09. Instagram Reels for Photographers with Natasha Coyle & Stephanie Kase

Our most recent episode of The Business Journey Podcast is a GREAT one. We have two very special guest experts chatting about all things Instagram Reels for Photographers. For this episode, we welcomed Natasha Coyle and Stephanie Kase to chat with me. They’re both incredible photographers and are taking the Instagram Reels world by storm!

Stephanie Kase is an Ohio wedding photographer and educator. She’s been in business for almost 7 years and has gone head first into education for photographers. You can find her on YouTube, where she focused a LOT on marketing through social media as well as Instagram.

Natasha Coyle is a Charleston wedding photographer and educator. She started her business when she was 34, a stay at home mom, and has created a thriving business! She’ll tell you that early on, she knew she had to connect with younger brides and grooms. So, she started working on short form video marketing and fell in love with it!

Impact of Instagram Reels

Both of our guest experts saw their following go from 4-5k to over 10K in the last few months. While that is a vanity metric and not truly indicative of how well a business is doing, it’s still important. It means their audience is growing. Short form video is a great way to create CONNECTIONS – that become people in your audience who you can sell to. But, these videos really show off your personality and connect with people on a personal level.

Sometimes the connections you make in videos are more powerful than anything you can write. People want to buy from people. Showing up in an authentic way for your audience through video is super powerful.

Instagram Reels Hacks

When you’re first learning, I won’t lie, it can be a little time consuming to start to make Reels. But, Stephanie and Natasha shared a few practical hacks to make Instagram Reels for photographers a bit easier. The first seems super obvious but just save inspiration when you’re on Instagram anyway. If you scroll by a Reel you like, save it and then use it as inspiration later – reuse the sound or do your own twist on the challenge. Another super easy tip is to batch create your content. Spend one afternoon filming a BUNCH of video that you can use for the Reels, then share them more strategically.

And here’s a quick reminder: everyone wants to be polished and put together when they film video but short form video is about being more free and who you are. Messy buns included.

A little encouragement…

Remember the purpose of Reels. Create them so that they’re helpful to you. Going viral is a flashy thing when it comes to social media… But, it won’t grow your brand – make sure you remember that first and foremost. The connection you build is the goal. But it’s something we’re all learning how to do! They’re meant to be joyful and to share your personality, so have a little fun with them.

Natasha and Stephanie shared LOTS of great tips on Instagram Reels for photographers, so make sure you listen to the full episode for them all!

Topics We Discussed

Introducing the Guests (2:13)

Impact of Instagram Reels (6:28)

Hacks for Instagram Reels (11:53)

A Little Encouragement (21:33)

Links Mentioned in this Episode

+ Meet Stephanie

+ Meet Natasha

+ First Access for Behind the Lens Membership