Alright, guys. It’s time for you to meet Kassie, the owner of Kassie Layne Photography and co-owner of K. Layne Solutions. Pay close attention to the name of her second business: K. Layne Solutions. Together, her and her best friend Claire, offer virtual assistance for creative entrepreneurs in the capacities of social media management, culling, photo placement for client guides, email management, and literally anything else you may need to outsource. She has worked in the wedding world, in the worlds of family, wedding, and branding photography. She is a military spouse that has moved her business across state lines (and across the stinkin’ country!) multiple times. She has faced the challenges we have faced (and then some), so she knows the problems that we, as photographers, have. She had seen too many of her colleagues struggle with juggling all the things. So she decided to make herself and her business part of the solution.
One of my biggest and most recent pain points has been with social media. The transition from static images to video content has kicked my butt. But with someone in my corner like Kassie, who always seems to find a solution she not only helped me understand how to create video content, but also the why behind it.
If social media has left you feeling unfulfilled and overall just turned upside down lately, I can assure you you’re not alone. Kassie has been gracious enough to answer a few questions that I think we all have during this time of transition from still to live media! Without further ado, let’s dive into her brain and find the solution we have all been looking for (oh, and a good bit of encouragement too–she’s really great at that as well!).
1. What are the most common barriers to transitioning to video content?
Honestly, getting in your own way. It’s pretty vulnerable to show yourself and your business “live” instead of being able to push forward with a still image and people definitely feel that!
2. What are the differences between Reels and TikTok?
In my opinion, TikTok is a platform with less structure and “rules” – it’s an anything-goes platform where going viral can, quite literally, change your life. As for Reels, it’s obviously a TikTok influenced medium. It’s like the little sister who is trying to keep up with their older sibling, just not quite hitting the mark. The main difference right now, from what I can see, is that you still have the structure of Instagram to battle. How IG allows you to reach your audience continues to impact your engagement and is a major hurdle. With that said, like most things, it’s getting better with time! They’re launching new features almost daily, which will only help us interact with it easier.Are there benefits to being on one platform over the other? As long as you’re building video content on one of the platforms you’ll eventually get comfortable enough to post on both, but if a client approached me and said “I am not on social media, but I want to start doing short form videos.” I’d recommend TikTok – all trends on Reels come from TikTok. If you know what’s going on there, Reels would be an easy expansion.
3. What advice can you give to those who don’t see value or return in posting video content?
There has likely been something throughout your career that’s made you uncomfortable or something that you didn’t fully understand, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth it in the end. Right now you might not see the value, but you’ll be so happy that you jumped on the learning curve now instead of later when short form video is the main source of product and service engagement. I remember when people didn’t want to sign up for IG because they had Facebook… I’d love to see how they feel about that now.
4. From your current client base, do you have statistics as far as growth in followers, interactions, leads, and bookings since you’ve begun working with them to implement video content?
One particular client started with me recently and we immediately started implementing short form video. She’s seen her engagement go up 588%, she’s reached 836% more accounts, and gained 30% more followers. I also know that she’s taken orders directly sourced from her content and that’s all within less than 90 days.
5. What is one strategy for easing into video content creation?
Trends are great, but when you’re getting started they can feel so overwhelming. My advice is start where you’re comfortable – don’t make the initial goal to go viral or sell out of a product. Make the initial goal to figure out what the heck you’re doing! Don’t worry about views and insights… simply find sounds that you think you can handle and do them. Then, batch film them! Ain’t nobody got time to be recording a new video every day!
6. Do you have a prescribed video content strategy (i.e. frequency of posting, length/type of video, etc.)?
My personal strategy is posting a video once a day with plans to integrate still images into the daily rotation. As for my clients, I aim for 2-3 times per week. Most of my clients are new to Reels and TikTok so it’s a nice balance and doesn’t consume too much of their time – the top concern for nearly all of them. As for type of video or length, I keep up with a lot of trend analysts and do my own research so that answer literally changes weekly, if not more.
At the end of the day, I think reframing your mindset on video content is key – You don’t need to go viral, you don’t need to be the poster child for short form video. Let’s lift that pressure right off of your shoulders! You do have to be willing to let go of insecurities and be a little vulnerable, I’ll give you that. However, it’s truly as simple as showing up and interacting with your clients, customers, and supporters.
Didn’t I tell you she gives solutions while also being encouraging?! I am currently one of her clients and can attest to the time and attention to detail she puts into her clients’ and their marketing/overall business efforts. If you have additional video content questions, to do with either TikTok or Instagram Reels, please drop them below! I will do my best to answer them and/or find the answer from an expert like Kassie. If we have enough questions, we can do a follow-up blog post to this one!
Cheers to stepping out of that comfort zone to grow our businesses in new and beautiful ways!
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