Branding Yourself Using Social Currency

Social media is becoming more and more important for anyone who wants to promote a brand, a product or even themselves. Social media has made marketing yourself as a “brand,” easier than even before, but that doesn’t mean doing it is common sense.

Over the past few months I have learned a lot from Grace Starr of Grace Starr Photography. She showed me the importance of not only marketing photography as a product, but marketing ourselves as the photographer as part of the service. Because of her advice, I recently deactivated my photography Instagram account with plans to use my personal account for everything I do, whether that is my personal life or photography I have done for other people.

Recently I learned that what Grace was doing was not just a nameless idea or method, it’s social currency. Social currency measures how well brands fit into the daily lives of their consumers on social media. While a photographer like myself or Grace may not be a brand or business by classic definition, we are running our personal account similarly to a business account, being mindful of brand consistency and messaging and fulfilling all seven dimensions of social currency.

Grace successfully makes all her followers feel like insiders. Whether they know her personally, were past clients or are potential clients, Grace gives them access to information about her photography and about her personal life. She is constantly sharing photos from weddings and engagement photoshoots — her product — while also sharing about her travels and her daily life like wedding road-trip mishaps and her foster pets on her posts and Instagram stories.

I look up to Grace and hope to one day be able to do what she does with her photography and with her social media. Thank you, Grace, for being an inspiration to me.