You’ve got a great photography business on your hands – the world deserves to see how amazing it is! Since we’re huge fans of professional photography (and industry vets!) we thought we would bring you a few ways to grow your photography business online.
Your Website
A well-designed website is your chance to showcase your talents in an organized way, tell potential clients everything they need to know about your services, and give them a clear path to booking you.
Niche down –If you’re a wedding photographer, have plenty of wedding photos! If you’re a portrait photographer, showcase your best portrait photos.
Optimize it for mobile –Most website builders allow you to switch between desktop and mobile view so you can ensure it looks perfect both ways.
Include Calls to Action (CTA) – Your website is a great place for you to collect email addresses (you know how much we love email marketing!), gain more social media followers, and book clients. Have several buttons and statements that clearly tell your audience what they need to do.
Include testimonials and reviews – Ask all of your customers for reviews and publish them on your website’s homepage.
Blogging
Your website should have a blog section that you add to on a weekly or fortnightly basis. This is your chance to provide your audience with high quality, relevant content that will help your website rank higher in Google searches.
You can blog about whatever you want – photoshoot theme ideas, an interesting experience you had on the job, your favorite locations to shoot… anything! And don’t worry too much about your writing skills. Your audience knows that you’re not a professional writer. They’ll just love the opportunity to make a personal connection with you before they hire your services! Plus, it’s free.
SEO
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a little trick that you can (and should!) use to boost those Google rankings and attract people to your website. It’s best practice to use SEO throughout your website and every blog post that you write. There’s no point in cranking out content if no one is going to read it!
You can do this by using keywords. Here are a few examples:
Local keywords: “wedding photographer in [your city]”
Specific keywords: “fun wedding photos”
Niche keywords: “backyard wedding photographer”
Build & Grow Your Email List
We love email marketing for so many reasons. It’s by far the cheapest marketing channel and a great way to develop lasting connections with clients! Sending messages directly to the people on your email list is a personal way to nurture your relationships with them. It gives you the opportunity to talk “directly” to them and work on building a familiarity that will ensure you are the first person they think of when they need a photographer.
Email marketing campaigns are always a great way to get to know your customers. The platform you use to send out emails will be able to tell you what people are opening, clicking on, reading, etc.
Finally, we love email marketing because it beats the algorithm! Your email will show up in your audience’s mailbox exactly when you want it to, no matter what. Plus, you own 100% of the content that your emails include.
Here are a few tips for establishing and growing your email list:
Lead Magnet – On your website, offer something in exchange for their email address, like a coupon or a free eGuide. For example, a wedding photographer might deliver an eGuide on “The Best DIY Wedding Decor” while a portrait photographer might share an eGuide on “How to Pose for the Perfect Portrait” and give tips on makeup and clothing, as well as poses.
Create a Quiz with Interact – Get to know your audience and what they’re looking for in a photographer. For example, if you’re a portrait photographer, you could ask “what’s your personal photoshoot style?” Invite them to take your quiz, and then ask for an email to send the results to.
You can create your first quiz with Interact for FREE! Give it a go and watch your email list grow… and grow and grow!
Referral Program
Referral programs are a great way to create repeat customers and obtain new ones! Through referrals, new clients can be confident in their decision to hire you after hearing about how well you handled a wedding, family photoshoot with children, or a one-to-one session.
Offer a “punch card” – Give out one “punch” for each photoshoot you do with a certain client. 5 points could equal half off a session and 10 points could get them a free photoshoot!
Offer rewards coupons – Reward the client with a valuable coupon, account credit or gift certificate every time they bring you a new client!
Offer free prints – Offer to give your client a free print or two every time they refer a new client to you!
Social Media
If you really want to grow your photography business, you should at least be on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Twitter is always an option, too, but you’ll have to be up to chatting with your audience on a daily basis. Social media works best when you consistently post, so fewer channels may be easier to manage.
We highly recommend focusing on Instagram. It’s a great way to grow your photography business because, well, everyone is on Instagram! However, that can also create an issue: Instagram’s algorithm can be tough to break through because there are so many users.
Here are a few tips for running your photography business on Instagram:
Post to your feed at least 3 times per week
Have a constant stream of content on your Instagram story
Create story highlights to share valuable information like your policies, price list, portfolio, and behind the scenes
Make sure your bio includes the services you offer and has a link to your website
If you find yourself getting overwhelmed with all of your marketing duties, or forgetting to post consistently, Planoly and Tailwind are gigantic helpers! You can plan your content ahead of time so you always know what to post and you can have the app schedule your posts for you. We love a “set it and forget it” app!
Paid Campaigns
Here at CANDESCENT, we love to give marketing tips that are free or very low-cost, but we would be remiss if we didn’t mention the influence of paid ad campaigns. There are many paid campaigns that you can choose from, and the best one(s) for you will likely depend on your audience and budget.
Keep in mind, though, that you will need to have a Business Account in order to create ads on social media platforms.
Google AdWords – Advertise your services to potential clients in your area that are ready to book.
Facebook ads – You can use Facebook ads to send specific messages to the demographic you are targeting.
Instagram ads – Easily turn the posts you already have into ads by paying to promote the post.
Pinterest ads – 89% of pinners use Pinterest on their path to purchase. An ad can boost your chances of getting booked while pinners are looking for inspiration!
Are you a photographer looking to grow your business? Let us know over on our social media: @WeAreCandescent
Photo credit: (c) Dusan Jovic