If youre Beyonc, social [media] is optional. If youre not, you need to be on it, says artist Justina Blakeney. Its the most powerful marketing tool we currently have at our disposaland its free. The straight-shooting, social-media savant is right: Many industry professionalsAD100 designer Young Huh among themcite Instagram as their number one source for acquiring new clients. While it may not be a definitive line item on your marketing budget, creating content, maintaining a regular posting cadence, and keeping up with ever-changing algorithms does have time and energy costs. Efficiency is key: Read up on the best practices design professionals rely on for their social media strategies.On creating a visual identityAssemble a network of collaborators. Have an army of [stylists and photographers] that you regularly use so that you have a visual identity that feels consistent. Were in the business of beautiful: How you curate and put your work together on a feed is just as important as how you put a room together.Athena Calderone [Social Media Strategy: Dial Up Your ROI]Consider use cases for each vertical. Think of the feed as a magazine spread of your work, and stories as more personal and behind the scenesand keep it consistent.Ariel Okin [28 Ways to Get the Word Out About Your Firm]Plan ahead for having to hold whole-home photography, per client or publisher requests. Even if you cant share whole project photography, you can share schemes or elements of the architecture and process.Young Huh [Social Media Strategy: Dial Up Your ROI]Think like a brand partner. If a brands products are often used in your work and consistently have helped bring your vision to light, connect with them and inquire about content creation partnerships or offering your followers a commissionable discount on those products.Reena Goodwin [Ready to Monetize Your Social Media Account? Heres How to Get Started]On defining your voiceNever delegate your POV. As you grow and need support for social media, its important for captions and ideas to still always come from you. Especially as you're building your brand, voice, and community, it should come from that guttural sense of what you want to share.CalderoneAsk yourself: Is this a brand fit? If you have a disconnect and it sounds too corporate or too promotional, then people know its not authentic.Charlotte Moss [Should Your Social Media Be Personal, Professional, or Both?]When writing captions, think of it as something youre trying to share, which has a narrative arc that tells a story. Thats how you engage people, thats how you bring people in, thats how you get people excited about what youre doing.Blakeney [How to Develop a Meaningful Social Media Following]Be ready for criticism. If I get fired up [from a comment], Ill respond: Thank you so much. I value your opinion. The one thing Id recommend is to lead with kindness next time. Have a beautiful day. Just kill them with kindness.CalderoneThe bottom lineDont worry about being all-business all the time. Because we have personal posts, that space between a client calling me and deciding to hire me is really short because they feel like theyve already gotten to know me through my Instagram. HuhDont waste the valuable real estate below your email signature. Direct people to your social pages, website, or particular products. Via 28 Ways to Get the Word Out About Your FirmDont focus solely on getting great stats. Less than 5% of your followers on most channels will be true followers, but that 5% can change everything. Those small but mighty connections are often where the magic happens. Erich Ploog [28 Ways to Get the Word Out About Your Firm]100 AD-Approved Interior Photographers to Book for Your Next ShootCount on one of these vetted talents to capture your design project in its best lightAPPLY NOWGrow your business with the AD PRO DirectoryArrow