PHOTO BLOGGING FOR BUSINESS-2012 TRENDS

There’s absolutely nothing new about photo blogging. In some way or another, it’s been around as long as the oldest social network. Social users have long considered what their profile picture would look like and Facebook users would snap a shot of every single life moment to put it into a “Photo Album.” We saw the surge of “Myspace pictures,” heard in the news about how incriminating party shots could be for job seekers and students, and found true undiscovered talent on the pages of Flickr. But, 2011 was the re-birth of photo blogging and 2012 will be its year, especially for companies.

While Tumblr has been around for some time now, 2011 brought about not only personal blogging pages, but companies embracing the photo blog phenomenon. Just like the use of any other social media platform by a company, everything was off to a shaky start. By the end of 2011 though, companies are truly using Tumblr in unique ways.

Then there’s instagram and Pinterest – the photo blogging sensations dominating people’s time and encouraging everyone to be a budding photographer. Instagram was one of the most popular apps downloaded in 2011 and it was only available to iPhone users. Imagine the surge when the app becomes available to Android users, shortly. Pinterest, a platform that generated a lot of buzz during this summer and was extremely popular with wedding bloggers and enthusiasts alike, is turning the population into expert virtual scrapbookers.

So great, these platforms are out there, but what does this have to do with 2012, and why is this my trend post? Because 2012 will be the year major companies, small businesses and emerging entrepreneurs realize that photo blogging isn’t just a fade and truly put effort and time into these platforms. Companies will find unique ways to display their products on Instagram, complete short blogs about their company or a recent product launch on Tumblr, or even showcase a few of their favorite things on Pinterest.

I’m not suggesting that these platforms are perfect for every company because they’re not. Certain companies’ products or culture do not lend themselves easily to this social community, and that’s fine; companies should continue to master the platforms that do work for them. But, for those companies that can embrace this trend, 2012 will be the year to do it.

Questions about these platforms? The best way to master them is to hop on and see what your potential customers and potential employees are blogging about. Happy photo blogging in 2012!

Stephanie Poquette Publicist