When used efficiently, the power that Twitter holds as a business tool, I'd go as far as saying, is well beyond that of other social media networks.
Using Twitter as a Portfolio
Just like using other social media platforms, the first way in which using Twitter can be useful as a photographer is, of course, as an online portfolio. Twitter allows users to easily share images and videos (for all of you videographers out there) and collate them into various collective methods: threads and moments, namely.
Another great thing about Twitter, when it comes to visuals, is that the compression used on Twitter is significantly less than that on competing social networking sites, such as Instagram and Facebook. In fact, you can even upload and load images at a 4k resolution!
Whether you simply want to regularly share your photography on Twitter or you want to pin a Tweet to your profile with a Twitter portfolio (moments or as a thread), Twitter can be a great way to display your work.
Using Twitter to Attract Clients
The Snowball Effect
The power of Twitter's algorithm is in the way in which it allows for a snowball effect:
Metaphorically, a snowball effect is a process that starts from an initial state of small significance and builds upon itself, becoming larger, and also perhaps potentially dangerous or disastrous, though it might be beneficial instead.
The signalling devices that users can choose to use when interacting with other users really lend themselves to this idea of a snowball effect. When a Twitter user "re-tweets" a tweet, it directly shares that tweet with those who follow them, but, unlike Instagram, when a Twitter user does as much as "like" another tweet, there is a chance of that tweet being seen by other users who follow them. This means that the potential organic reach that Twitter allows is bigger and better than that of Instagram (but, admittedly, that's not been hard as of late).
What is "Organic Reach" and Why Is It Important?
Organic reach refers to the number of people who see your content without paid distribution. Platforms such as Instagram are renowned for limiting organic reach with the aim that users will "pay-to-play", which is a term used to describe users who pay for advertisements or "promotions" in order to see a wider distribution of their content.
Of course, reach is important because it refers to the number of people who are seeing your content. The more people who see your content, the more people come into contact with your business and therefore your number of potential leads, or clients, increases. The "organic" part of this is important as it means that you're not having to pay for this, whereby any leads that are generated from this reach are not dipping into your profit margins.
The interesting thing about the Twitter algorithm and the way in which it utilises this snowball effect is that it promotes the likelihood of your content going viral and being seen by more people - for free. When we consider this, using Twitter as a business tool is similar to putting your content out in front of 330 million people (at the time of writing this) - again, for free.
Using Twitter to Build Your Network
It's my view that community is one of the most important aspects of the creative industry. The support that a creative community can provide you with can be the make and break of your career -- whether it be because of the emotional support found within a community or quite literally from word of mouth and recommendation, building a community around your work isn't a bad thing.
“Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much” – Helen Keller
Twitter makes it easy to find likeminded people and to connect with them. It offers features such as group chats and the process of supporting and sharing the work of those within your community couldn't be easier. Using the snowball algorithm to favour the people within your community can be a great way to offer support and it's likely that your support network will want to support you in the same way. Don't neglect the idea of community in business -- putting community before the competition is a surefire way of creating a career of longevity.
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