The business of senior photography has changed a LOT over the last five or so years. 

If you've been around for a minute in this industry, you probably know this.  Maybe you've noticed the subtle differences in how your senior clients use social media now ... how they consume more than they create most of the time.

Maybe you run a model team and have noticed that your team just doesn't share or post the way they did in the past - even if you "require" it.  (By the way, requiring them to post doesn't really work; I'll go into that in just a bit.)

If you haven't seen these changes yet, there is a really good chance they're coming; this just all depends on where you're located. I started noticing these changes back in 2017 because I'm in Los Angeles; we tend to see trends a little sooner in general.  But you can be sure that all high school senior photographers will see these changes because of the combination of the pandemic and how popular TikTok became. 

Yep - TikTok ushered in ...

WHY is social media marketing SO hard for photographers? 

Knowing what to post, when to post, how to post.  How to connect authentically with Gen Z audiences.  Knowing how often to post, how to make reels that are engaging, how to reach out to teens without seeming creepy. 🤷🏻 Figuring out a multitude of apps for editing and constantly feeling like your content just isn't as good as other photographers.  

It's enough to drive a person insane, am I right?  

WHY does it have to be so hard??? 

The truth is that it doesn't have to be.

You don't have to spend all your time stressing about it, creating content, and figuring out how to use multiple platforms.  

But you DO have to market.  Clients do not just show up automatically.  Yes, a good word of mouth client base is worth its weight in gold, but that will not get you a steady stream of clients - especially Gen Z clients. 

These clients are savvy.  They need a lot more than one or two people recommending you.  They need to see th...

If you've followed me for a bit, you know that I talk a lot about how different Gen Z is in terms of what they want from a senior team or senior portrait experience.  I have tons of info out there about why this is and how to ensure your Gen Z clients feel seen and understood, including an entire Style Guide that will help get them prepped for their session - and I'm always updating info in my Facebook group for senior photographers.  

We will be serving Gen Z clients for a while, so I highly encourage you to make sure you're well versed in what they are looking for in a senior photographer because this generation is SO specific and vastly different from their millennial counterparts.

That's not the topic of this blog post, though - TEENS are.  And by teens, I mean younger than high school seniors.  Now, you may be thinking, "Renee, aren't they still Gen Z'ers?" 

Yep, they are!  But younger teens are historically more excited to shoot and SHARE their images online (that's the key di...