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By Marijka Munoz
As models, our social media accounts are often an extension of our modeling portfolio. Some clients are looking at our social media profiles like our resumes or CVs, and in the age of influencer culture, having a well-thought out and curated social media page might be a determining factor for clients when deciding if a model is a good fit for them and their brand.
Do you feel that having a significant social media following impacts your ability to book modeling jobs these days? If you feel that the answer is “yes” and wish to increase your social media reach or strengthen your online presence as a model, here are 20 helpful tips on getting that started.
Social Media Profile for Models
1. Optimize your bio by adding any certifications and agencies you’re signed to (if applicable), and use the Instagram highlights feature to organize your story
content. Add a link to your model website or portfolio in your bio or consider
adding a Linktree link where you can share multiple links on your bio.
2. If you set your account to public, review your profile often to ensure you don’t
have anything on there that may be off-putting to a potential client. Note that it is important to be mindful about disclosing personal information because
oversharing can potentially put your safety at risk.
Planning and Content Creation for Models
3. Write down and save all your ideas for content, poll questions, captions, open-
ended questions, etc. This time-saving trick is helpful so you can reuse and
recycle your ideas and present them later in a fresh, new way.
4. Batch create your content and your captions, too. Make your own sharable and saveable content (quotes, mini-tutorials, lists of helpful industry tips, etc.). Start a content calendar and plan your posts out for a month or even longer. Know the importance of a consistent upload schedule and stick to it. If it’s right for you, look at utilizing platforms like Later (a social media scheduler that plans, analyzes, and automatically publishes your content).
5. Keep in mind any upcoming holidays or celebrations and be reactive to
current events in pop-culture and in our world.
6. When scrolling recreationally, save anything that inspires you and organize it
into folders for future content creation inspo. Similarly, when you come across an Instagram Reel or TikTok video as recommended for you by the algorithm, save the trending audio to use on your own reel or video later.
7. Use a variety of hashtags ranging through small, midsize, and large in popularity and use. Note that popular hashtags might vary across different platforms so plan accordingly. To find these hashtags, research accounts similar to yours, look through accounts in your industry, or search hashtag generator sites.
8. Plan weekly themed days such as #wellnesswednesday, or #tiptuesday to give you structure and direction on what to post daily.
9. Be intentional about hopping on trends. When used successfully, trends can help drive traffic to your page, but I advise you to regularly check in with the purpose of it.
Posting on Your Modeling Account
10. Give credit where it is due. I cannot stress the importance of this enough. Tag the creatives behind the work (photographer, hair and makeup artist, stylist, agent, etc).
11. If you’re on the set of a paid shoot, check with the contract terms beforehand or respectfully ask the client/production team if posting behind-the-scenes content is acceptable. Photographer: Patricia Aquino
Be sure to continuously refine the purpose of your content and allow yourself room to get creative and showcase your authentic personality!
12. If the photographer lets you post their unretouched image of you, specify that it’s the unedited or raw version of the photo.
13. Add captions when posting reels/videos with you speaking, as some users prefer to view reels without audio and some users may be hearing-impaired. Think about adding alternative text or alt text (written description of your photo) as well to your images to accommodate visually impaired users' engagement.
14. Include a call-to-action as much as possible with all your posts. It is beneficial to remind and encourage people to like, follow, comment, save, and share.
15. Be social! Regularly like the content of and engage with people in your industry and your dream brands/clients. Interact with a diverse mix of these accounts that have small, midsize, and large following counts.
16. Share content made by other creators and tag/credit them in your stories or feed.
17. Make time to be present with your followers. For instance, answer their questions via a virtual Q&A session. Respond to them in a genuine way and connect with them via a comment, direct message, or even a voice memo.
18. Ask your followers what they’d like to see from you. Gather ideas for content,
tutorials, videos, and more from them. Write down answers that resonate with
you and use them as inspiration when you’re creating future content.
Agency-related
19. If you’re agency-signed, re-read your contract and talk to your agent about how to go about brand collaboration or paid job requests through social media
20. There are some agencies that sign content creators. If you’re a freelance model with a considerable following and/or this is of interest to you, research agencies to see if representation is a possibility. If you’re a signed model, talk to your agent about this.
Models: keep your messaging on social media clear and consistent so you can
connect to the right people and the right people can easily find you. Be sure to
continuously refine the purpose of your content and allow yourself room to get creative and showcase your authentic personality!
Please remember to schedule and take regular breaks from socials as well to prevent burnout. Keep this strategy in place for the long-term as burnout is not typically resolved with a quick one-time fix. I hope you take the time to self-reflect, too! When you’re being generous with your time, ideas, and energy, allow yourself moments of gratitude so you can appreciate all the progress you’re making.