How Conceptual Portraits Spark Meaningful Social Media Conversations

Introduction

Getting noticed for something you’re proud or passionate about is always nice. It’s even better when you get to talk about those things. For the lucky ones, our job is something we’re passionate about (or at least a means to service a group we care for). But when there are 1,074 photos posted on Instagram every second, according to this article by Earthweb, it can feel daunting to get noticed on social media, where we’re often trying to share our message and talk to people. One way to help garner attention and some comments is with striking imagery – like conceptual portraits. 

The Power of Visual Storytelling

Focusing on a story or a feeling, conceptual portraits are intended to make audiences think. They go way beyond a typical sit-and-grin portrait. People often want to reinvent themselves with a conceptual portrait because they’re a bold step forward. A conceptual portrait is a great way to spark meaningful social media conversations for artists, freelancers, creatives, and small businesses.

Conceptual portraits lend themselves to storytelling. There’s a narrative and a point of view to these images. You can’t create a conceptual portrait without some kind of message to share. That’s an inherent element of conceptual imagery. Because of this requirement, any conceptual portrait you create will speak to your audience. The beauty is that you get to determine what story is told. By sharing that story visually, you can differentiate yourself from others, aka stand out from the crowd, and ideally get people to pause their scrolling!

Attracting Ideal Clients

Classic or traditional portraits are lovely, but don’t jump off the screen. The poses and lighting are usually subdued and are focused on a good smile. A conceptual portrait breaks that norm; they are visual stories that shake things up. If your target audience is more artistic, conceptual portraits will really pull them in. These are the people who will ask questions or make comments specifically to the message and story being told by your images because they want to. People want to share their opinions, and what better way to invite them to start a conversation than with an image that asks a question?

If you’re a creative individual, producing or sharing high-quality artistic work can also establish your credibility as an authority in that sphere. If you’re pursuing a marketing agency or a copywriter for creatives, you’ll likely search for a vendor who shares highly creative work! Conceptual portraits build that bridge – you’re providing proof of your vision and creative abilities. 

According to this article from SproutSocial, about 62.7% of Instagram users follow and research brands they like and want to buy from, with another 70% of users leveraging Instagram to research their next purchase. That means it’s vital to establish your brand through social media to inform users that you’re the expert, and the best way to do that is with captivating images that spark conversations.

Fostering Engagement

How do you actually get people to engage with your content? What is the secret sauce that makes users want to have a conversation on social media? Most platforms are visually based for that initial hook. Most users don’t read a caption first; they look at the shared image. If your conceptual portrait interests them, they’ll read the caption. That means your visuals have to be stellar – enter conceptual portraits. A wow factor, something unexpected, or just visually stimulating enough to make someone pause is what you’re hoping to achieve. Conceptual portraits can cover all kinds of ideas, which means you have the freedom to tailor them to specific conversations you want to initiate. 

Once your audience is engaged in the visuals, you’ll then need to give them permission to respond. This is where your captions come into play. As I’ve alluded to already, conceptual portraits are all about storytelling. They inherently have a message to share, so you’ll want your caption to match that tale. The key is the opening line of your caption. It’s the initial hook since most of the text will be hidden initially by the social media platform.

Gemini helped create these five examples of how to start your captions to spark meaningful conversations:

• Open-Ended Questions:
  • Example: “What’s your favorite way to unwind after a long day? Share your relaxation rituals in the comments below!”
• Storytelling:
  • Example: “Remember that time when [funny/inspiring story]? Share your own memorable moment in the comments!”
• Opinion-Based Questions:
  • Example: “What’s your take on the future of AI in creative industries? Will it replace human artists, or will it simply enhance their abilities?”
• Contests or Giveaways:
  • Example: “Want to win [prize]? Like, share, and comment with your favorite [topic] for a chance to win!”
• Call-to-Actions:
  • Example: “Have you tried [product/service]? Share your experience in the comments and tag a friend who would love it!”

Building a Deeper Connection with Your Audience

One of the beautiful things about conceptual portraits is they can be very personal. I have a quirky sense of humor and am very introspective, so I use conceptual portraits to share my commentary on various aspects of everyday life. 

For example, I was running very behind on getting Christmas gifts wrapped. Instead of wrapping, I did a photoshoot about exhausted elves after a long season of wrapping gifts for Old Saint Nick. I shared that a few days before the holiday and got tremendous feedback, including many “ME TOO!” comments.

This post was a prime example of bringing people together to share the frustration and stress of wrapping gifts for the Christmas season and share a couple of laughs about it. It was easy for me because it was an authentic emotion. The best part was seeing people comment on each other’s strategies for wrapping efficiently or getting ahead by doing their Christmas shopping all year round. 

Sharing real stories and discussing relatable topics are great ways to build a community. Community leads to consistent engagement, conversations, and followers who want to engage with you and each other. We’re wired for community; people want to feel like they belong. It probably sounds cliche, but transparent and authentic stories captured within conceptual portraits and backed up with engaging captions are paramount to sparking meaningful social media conversations.

Strategies for Using Conceptual Portraits on Social Media

Posting Conceptual Portraits on Instagram & Facebook

• Use Humor – If I’m not following a photographer’s account, I’m following something funny. If you can find a way to add a humorous element to your images, you’ve struck gold. 
• Tell a Story – Conceptual portraits can be unrealistic, which means you have more creative opportunities to tell a story. Have flying/floating objects, use funky colors, throw in a wind machine – don’t be afraid to stretch the imagination if it’s in service of communicating a message.
• Be Specific – You want your images to convey a single, undeniable message. Typically, that means simplifying elements. Ensure that colors, brightness, props, and clothing are all in service of the story you’re trying to tell with your conceptual portraits. If it’s not helping to promote the image’s message, you can probably eliminate that element.
• Show Behind The Scenes – I’ve shared conceptual portraits and the making of shots as separate posts numerous times. I’m routinely surprised when the story of how I created those images gets more interaction than the finished portraits! People love learning how you pulled something off, so show both. You can also leverage the “how-to” pictures to reinforce the conversation you aimed to share with the finished shots.
• Respect the Size Format – Instagram limits images to 1080px width, and most users are on their phones. Use a vertical 4×5 image ratio (1080 px wide by 1350px tall) to fill up the screen for maximum impact. Some tools allow you to post a horizontal image in carousel format as two vertical images, which can be visually striking. Facebook has more flexibility, but if most of your audience uses Facebook on a mobile device, stick to more vertical-oriented images.
• Mind Your Composition – When viewed on your profile, Instagram crops all images to a square 1×1 ratio format. This is frustrating as hell for photographers because the tops of heads will routinely get cut off in this view. Additionally, studies have shown that subjects placed in center frame tend to get the best engagement (another photographer’s pet peeve). Symmetry and leading lines are natural eye candy if you also want to try those compositional tools in your images.

Best Practices for Captioning Conceptual Portraits on Instagram

• Be Engaging – your opener should make the mental wheels turn. It’s just like a great book. You want your audience to read it and think, “Damn, I need to see where this goes.”
• Start with a Question – what better way to ask people to respond than by asking a question? Ask for feedback, ask for an opinion, ask for a story – and then follow it up with your take later on.
• Use Strong Verbs – Starting your caption with strong, bold verbs will grab attention and inspire action.
• Keep It Short – Most people don’t want to read a novel with each post. Shorter tends to be better if that’s all you need to convey your message. I tend to write longer captions because I’m wordy, and my audience has many book lovers who don’t mind.
• Break It Up – Similar to the previous item – if you’re going to write a lot, keep your paragraphs short. Think of two sentences at most. Shorter paragraphs are much easier to consume when viewing on a mobile device.
• Add a Call to Action – Give your audience something to do! Ask for a response, tell them to click a link in your bio, suggest visiting your website, or encourage them to do a silly dance. Don’t let them leave without asking for some kind of social currency trade.

Best Practices for Tagging Conceptual Portraits on Instagram

• Research Related Hashtags – Click on hashtags you’ve used and see what else comes up. Try to leverage hashtags people are searching for to get eyeballs on your content.
• Stalk Your Competition – Find similar accounts and look at their hashtags! Find which ones are driving engagement.
• Check The Explore Page – The explore page shows top content. So give it a scroll and find posts that align with yours. See what hashtags they’re using and leverage them for yourself!
• Review Hashtag Performance – If you have the tools, look at hashtags you’ve used from previous posts and see which ones are driving the most traffic & engagement. Use the good ones and ditch the poorly performing hashtags.
• Check Hashtag Volume – If too few people are searching your hashtag, you may not see great results. There’s also such a thing as too much volume. If everyone uses that hashtag, you may never be seen amongst the noise. Later recommends hashtags in the 10k to 200k range. Search hashtags via the explore page to see the number of posts.
• Use a Combination of Brand, Location, Audience, and Industry – Your hashtags should be comprised of your brand, your location, stuff your audience is searching for, and industry-specific hashtags. For example, mine would be: #mikeglatzerphotos #atlantaphotographer #conceptualportrait #darkandmoody
• Avoid Banned Hashtags – See the banned hashtag list from Dapper Goat
• Use 10+ Hashtags – There’s a lot of debate about the optimal number of hashtags, but most research shows that 10 is the minimum per post.
• Change It Up! – Don’t use the same hashtags for every single post. Yes, you’ll have some that apply no matter what, but make sure you also use relevant hashtags. For instance, #vampireportrait vs #witchportrait, but I’ll still use #spookyportrait for both. 
• Third-Party Tools – Some services provide tools like hashtag suggestions, saved hashtags, post schedule optimization, hashtag analysis, and more. These can be super helpful to optimize and improve your hashtag strategy. Some options are Later, Planoly, and Hootsuite.

Conclusion

Conceptual portraits are a powerful way to spark meaningful conversations on social media. They can help you tell an authentic story that people want to interact with. Conceptual portraits can also elevate your brand by looking professional and like an expert in your field as well. Ultimately, they’re eye-candy to get your audience engaged. With the right captions, you can foster real community and relationships with your followers by experimenting with conceptual portraits that boost your online presence.