
to always find ways out of mycomfort zone, even though my
whole personality is just like,no, just stay comfortable.
Like this is nice.
Anyway, that's a whole notherstory.
So how do you go from, shootingweddings, right to starting
social templates.
Tell me how social templatescame to be.
Tell me what it is.
And, yeah, I want to know how itcan help photographers.

like that was just something I always wanted, was
to be a young mom.
and so I had two babies and wasfull, in, in my photography, I
shot till I was like sevenmonths pregnant with like both
of them.
and then would be back on theroad shooting at like six weeks
postpartum.

Wow.

juggling being like a mom with two under two.
and still feeling like I'm soyoung and I want to like find
myself and find my creativeoutlet.
And at some points felt like Iwas living two separate lives.
Like I had like my photographyoutlet and, all these like
creative shoots that I was doingand going to and projects I was

(14:40):
working on.
And then like, I also wanted tobe the best mom I could be ever.
That was like top of my mind allthe time.
And so I would be with the kidsduring the day and edit at
night.
So my editing hours were usuallyfrom around 9 PM to four in the
morning.
That's when I

Cheese.
Peace.

know, fall and holidays.
And then all of a sudden Irealized I just missed summer
again with my kids.
And it was just like this overand over like pattern that I was
stuck in, to a point where likethe anxiety started creeping up
where I never felt like my workwas good enough.
I started just being really hardon myself with like, after every
shoot, the drive home would belike, I should have taken that

(15:40):
photo.
I should have done that.
I could have done that.
Why didn't I think of this?
Then I would sit down to edit

Yeah.

And at one point I had like a panic attack where I
was like, okay, I can't keepdoing this.
I can't keep going this way.
I started to hate photography.
not photography itself.
Like I just started despisinglike this, this, I can't even
pinpoint exactly what it was,but like everything about it
just felt like crippling to me.

(16:26):
I would be in my moment at theshoot, like I would be loving it
and then I would come home andwhen I'd go to edit, like I
would just be so unhappy withmyself.
And then one dinnerconversation, literally one
dinner conversation.
Obviously this has been buildingup for a while.
My husband and I were like,okay, like this is, we,
something needs to change.
Something needs to happen.
And I always dreamed of doing aseason of life, by the beach.

(16:50):
So we were like, pack up andlike just go somewhere for a
quote unquote season, like ayear to two years.
And kind of, I don't know, get areset.
So that same week we sold ourhouse.
closed on it within 30 days,packed up our life and moved
down to Southern California.

wow.
Wow.
Wow.

took a year long sabbatical.
I shut down my website.
You couldn't find me anywhere asa photographer anymore.
Like I still flew back andfinished shooting like all the
weddings that I had on thebooks.
but it was very dramatic.
It was like I ran away frommyself and my old life and my
photography business.
we didn't tell anyone.
that we were moving.
and so like we told our parents,but our friends kind of just

(17:33):
found out the week we wereleaving.
We're like, by the way, we'reuprooting our life and go in a
different state.
And, um,

you say you were spontaneous in a good way,
in a bad way, you weren'tkidding.
Yeah, wow.

I just, I don't take life too seriously.
I think like, I just, go withthe flow with things and so took
that year long sabbatical.
We bought annual passes toDisneyland And I went to
Disneyland every Tuesday for anentire year with my kids.
So I think we went like 50 timesthat year and just kind of
wanted to figure out like what Iwas going to do.

(18:05):
Like, am I going to go back as abranding photographer?
I going to raise my prices andonly take like a limited amount
of weddings?
but I still, like I did, itdidn't feel right to go back to
like what I was doing and I knewI couldn't keep going with the
same pattern.
And so my photography friends,like I've already built a
community of photographers atthat point, started reaching out
and being like, Hey, so like,where are you?

(18:26):
What are you doing these days?
What's going on?
can you help with my socialmedia?
And so, fairly quickly, I endedup managing 20 Instagram
accounts, for other creatives,photographers, it was like
preset companies, styling mats,fine art photographers, a lot of
fine art photographers, and so Iwas managing their Instagram for

(18:46):
them.
So this was like 2017 when theperfectly curated grid was at
its peak.
and I was really good at thatbecause I came from a world of
blogging and submissions andstyle me pretty if anybody, but
he still remembers those

Oh yeah.
Transcript Rev.
com Page of

of On the back end, this is like pre AI when I would
go, through their entireInstagram account and pick out
phrases that sound like thisphotographer.
And so I would like compile allthese phrases that we would use
to like make it sound like theywrote the captions and, then
TikTok and Instagram werecompeting and Reels came onto
the space.

(19:34):
And so once Reels were.
Like exploding, all of myclients wanted custom reels.
And so once I started creatingcustom reels, I was no longer,
just curating their grid.
It was like so much work tryingto create a reel.
And it was one reel that youcould create for one client and
post it once.

(19:55):
And that was it.
it felt like a waste to createsomething and post it once and
never be able to reuse it again.
And it was all manually done.
we didn't have like templates wewere using and I was looking for
something where we could use thetrending music, but all the
template apps out there didn'tprovide the turning music.
And that's what the clientswanted.

(20:15):
And so.
Out of sheer, desperation for asolution, I ended up launching
social templates, which is thesolution that I was looking for.

Wow.

and so social templates today is, it's not
another app.
It's a private account onInstagram for photographers, for
members to access that havetemplates that are created right
inside of Instagram usingInstagram features, the trending
music that's already licensed onInstagram, and we add new
templates.
trending, new templates everysingle week.
So every week there's like newcontent, fresh ideas.

(20:47):
We help with like onscreen hooksand things like that.
And so originally just came outof like me needing a solution
that did that for me and Icouldn't find one.
And so then we launched socialtemplates and it's been growing
and photographers are loving it.
And it's been such a fun journeybecause I, I never imagined
myself here if you would havetold me, like when I was.

(21:10):
Even taking my sabbatical, likethat, this is where I would end
up never in a million years.

There's so much there.
Oh, wow.
Yeah, that's, it's hard tocondense, a number of years into
just a few short moments.
I appreciate you sharing that.
I want to figure out though.
Because you said, you told methat you fell out of love with
photography, right?
do you still find today that youdon't love photography the way
that you did before?
I don't even know if that's theright question.

(21:37):
Does that question make sense?

Yeah.
honestly, I think I'm on ajourney to discovering like what
it is for me on a personallevel.
if I take on client work, thatstill triggers anxiety.
So that's like a part of me thathasn't healed.

Yeah, no, no.
I just want to know photographyin general, right?
So whether it's family stuff,whether it's your life, whether
it's, you know, whatever it is,what's your view on photography
today?

Yeah, when we travel for, like, abroad, I
always bring my film camera, andI shoot film for myself as a
souvenir to bring back.
So, I definitely lovephotography.
I don't know if I could evernot, like, appreciate it.
I love looking at art.
So yeah, I feel like, I stilllove photography, there's just a
part of me that needs to heal,and maybe

Yeah.

at some point, like, I'll come back to it in
some other capacity.
I know that I don't want to getpaid for photography work,
because

Hmm.

that's like, something triggers something,
But as far as like creating artand like even the way that I
document my family on an iPhonesimply using an iPhone.
It's always very thoughtful

Yeah, you can't be a photographer and not
look at your iPhone camera andtry to take a good photo.
Right?
So I totally get that.
I appreciate you sharing thatbecause I, that opened up the
story loop for me.
That was like, wait, how doesshe get back to photography?
How does she get her love back?
And I think that you touched onsomething that is really
important.
And honestly, a big worry for alot of new photographers, which

(23:05):
is they love photography now,while it's their hobby, while
it's their creative expression,but the idea of taking on
clients scares them and makesthem feel like they're going to
fall out of love of photography.
And I think that if you wouldhave asked me, five years ago,
if that was even possible, Iwould have said no.
But today I absolutelyunderstand that.

(23:26):
And you sharing that as well,just solidifies it.
I guess you really just have tobe self aware of the kind of
person you are and start torecognize those triggers inside
of you.
Does that sound right?

Yeah, and I think mean I was just like you I
remember saying I will never notlove shooting weddings I was so
passionate about it.
I enjoyed every aspect of iteven the editing like In the
process, when I was in the thickof it, like I genuinely loved it
and couldn't imagine myself notloving it.
I think where I probably messedup was boundaries.

Mm.

as business owners, there needs to be clear
boundaries, between like workhours, client communications,
how much you shoot, setting timeaside for personal time.
I think that's probably if Icould talk to younger
photographers, that are juststarting out or maybe not
younger, just like people thatare transitioning from hobby
into business is to haveboundaries that won't make them

(24:24):
burn out.

Beautiful.
I couldn't have said it bettermyself.
That is one of the hardestthings to, to figure out.
And it's like, I can't tell youone thing to do because like,
it's going to be different foreverybody else, So again, you
just got to feel that out foryourself.
So, let's get back to, socialtemplates.
Let's get back to social media,right?
Social media is, is veryimportant today in 2025.
It's been important for probably10 years or so.

(24:46):
And I'm guessing that it's goingto be important, for the
foreseeable future as well.
So, talk to me about.
And why they're more importantfor photographers right now, at
least, than posts and carouselsand stories.

I don't think reels are necessarily more important
than carousels, the algorithm isalways changing, and we've seen

Yeah.

perform worse, we've seen carousels perform
better.
so I, I don't want to dismisscarousels.
I think carousels are veryimportant.
but reels have this otherability for you to connect with
your viewers that, um, stillimages don't.
You're able to share a littlebit of behind the scenes.
it's paired with music.

(25:27):
It's if you're using, a goodtemplate, like social templates,
we beat match everything foryou.
So it makes it like exciting andengaging.
and reels have the ability ofbeing shown to non followers
versus a lot of times when youpost something to your feed,
only your followers see it.
So in the current state wherewe're at with social media in

(25:47):
2025, Reels is the easiest wayto reach people that have never
heard of your company before.
I never heard of you as aphotographer.
If you're trying to connect withnew clients, find your audience.
That's why you want to be makingreels is you have the
opportunity to show up on theexplore page.
And there's two places you canshow up either on the explore

(26:08):
page where there's likeeverything, that's curated to
like someone's interests or justwithin, like the reels tab, like
when people scroll throughreels.
And so not taking thatopportunity to connect with new
potential clients, I feel likeit's a little bit silly.
Like it's there for you use it.
Yeah, I think a lot ofphotographers just don't take

(26:29):
advantage of the fact that it'sthere.

Yeah, well, speaking candidly and personally
here, I know for me, it's like,from the progression of social
media, there was Instagram,which was always, photo first in
the beginning, then there wasSnapchat.
And then there's Tick Tock.
And it's like, both of bothSnapchat and Tick Tock are very
video forward.
It makes sense.
You know what the point of theseapps are.

(26:52):
But when it came to Instagram,Instagram was like.
It was all of the things, right?
And for me, I found it extremelyconfusing.
I didn't know what was where Ishould be focusing my time.
and I think what it came down tois that I didn't have any sort
of strategy because I didn'tunderstand what all these
different tools were.
So, I'm still not great atInstagram.

(27:12):
I'm going to be asking questionsjust out of pure ignorance
today.
Help us start to build some sortof strategy, right?
Like for the beginners out therewho are listening and wondering,
can we just post whenever wefeel like it?
What would you say to them?
How do we start to go aboutbuilding a social media
strategy?

I hope that like this doesn't get dismissed
because a lot of times I feellike this, like photographers
tend to brush over this, but Ifeel like I have to say this
first before we like dig intothe technical stuff.

Oh, here we go.

For the strategy, you have to know exactly who
you're speaking to.
Like your messaging has to bedialed in just like with any
marketing.
You can't.
Just throw spaghetti at the walland hope it sticks with like,
okay, let's jump on differenttrends.
Let's try this reel let's putthis out there.
Let's just do reels that showoff my images without

(28:05):
understanding who you aretalking to and what is your
messaging in.
And that's going to be sodifferent for all photographers,
right?
So for some photographers, youmight be looking to connect with
future brides.
You want to book brides, maybe,that are getting married in the
South.
You need to narrow that down toknow exactly who you are trying

(28:26):
to talk to.
If you are a senior portraitphotographer, you might not be
talking to the high school kids.
You're probably talking to themoms that are going to book
these sessions.
And so your messaging would haveto reflect that.
Like, if you're talking to themom, If your reel needs to
resonate with the mom that wantsto book the session.
Obviously you can.
You can communicate to both.

(28:47):
You can make reels maybe thatconnect more with the senior,
seniors that are graduating sothey can send them to their mom,
but understanding like who ismaking these bookings, how
you're going to talk to them, doyou need to give mom a reason
why they need to have seniorportraits done, or do you need
to give them ideas of what towear and locations, so

(29:08):
understanding your messagingfirst, is at the core of your
Instagram strategy, and Ibelieve a lot of photographers
are missing this.

That's great.
When it comes to a marketingpoint of view, that's said a
lot, but I don't thinkunderstood very well.
And the way that you just laidout that example I found was
very helpful.
So okay, now that we have toknow who we're talking to and
what our messaging is, help mewalk through, the differences
between posts, carousels,stories, reels, all those

(29:38):
things.
And should we be implementingall of them?
Like, where do we get started?

Yes, so static posts that just have one photo,
I would recommend you don't dothat.
I'm not going to post those atall right now.
Like they're not going to domuch for you.
So

Hmm.

three things you want to focus on.
Reels, carousels, and stories.
So reels are kind of like yourlead magnets.
You're going to create a reelthat is going to be short and
engaging.
If you're creating a reel thatis too long, it's not going to
get watched all the way to theend.
So the most important metric ona reel, to keep in mind is the

(30:12):
watch time you want people towatch it all the way to the end
and to restart watching it againSo watch time is the most
important thing and then savesand shares and we can like
revisit this more in depth laterbut when you are creating these
reels, you have to think aboutthem being kind of like the top
of the funnel type of contentthat are used as lead magnets to

(30:33):
drive people to your profile andfrom there drive them either to
binge the rest of your contentor go to your website.
The way that reels need to bepackaged is, they need to have a
hook on screen that talks toyour ideal client.
And that will like bring themin.
So giving people a smallsampling of your work instead of

(30:55):
doing an awkward full slideshowof your photos, like a portfolio
slideshow.
I I think this is like somethingto understand with like reel
strategy, the way people consumereels, oftentimes they're
watching Netflix and they'vescrolling reels.
their attention is, separated.
They might be at the grocerystore at checkout, they're
scrolling reels.

(31:16):
That's just like how people areengaging with reels.
And you have to understand thatthere's like literally seconds
of their attention that you cancapture for them to potentially
pause and go over to your page,maybe get curious, maybe they do
need a photographer in thefuture.
They're not ready to like makethat commitment now, but you
want to get reels to funneltraffic into your account.

(31:38):
carousel posts, that's where youcan showcase your highlights
from a session, your best work,your portfolio work, where you
tag your clients, your clientscan reshare that.
That lives on your profile.
So once people find you througha reel and they come over to
your account, now they're ableto see some of these mini

(31:58):
galleries, I'll call them, thatare carousel

Yes,

okay, this is, I feel like I can go on this
forever, but stories, have to bebroken down into like, you don't
have to sh a lot of times peoplefeel like they have to share
everything about their life.
And I feel like we talked aboutthis with you when we met, met
at imaging, choosing just a few,like three to four different
areas of your life or routinethat you consistently share.

(32:47):
That other people will be ableto connect with that creates
these connection points whereyou can talk about, like certain
similarities that make youhuman, that, will potentially
have common interests and thatwill get people to be
emotionally invested in you as ahuman and your brand.
And then they like, people liketo spend their money, know, when

(33:09):
they're emotional spenders, theywant to spend their money on
something they feel good about.
And so if they.
So if they don't know thisphotographer, they're more
likely to want to book with thembecause there's already that
emotional connection establishedthrough stories.
And I feel like I just touchedlike surface level and
everything so we can

no, you did, but like, I almost, This is
gonna sound ridiculous from apodcast host.
I almost don't want to godeeper, right?
Because I feel like there's amillion strategies that we can
do when it comes to, all ofthese from reels to posts, to
stories, which you totallyopened up my eyes when it came
to stories.
I started posting more about, mynachos.
every time I'd go get nachos, Istarted posting more about

(33:47):
those.
And you were absolutely right.
More people engaged with thatcontent than anything that I
shared about photography before.
So that is super helpful.
I know that that works.

I'm

Uh,

to hear that.

The problem is I don't have nachos every day,
right?
If I did that'd be a problem SoI have to figure out what those
two other categories are aswell, but I'm working on it.
I'm working on it but I do wantto go back to reels because what
I loved is that it seemed likeas you said reels are shown to
non followers and it gets peopleinterested into your content So
once they click on your profilethen they're going to want to

(34:21):
either bend your content orcheck out your stories and
become more invested in who youare.
I've seen a lot of reels.
I don't click on everybody'sprofile.
How do we start to get peopledown that funnel of watching our
reel to actually taking actionand checking out what we do?

So providing value.
have to provide some sort ofreason for them to stay.
So it doesn't always have toprovide a value.
You have to choose if you wantto entertain.
and to help them provide valueor connect with them in some
other capacity.
So lot of times photographers,they're just like not there to
entertain, right?
There's other of companies thatare there to be like relatable

(35:02):
and to entertain.
So where photographers often winis educating and you don't have
to be an educator to be able toprovide value in your content.
Right.
Let's go back to like ouroriginal example of, senior
session, right?
Yeah.
You can simply talk about shouldschedule your senior session at

(35:22):
golden hour.
And that, you know, if someoneis considering a booking, So if
you're in a senior session, nowyou are an authority in that
space and you're able to, get,but not only saying it, like you
have to think about the wording.
So you have to have an on screenhook that will get people to
pause, either tap to read therest of your caption, like if

(35:43):
you have all the informationthere, um, Or to go over to your
account or you have them have atrigger word where you say
comment guide and I will sendyou this guide and you can even
send them a link directly toyour website where they go to
your website and they are nowreading this guide that's living
on your website again, gettingexposed to your brand.
But it's the way that you sayit.
Here's maybe you word itdifferently where you say the

(36:07):
one thing I wish seniorphotographers knew when
scheduling their session, right?
That creates about married innational parks?

(36:36):
Did you know this one rule?
Maybe there's something aboutyou needing to get some sort of
permit.
Maybe it's something aboutpacking walking shoes, or
seasonal closures or whatever itis.
It's creating curiosity andproviding value that gets people
then interested in what it isthat you have to say and you
create authority in that space,as someone who's an expert in

(36:59):
elopement weddings.
And see new portraits.
In family sessions.

Okay.
So, I appreciate that.
That definitely helps out.
As somebody who's an educator, Ieducate photographers from time
to time.
I know that it can be difficultto always be providing value,
right?
Like always be educating.
I guess one, do we have to dothat?
Like with every single post andthen two, what tips do you have
to come up with ideas for, forthese educational posts?

(37:25):
Cause that's great.
No,

that was generational, whatever.
You can share, like, astorytelling let's say the groom
forgot his vows at home beforethe first look and the
photographer is there to captureit and instead of like rushing
back to get the vows, he endsup.

(38:01):
They end up having like aprivate moment and he tells her
everything he's feeling from theheart, right?
The photographer can share thatlittle moment like this thing
happened, but we were able tocapture this like moment Okay,
I'm like struggling with anexample.
Hold on

I thought that that was a great example.
I did.
I, really, I'm just looking forideas that are not necessarily,
full on education.
And that was, those are two goodideas right there.
We, as photographers come upwith these.
Like, we're in people's lives,right?
We see these stories.
It's our job to capture thesestories.
I can absolutely see how we canturn the images of these stories
into, text or audio and sharethe photos in a reel.

(38:41):
Is that what you're getting athere?

I feel like yes, you've summarized that
perfectly.
So using stuff that you'veexperienced at a shoot and
sharing a previous clientexperience that can connect with
a future client.
So you know, we're all humansharing their stories and
someone can resonate and thenseeing maybe how you handle this
experience or even sharing,like, look at this trend that

(39:03):
this couple implemented intotheir wedding or like this new
thing that they tried.
A lot of couples will bookmarkthat and send it to their
bridesmaids or their family.
Like, oh,

Oh.

thing that we're loving, that we're seeing.
Maybe we should, you know, it'sthe how champagne towers became
a thing because someone sharedthat trend and everybody wanted
a champagne tower.
Um, and so, and then also withmaybe even using your images of
how you photographed, Like ifyou photographed a wedding with
very creative bridesmaiddresses, they were all an

(39:34):
interesting color palette youcould make like a whole reel
talking about like thesebridesmaids made wedding dress
like, non boring bridesmaiddress ideas, and all of a sudden
now you're sharing their storyand your images and inspiration
for someone else.
Does that

And you're attracting the clients, yeah,
especially like if you want tobe that edgy or alternative
photographer as well, likethat's a perfect piece of
content to share, right?
Because you know, they're notjust going to David's bridal,
you know, whatever it is, likegetting the off the rack, dress,
but they're really trying to dosomething unique and fancy and,
And if those are the couplesthat you're going for, that's

(40:13):
totally going to resonate withthem.
That goes back to knowing whoyou're trying to talk to and
knowing what your messaging is.
That's perfect.
Perfect.
Hahaha.

someone gets engaged and they start looking
for wedding ideas, or they evenpause their scroll for a second,
as they're looking through somesort of wedding content, the
algorithm will just keep feedingthem more and more of that
stuff.
Right.
Like I started looking for foodrecommendations in Paris.
And now that's like all I'mgetting just because like I
paused and bookmarked a coupleof those things And so you have

(40:51):
to understand that once a brideor even like bride and groom
their bridesmaids their familymembers They're starting to
research and save and share saylike wedding ideas The algorithm
will keep feeding him more ofthat content.
If you're not creating anycontent that the algorithm can
feed them you're like missingout on opportunities to get in

(41:13):
front of these people

Okay, well there is where you get me
because Angela, I'm telling you,I've made reels before and man,
they take a lot of time andeffort and energy.
How do we get to a place towhere making reels is, is
effortless?
Please help me out here.

Well, I mean if you're not creating like custom
podcast like bits if you're aphotographer, I feel like I mean
social templates is the easiestand fastest solution and i'll
just talk about that because Ihave seen it work for so many
photographers that are using oursocial templates.
It's plug and play, right?
You already have content on yourphone from a wedding.

(41:54):
You have some behind the scenesof you working an event.
as simple as grabbing a video,and putting a strategic hook on
screen.
That is going to connect withyour audience.
So with social templates, wealready beat match it for you.
We tell you, you need one shortlittle clip and 15 photos,
populate those in here and postdirectly to your feed.

(42:17):
I also would encouragephotographers not to overthink
it.
So a lot of times photographers,so this is aside from social
templates, because I stronglybelieve everyone should be
making reels.
If you don't have professionalphotos to share right away.
Like you don't have sneak peeksand you have like a small behind
the scenes video, a five secondvideo of golden hour and it's

(42:39):
just like a beautiful setting.
Use that little video and add anon screen hook and share that
without the images.
You're going to funnel peopleinto your account.
They're going to come to youraccount and there's going to be
other work that's saved to youraccount, your carousels, maybe
your other reels.
And so posting consistently, andthat doesn't mean posting every

(43:02):
day.
It means that you're showing upregularly.
Not like you're posting for aweek and then you disappear for
three months.
so you

Oh, that doesn't work.
Oh, dang it.
That's what I've been doing.

algorithm.

shucks.
Okay.

and I think the other thing I have to mention
this, tip for new people onsocial media, if you are not
thinking about this yet, this issuper important.
So with Reels, when you're at anevent, whether it's a family
session that you just shot or awedding, and this obviously will
be better results for weddingsversus smaller sessions, but it
should be implemented all thetime.

(43:36):
You share some sort of sneakpeeks or previews or even little
video BTS snaps in a reel, whichshould be You know, in social
templates, we even have reelsthat will be like, add six
little videos in here frombehind the scenes.
And that's it.
Like, you don't even have to usephotos in every single reel you
post.
But you post something withinthat 24 hours, maybe at the end

(43:58):
of the night, we've hadphotographers tell us that
they're able to like get totheir car at the end of the
night, grab a social template,post something.
So it's really manageable to beable to do a same day or the
following morning.
But everyone that was at theevent.
going to be wanting to seesomething.
They want sneak peeks, they wantpreviews, people that weren't

(44:19):
invited to the wedding, collegefriends, people that couldn't
make it, parents are wanting,gonna want to reshare stuff for
their friends to see it,bridesmaids, groomsmen, everyone
is going to be looking forcontent to share.
Like, if they're not sharingtheir own content, if they
didn't, maybe they were toobusy.
Two in the moment, they didn'tcapture it.
Maybe people are just like resharing more content from that

(44:39):
event.
You have the opportunity to getin front of all of their
audiences that night.
So that's like the bestmarketing time that you could be
spending on getting in front ofnew clients, right?
Everyone is going to be resharing your work if you are the
first one to deliver something.
Even if it doesn't have theedited images yet.

(44:59):
Here's a sneak, like I just shotthis wedding.
It was amazing.
Venue is so and so.
you're getting all these friendsfrom all these people's accounts
that weren't even there thatyou're getting in front of.
Obviously you're not guaranteedeveryone's going to follow you,
but at least people are going tobe watching your reel and it's
going to be signaling to thealgorithm that this is quality

(45:21):
content.
People are interested in it.
The watch time.
Is, you know, long, like they'rewatching it over and over and
the algorithm is going to pushyour reel out to more people
that weren't even at thesweating.
So kind of living off of that,like post event hype.
That you're able to, generate alot of that organic traffic to

(45:43):
your page.
Same with like, sharing thatcontent with wedding planners
and florists and anybody elsethat was involved.
Also inviting someone as acollaborator to the reel.
Now your reel, if they acceptthe collaboration, is going to
appear on their feedpermanently.
So if you create a reel and youinvite the bride and groom as a
collaborator, now it's living ontheir feed permanently and

(46:05):
people can watch it.
Go, and now you're like attachedto their page forever and they
can find you.
Same with planners.
If you're working with planners,and they accept a collaboration,
and I know sometimes the higherend planners are a little bit
more picky about this, but it'salways worth a shot.
Like, you are able to funneltheir traffic to your account

(46:26):
now.

I didn't even know that was a thing.
See, that's how little I knowabout Instagram.
I didn't even know that youcould collaborate with people.
Like, that's genius.
That is, I mean, one of thethings that helped me out so
much as a wedding photographerwas, now maybe this was before
Reels, this was before TikTok,you know, all that stuff.
But It was simply just sharing,like, five photos on Facebook,

(46:48):
like, the night of the wedding.
Because the last thing thatyou'd want is to have, like, the
bride's cousin, who may alsokind of be into photography,
take, a good photo and then thatbecomes the profile photo or
like the photo that gets sharedbefore yours.
if you can capitalize on thatattention, you win.
So being able to have it, as areal, have people share it, have

(47:08):
people watch it over and overagain.
genius.
I love it.

A hundred percent.
And for those who are maybenewer to Instagram, this is a
feature that hasn't been aroundthat long.
So don't be, like, thecollaborator.
So when you go to tag someone,you go to tag them, there's like
a new menu that pops up whereyou can invite them as a
collaborator.
So I would

Genius.

to tag everyone that's involved, even if it's a
family shoot and there was aboutique that they bought the
dress from, right?
Tag the parents, tag the kids.
Tag the boutique, maybe you'reshooting at a venue somewhere,
and then invite people ascollaborators and that's within
the tagged features.

Perfect.
Another thing that I think it'soverlooked in, when it comes to
social media is the size of yourfollowing, right?
Like, there's oftentimes apressure to grow your following,
get a lot of engagement, get alot of likes on your posts and
videos.
But just like being paid inexposure, followers doesn't
necessarily equate to morebookings.

(48:06):
So do you have any tips for howwe can create content that will
bring in, paid clients and notjust focus on likes and follows.

Yeah, I think it kind of ties back to what we've
already talked about isproviding value and giving them
a reason to follow you beforethey're even ready to book.
It could also be you sharingyour work while also having You
know, on screen hook.
And I think that's the otherthing is please remember, you
need to have text on your reels.

(48:38):
A lot of photographers forgetthis.
They're think that like just abeat match slideshow is enough.
You have to think about wherethe consumer is consuming or
like the viewer is consumingthis content and they just
probably watched a cooking videoright before this.
And now they're watchingsomebody's family slideshow.
It feels awkward.
It feels like, oh, this probablyisn't for me.

(48:59):
Why am I watching this familyslideshow?
But if you talk about, somethingspecific that they can connect
to, then they have a reason tofollow you.
that's like probably the bestway to put it is giving people a
reason.
Maybe you have creative shoots,ideas for creative family
sessions.
Hey, your family session doesn'tneed to be in a golden field.

(49:21):
Let's keep it casual and do itat home.
Someone might be interested inthat.
Okay.
Like, awesome.
This is the third time I've seenthem share a family session at
home.
I'm curious.
I want more of that.
Maybe I want a family session athome.
So I feel like that's like kindof the best way.
I'm not sure if I'm answeringyour question, but that's
probably the best way togenerate these people into your

(49:41):
account.
And then, I would encourage youto have trigger words on your
posts.
And

what does that mean?

work right now in 2025.
I don't know if like in twoyears that's still going to be
like what we're going to bedoing, but for the season that
we're in and social media, youcan use many chat, many chat.
com and that's like a Instagramapproved automation bot that can
like once somebody comments atrigger word.
So you'll see that a lot commentguide and I'll send you, you

(50:11):
know,

Oh.
Wow.
Wow.
Wow.
Wow.
Wow.
Wow.

send them like a little PDF, or you can send them
a link to your website.
It could be a Pinterest boardthat you send them.
But what happens is when youhave a trigger word, you either
manually send it to them, butmost people use many chat for
this.
I would encourage you to usemany chat cause you can miss
these messages.
But when you spend some time,putting together, maybe you even
have photos from these venuesthat you shot at.

(50:56):
And now you're sending them aDM.
So Instagram establishes thatyou and this person have had
some sort of connectioninteraction.
People that you talk to in yourDMs are more likely to see your
work at the top of their feeds,right?
That's like when you get onInstagram, you see your friends
post first, you see your parentspost, you see your siblings, the

(51:18):
people that you haveconversations with Instagram
will show you their content andprioritize it.
And even within the storyhighlight bubbles, their stuff
will be at the front.
So if you are generating theseconversations within the DMs and
you're giving people value,you're not obviously not being
spammy with it.
You're not like sending themlike links to book here by this

(51:40):
course or whatever.
but you're providing somethingof value to them.
you're able to potentially evenfollow up like, Oh, I saw you're
interested in the guides for NewYork.
We also have this other, I don'tknow, Pinterest board with
inspiration for decor.
I don't know, trending 2025wedding trends or something like

(52:00):
that.
And so then you start havingthese conversations with them
and maybe eventually they'recurious to book.
So that's just something to keepin mind that having
conversations in the DMs willalso prioritize your content for
these people.

You just blew my mind again.
I didn't even know that that wasa thing.
And I feel so overwhelmed rightnow that there's so much, that I
need to learn.
So, know that we are, we'recoming to the end of our time
here.
And my brain is going in athousand directions at a million
miles an hour.
So let's do this.
let's try to summarizeeverything that we talked about
today, okay.
In a quick, few sentences If youhad to start over again and

(52:38):
today as a photographer, whatwould your Instagram strategy
look like?

I would share a lot of behind the scenes on stories.
I think that I would prioritizethat because I've seen like
results from that.
I don't know if that would be.
Like the main focus, but I knowfor sure that every time I would
be out shooting a weddingplanning for a shoot I would
share my process withphotography like to show myself

(53:08):
as an expert and as someone thatknows what they're doing someone
that's constantly working toshow people that I am working to
be at the top of their mind.
And then also sprinkling in someof like my personality.
and then also I would focus onposting reels consistently,
meaning at least, two, threetimes a week, whatever feels

(53:29):
manageable for me to sustain.
I would definitely look for.

Silence.
You

Ben and Katie wedding, separate folder behind
the scenes from their separatefolder.
That way, when I go to create areel, now I'm not scrolling
through 25, 000 photos to get tothis wedding I shot because you
know, travel, family stuff.
this will save you so much timewhen you're sitting down to
actually make the reel itself.
so I would organize my content.

(54:13):
I would have a system in place,right?
The same way that we have thatwe're delivering content.
You deliver a gallery, you backit up, you send, you know,
whatever process you send it inthere, I would have social media
in that flow somewhere, wherethere's like a system to it.
I would post immediately.
I would post the same night orthe same morning, from events

(54:35):
that I'm at.
And then during the week I wouldcreate content that serves my
clients in some sort of way byproviding, by sharing my work
and heavily sharing my work.
But also in that, showing likemy expertise, like here's, you
know, how I would photograph aflat lay or things that you need
to remember to have in your flatlay.

(54:56):
So I would focus on that.
So I would focus on reels, focuson stories, and carousels, would
probably be like highlight,little mini highlight galleries.
Just that.

That is perfect.
So that is nice.
It is succinct.
I like the ideas about, foldersright there.
That's very smart.
I've so many times just scrolledtrying to look for a single
photo.
That's genius.
I don't know why I didn't thinkof that.
I feel like we could talkforever.
cause this is a, not only is ita huge topic, but it's also ever
evolving.
So let me just say you're alwayswelcome back on the podcast to

(55:29):
talk about brand new things, insocial media, in Instagram, all
the things.
but we are out of time today.
So Angela, before I let you go.
Let listeners know where theycan discover more about you and
of course social templates aswell

So we are on Instagram at socialtemplates.
co.
That's our public account foreveryone.
Once you sign up on our website,you'll get access to a private
account for members only.
but our website is alsosocialtemplates.
co.
So it's pretty easy.

A huge, huge, huge thank you to Angela for
coming on in, breaking downeverything social strategy
related, super helpful.
So here is your action item forthe week.
Angela said that reels arecurrently the best way to get
your work discovered onInstagram by non followers, AKA
future fans.
So your action item for thisweek is to make, well, just one

(56:19):
reel.
I did this for myself for ashoot that I recently did for my
daughter's softball team, and Ican tell you, uh, a doubt that
it has performed better than anyof the clips that I posted from,
interviews here from the podcastwith world class photographers.
In fact, let me look at myphone.
I'm going to tell you thenumbers right real quick.
Okay.
So if I go to my Instagram pageand I just check out my reels,

(56:40):
the average reel from aninterview with, well known world
class photographers are gettinglike, 208 views, 186 views, 163
views.
No, this one's got 277, 242.
219.
Wow.
This one has 468.
Okay.
Now the real that I made withAngeles social template has
gotten 1, 267 views.

(57:04):
And if I look at the analyticson who watched this, 69.
4 percent of the people do notcurrently follow my page, And
it's super easy.
All you got to do is next timeyou're out shooting, just grab a
few seconds of behind the scenesvideo of you shooting.
This could literally just belike your camera in your hands
as you're walking down, I don'tknow, a trail, for a nature

(57:26):
photo walk.
It could be your subject infront of your camera with some
lights set up.
It could be you at a wedding.
I mean, anything.
Just two to three seconds ofvideo.
And in fact, that's even easierif you have an iPhone and you're
taking live photos.
It will automatically just turnthat into video.
Then pick 10 to 15 of yourfavorite photos from that shoot.
And then compile them togetherwithin social templates.

(57:46):
And you're done.
You don't have to overthinkthis.
Like, that's it.
It automatically edits ittogether.
It does the beat matching foryou for trending audio.
And it's done.
So if you really want to turnreels on easy mode, I encourage
you to give Angela's socialtemplates a try.
Again, their plug and play themusic has already picked and it
edits them beat match.

(58:07):
So they look great.
Easy peasy.
So to try it out for yourself,just head to beginner photopod.
com forward slash reels that's RE L S and Angela set it up that
if you use the code BPP, whenyou sign up, you get a whole
month for free.
In that month, you could easilymake like two or three months
worth of social reels, and thenschedule them out, give it a
shot, post one reel, and thenyou'll find out how easy it is

(58:29):
to post reels consistently foran entire month.
And you might be surprised bythe results.
All right.
That is it for today.
Until next time.
Remember the more that you shoottoday, the better of a
photographer.
You will be tomorrow.
Talk soon.

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Build a Social Media Strategy That Works for Photographers with Angela Shae

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}24/7 News: The Latest

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

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Build a Social Media Strategy That Works for Photographers with Angela Shae

24/7 News: The Latest