Advertising for wedding photography on Facebook... good idea or bad?

I get 90% of my business from Facebook (wedding, events, portrait sessions). Just wondering if I should announce on Facebook that I am giving away one free couple engagement session and get people to comment on the status and il pick the winner at random over the next week or two... basically ask all my Facebook fans (about 550 of them) to nominate their friends who are about to get married and are looking for an engagement session.

Do you guys think its a good idea? I mean I loose a few $$$ by working for free but I could get a lot of potential clients coming to my page and checking out my work and even if one of them becomes a future wedding client then I'm basically losing a few hundred dollars of engagement session but getting in return thousands for an entire wedding.

What are your suggestions? Anyone else do stuff like this from time to time (free giveaways every 3-6 months)

***** keeping in mind, I'm fairly new to the business and I'm actually looking for more work.. i guess seasoned pros wouldn't do anything like i mentioned above who already get more than enough weddings per year ******

You may want to have a read of Facebook's terms and conditions... if you do what you intend to you could well end up seeing your page deleted.

"You must not condition registration or entry upon the user taking any action using any Facebook features or functionality other than liking a Page, checking in to a Place, or connecting to your app. For example, you must not condition registration or entry upon the user liking a Wall post, or commenting or uploading a photo on a Wall.
iv. You must not use Facebook features or functionality as a promotion’s registration or entry mechanism. For example, the act of liking a Page or checking in to a Place cannot automatically register or enter a promotion participant.
v. You must not use Facebook features or functionality, such as the Like button, as a voting mechanism for a promotion.
vi. You must not notify winners through Facebook, such as through Facebook messages, chat, or posts on profiles (timelines) or Pages."

That final restriction is rather surprising.

mclaren777 wrote in post #15570584
That final restriction is rather surprising.

Yeah. It is well worth having a read through the rules they have.

Here in Australia not only are you restricted by Facebook rules running the "like this picture to win" competitions but also by State/Federal laws relating to lotteries and games of chance. I've lost count of the number of Facebook pages I had seen not complying.

great for exposure and if your work is on point....you'll have no problem gathering steam..I JUST after 5 years of business got an actual site (which will launch this week). I have booked a ton of work and weddings from being on FB. I also have started booking out of state...which prompted me to get a website . Not to mention I've gone up on rates.

brianodom wrote in post #15571585
great for exposure and if your work is on point....you'll have no problem gathering steam..I JUST after 5 years of business got an actual site (which will launch this week). I have booked a ton of work and weddings from being on FB. I also have started booking out of state...which prompted me to get a website . Not to mention I've gone up on rates.

Are you suggesting that the OP goes ahead and breaks the Facebook rules and risks their page being pulled? Or are you saying having a Facebook page is great exposure which isn't really relevant to what the OP was asking?

memoriesoftomorrow wrote in post #15572058
Are you suggesting that the OP goes ahead and breaks the Facebook rules and risks their page being pulled? Or are you saying having a Facebook page is great exposure which isn't really relevant to what the OP was asking?

Bolded part kind sir

I did a "promoted" post on FB this last week. You have to follow all the ad rules (no more that 20% text etc.) and it has worked wonders!
I wanted to get word out about my wedding photography - I created an ad and promoted. The offer was everyone who shared the ad and liked my page would be in to win a free photoshoot in my studio with a free 8x10 picture of their choice. I got 110 shares 66 new followers, 5 wedding inquiries with 2 firm bookings and three shoot bookings - the cost was £7.00!! Best £7.00 I have ever spent! I had the ad approved from FB before I went ahead as I'd previously had one rejected (too much text) and got approval no problem so I'm a bit confused with all the T&Cs quoted above.
Paula

I sat through a podcast put on by Facebook about this. At the end they offered a something like $600 kit for $99. I did not purchase it or go that route. Many people have said it did wonders for them. They used Jasmine Star as an example and we know how popular she is.

Basically you have about 1 second to capture someones attention so you need to make it exciting. You want to make people hit the like button and set that up so it links other stuff. Been too long since the podcast.

Some examples they had.

digital paradise wrote in post #15590723
You want to make people hit the like button and set that up so it links other stuff.

Personally I don't worry about the likes or not. The fan base number is largely irrelevant for me. It is the quality of the ones who do like the page that matter more.

I don't worry about "engaging" either. Everyone and their aunt are trying to engage and make themselves and their page seem more interesting than the next. I use Facebook for what amounts to being a client gallery. Once clients have tagged themselves then that album is readily available for all their friends and family to see, comment etc. I largely stay out of any discussions over the pictures unless I am asked something directly. Engaging has a time cost.

At the end of the day I'm a photographer and people want to see the pictures. So that is exactly what I give them. There are so many photographers that I know just posting mindless drivel on their pages in an attempt to "engage". "What did you have for dinner tonight?", "Why can I never find a matching pair of socks?" Rather ironically the one thing that tends to be missing from their pages are regular posts with their photographs from paid jobs.

The key thing for me with any post or advert is to direct the user to a relevant page which offers the service product I was advertising (normally on my website). Turn seeing the ad into an action that involves contacting me about the product/service.

I personally un-follow artists who overdo it on fb. Post a pic, some tour dates, some honest to God news I might be interested in, but if you drone on about your life everyday I'm unliking your page.

I don't want to see much more than a pic a day at the most from the photographers I follow. And I REALLY don't want you to post a pic to FB and then tweet the same thing to FB from your twitter so you clog up my whole feed. Ugh. People get annoyed really quick when you become a try hard with FB posts.

Yes you are right Facebook is best way to promote your business and make your profile in such a way that people attract towards your page then others .

Facebook is awesome!