Which social media platform will grow your photography business quickest?

Which social media platform do you use to build your photography or video business? You are using at least one right? Done correctly, it can be an amazing addition in how you reach your potential clients. Done poorly, and it’s little more than a time suck.

But which platform should you be using? There are so many to choose from, and with the goal posts changing frequently it can be confusing. In this video, the guys from YCImaging posted every day for two weeks on three of the major apps: YouTube shorts, Instagram reels, and TikTok to see which would build their audience the quickest.

So first of all, what did they do? In the video YCImaging explains that they created 10 pieces of short form content and then dripped them out every day for two weeks, Monday to Friday. They did the same thing across the three different platforms. Now a caveat, this was in no way done scientifically, it’s purely anecdotal. Nonetheless, the results are interesting.

So what happened?

On Instagram, the number of new accounts reached and number of followers spiked considerable. However, it was noticed that this growth was likely down to just one post that happened to go viral with 150,000 views.

YouTube Shorts was a big surprise, apparently. The video that went viral on Instagram only got 7,000 views on this platform. YouTube simply didn’t perform that well. TikTok was a brand new account. YC gained 3,000 new followers in just 10 days. That is simply astounding!

Now, we do have to remember what people are seeking when they go to these platforms. I believe that people go to YouTube primarily for longer form video formats. This could well account for the shortfall in views on that platform. TikTok and Instagram are well known for their short form video content, people expect it, and go there deliberately to consume it.

Similarly, if you’re running any kind of business and using these for marketing, don’t just consider number of views or followers. The actual number of viewers is fairly irrelevant if none of those actually convert into new clients or customers. Of course, if you’re being paid per view then that is entirely different. But then your job is arguably an Influencer or YouTuber, not a photographer.

In the end, it should still be a bit of fun. Choose the platform you’re most comfortable with and enjoy engaging in the most, and stick with it. Ten days is very little time in social media land.

Which platform do you prefer?