Want to know why photography marketing is almost as important as the photos themselves? Keen to become an advertising guru and get more clients, without much effort on your part? Or maybe you are planning to start your adventure with promoting your photo business but have no idea about basic marketing tactics? Read on – to answer your questions we prepared a photography marketing guide. Only solid facts, no nonsense!
Why do photographers need marketing?
You may be wondering why photographers need marketing. Is taking good photos not enough? The answer is simple – good photos are a must, but they will mean nothing if people won’t know about them! That’s what marketing is all about – it allows you to promote your photos and make people see them.
Photography marketing – when is it best to start?
Photographers often say they don’t have time for marketing. Scheduling sessions, contacting clients, taking photos, and retouching them take so much time that it is difficult to find additional hours for promotion. But in every business, there are moment of slow-down, there are periods when no weddings are being organised or when there are simply not enough clients to fill up the time allocated to work. And that’s when it is worth getting started with marketing activities!
Promoting photo services – useful tips
If we’ve convinced you that the promotion of photo services is something worth digging into, take a look at our tips. You will surely find a few ideas that you can use right away!
1. Find your niche
The first thing you need to do when thinking about expanding your marketing efforts is to find your niche. Photography is a vast subject, and the competition is huge. That’s why finding a specific topic in which you will specialise will allow you to stand out from the crowd of other photographers.
How to go about finding it? Think about things you like best. You excel at portraits? Consider whether it would not be a good idea to focus on a specific type of portrait (for example wedding portraits) or on specific models (for example children). You love cooking and photographing Asian dishes? This is another excellent and narrow niche that will allow you to become a real specialist!
By specifying a niche, it will be easier for you to find your customers and convince them to use your services.
2. Think about your ideal client
Defining the target group is the absolute basis of all marketing activities. If you know who your potential customers are, what they like, what are their interests, what social media channels they use, how they spend their free time and how they like to spend money, it is much easier to find them and get them interested in your offer. If you specialise in children’s photography, your clients will surely be parents, sometimes grandparents, potentially also nurseries and kindergartens. If you photograph Asian food, your photos should sound interesting to restaurateurs, reviewers, maybe bloggers. Now you just need to think where to find them. Thanks to such an identification of the target group, your marketing activities will be much more effective!
3. Make yourself visible
You may be the best photographer in the world, but if you don’t let your clients find out about your work, then you won’t have a chance to earn money. And if you don’t make money, you won’t have the funds to develop, etc., etc.
That is why every serious photographer should have a website. It works as a virtual business card that you can show to any customer. At the same time, it allows you to show your work to wider public.
What should a good website look like? We do not have a ready template, because everything depends on you. But remember that a photographer’s page must contain:
– a section showing your photos,
– a section with your contact details,
– a section where people can read more about you, your offer, and where they can see opinions issued by your customers.
4. Expand your online activities
Today’s world revolves around social media. This is where people spend most of their time, where they look for service providers, where they can check your credibility and history. That is why expanding your social media activity is so important – an Instagram profile is a photographic must-have that allows you to show off your achievements, remind your regular customers about you, and at the same time attract new clients! We have written an extensive text about how to develop your activities on Instagram and what you should know when using this platform – take a look here.
5. Prepare a breath-taking portfolio
Just like a website and an Instagram account, a good portfolio is essential to help convince customers that you are the best choice they can make. To make it look professional, choose your best photos – those that will make the clients think “This is exactly what I want!”. Try to make your portfolio look as good as possible. One of the tools that allows you to create an impressive presentation of your photos in just a few minutes is Photonesto.
6. Remember that content is king!
To be visible online, you need to create content. It allows you to share your ideas with others and to establish yourself as an excellent specialist. How to start creating content? A good solution is to regularly post photos on Instagram, as well as to write a blog where you can share your knowledge and experience. Also, many photographers produce podcasts and videos that they use to promote their services.
When creating content, you should always remember who you are writing to and why you are doing it. It is also worth thinking about the so-called sales funnels – the more customers you attract with your marketing activities, the greater the chance that some of them will decide to use your services!
7. Take care of SEO
Once you decide to write a blog and create a website, it is very important to focus on SEO (search engine optimisation), i.e., the searchability. On the Internet nothing comes free – if you want people to find your page, you need to let the search engine algorithms identify it, so that they can suggest it to others. To do so, Google needs to know more about what you do, and the only way for it to find that out is through the keywords that describe your business and your offer. Analyse the keywords that customers use when looking for photographers and make sure your content contains them. Remember that when it comes to keywords, moderation is very important – your texts should be understandable and interesting, so don’t try to put too many keywords in them! In this article you will read more about SEO for photographers.
8. Stand out from the crowd!
We live in times when anonymity does not pay off. Think about your USPs (unique selling points) and why customers should choose you. Think why your offer is so great, then let others see you the way you do! Don’t be afraid to ask controversial questions and express your opinions, don’t shy away from publicity or criticism. Bet on uncompromisingly great photos, easy-to-remember slogans, well-designed logos. Go ahead and be your own ambassador at every step you take!
9. Network!
In the era of pandemic, networking, i.e., spending time with potential clients or with people who do the same things you do, can be tricky. If you can, attend events and symposia that gather people from the world of photography. But don’t forget that the most effective method of networking (and one you can do without leaving home or even bed!) is through social media. There you can meet industry experts, connect with internationally renowned photographers, see what others are doing and finally attract new customers.
10. Build a community around your personal brand
Today people want to do business with other people, not with a faceless company. Therefore, building a personal brand is an extremely important aspect of a photographer’s marketing work. How to go about it? By showing yourself on many levels, such as:
– professional – as a specialist who takes great photos,
– personal – as a person who is warm, committed and who cares about relationships,
– human – as a person who happens to have good and bad days and has enough courage to tell others about them.
Such personal branding is extremely important and very easy to build via social media!
11. Get to grips with a camera!
Short films are very trendy – they attract the attention of customers and allow them to get to know your brand in an easy and pleasant way. They also help them remember you for longer. Experts say videos are extremely effective at creating a strong bond. Check how to make Instagram Reels, how to create videos suitable for YouTube, how to use TikTok. Choose short, fun, and engaging content that customers will like and remember. And don’t forget to include your logo, website, or link to your Instagram account!
12. Invest in paid ads
If you already are a social media, blog and website guru and you love to make videos, it’s time to start advertising! Ads are extremely effective because they are displayed to targeted users – those who follow profiles similar to yours or search for companies offering services like yours. Don’t forget that in paid advertising the most important things are intriguing content and an effective CTA (call to action) that will encourage a potential customer to click on your website, like your post or check your price list. Think carefully about every word you put in your ad and don’t forget about impressive photos that tell the story of your brand.
Keen to know more?
Marketing your photo business is a hard work and not everything can be done at once. This is why it is good to think about it as often as possible and plan various activities in advance, so that when an opportunity and a bit of free time arise, you are ready to go!
For more marketing inspirations for photographers, check out our blog!