Do IÂ have to have a Modeling Social Media Account?Â
The modeling industry has changed dramatically since the inception of social media. Both new and established models are now expected to have active social media accounts. It has become so important that many top modeling agencies require their models to participate in special training on how to create and maintain proper social media accounts.Â
Why has it become so important you ask?Â
Because many clients now consider the number of followers a model has and how that number will help the client sell more product. A high number of followers also helps agencies negotiate higher salaries for their models. Thus, the higher number of followers means a bigger pay check for both the model and the agency.
MAKE YOUR ACCOUNTS PUBLIC
If you aren’t familiar with social media and different account settings, you may have no idea that all the work you put into your accounts are never even viewed because your pages are private. Certain platforms like Instagram and Twitter have public and private options, and if your pages are private, only those who follow you can see your content. Any accounts you wish to use to further your modeling career should be set to public so potential clients can get to know you without having to follow you, or they might give up altogether and move on to the next model.
STAY POSITIVE
You will quickly develop the reputation of being negative and difficult to work with once word gets around that you bash others on social media, so keep that stuff off of your accounts to give yourself the best shot at making it big as a model.
AVOID PROFANITY AND HEAVY TOPICS
If you wouldn’t use curse words around potential modeling clients in person, you shouldn’t do so on social media either. If you have public accounts that clients can view, keep them free of any language that might be considered offensive or you may run the risk of being passed over for a job because you look unprofessional. There are certain topics that are best saved for your personal accounts that clients can’t see, so if you want to make it big in the modeling world, try to keep the content you share PG.
Now that you know WHY social media is important to your modeling career, the next question is HOW should I run it?Â
Consistency is key. Engaging with your followers and searching for new potential followers is essential to getting more traction on your posts. Here are a few recommendations to help a model make the most of their Social Media Presence.
- Post at least 3 times per week.Â
- Best days/times to post (with the new COVID "normal")
- Monday - 11am
- Tuesday - 11am & 2pm
- Wednesday - 11am (Best day for engagement)
- Friday - 10am & 11am
- Saturday - 10am & 11pm
- Sunday - 10am & 5/6pm
- Keep a variety of descriptions on hand.Â
- emoji's only
- Questions - "what do you think of this sweater?"
- Features/Collaborations - "I love working with photographer __Name__ @______
- Interesting Fact about Model
- Tags - Tag a variety of modeling agencies with each post to try and get attention from their scouts.Â
- Hashtags - Lets not go too crazy with the hashtags but we should include between 4-8 if you're just starting off. Here are some of the more trending hashtags to start with. Keep in mind that they are constantly changing so do research on top trending hastags for modeling often:Â
- #model #fashion #photography #fashionphotography #style #instagood #photooftheday #beauty #like #curvemodel #beautiful #photoshoot #photo #follow #picoftheday #fullfigurefashion #portrait #plussizefashion #plussizemodel #plussizebeauty #plussizestyle #curves #curvesarebeautiful #curvemodels #fashionmodel #runwaymodel #funway #modeling #photographer #likeforlikes #bhfyp #selfie #makeup #bhfypÂ
- Stories - This is a great way to get more engagement on your posts and attention from desired agencies/scouts. I recommend a Story Development App called "Unfold". It has advance options and gives you a TON of really awesome templates that are easy to use for creating a more professional looking story. Click HERE to check it out. It's not required if you are good at creating your own stories. Make sure to include a story every time you post a new pic on your IG account. Include the following on the story:Â
- "Now Post" or "Recent"Â
- Tag a location - Washington DC, NYC, LA, Italy, Brazil
- Comment / Likes Engagement: Interactions with those that comment and like your posts is vital to gaining more followers and raising visibility for your Modeling brand. Don't let a comment go by without responding.Â
- Be personal - don't leave general comments that everyone can tell you copied and pasted.Â
- Go to their page and scan it quickly to add a personal touch to your comment back.Â
- Go to their page and leave a personal comment or a few on their pictures to show your interest.Â
- Follow them if you find their IG interesting or inspiring
- Organic Followers: 1-2 times a week, pop on the search section of IG and type in a model related hashtag. Go down the feed and like/comment. You want to pay attention to pictures that have low like/comment rate and take the time to write something personal in their comments. These are the accounts that end up following you the most.Â
- Find and leave up to 10 comments every time you do this task.Â