Marketing is one of the biggest challenges of running a successful business, no matter your industry. While there is a strong demand for photography services, differentiating and standing out among established names is difficult for beginners. The key to competing and gaining clients for your photography business is to adopt a unique, attention-grabbing marketing strategy. Here’s how to do it.
Host an Event
Any artist knows that a showcase is the best way to show off their work. Hosting an event is a marketing strategy that reinforces the market position and extends the audience reach. Tailoring an event to a specific style and function helps strengthen brand image, especially when guests associate a good experience with the event. The more impressed guests are, the more inclined they are to purchase.
Create Personalized Marketing Campaigns
There are many different styles of photography and each style comes with its own market. When establishing a photography business, identify a niche. Narrowing a stylistic focus will help grow the client list faster. A photographer should shoot what they are passionate about and focus on the marketing efforts that make the most sense. For example, a wedding photographer can network with venues or with wedding planners for easy exposure to clients.
Most audiences interact with advertisements on their smartphones. With tactics like geofencing marketing designed by Demand Local, advertisers can target audiences in a specific location and show the most relevant ads to maximize paid conversions. Geofencing marketing allows users to create efficient marketing by focusing on the right consumer when they are within a certain proximity to the business.
Keep Track of Projects with a Customer Database
Start building an organized client database once the target niche has been identified. This is great for keeping track of research about ideal clients and for keeping track of information about past and current clients.
Building a database is the foundation of building a client pipeline to track interactions from initial leads through sales. If regular clients haven’t been around in a while, a database serves as a reminder to send a personalized follow-up or information about a new promotion.
Run a Contest or Promotion
Engaging with clients can be tricky as a photographer, which means finding a way to maximize interaction is important. Contests and promotions are a great way to boost business and get clients excited. Running a contest on Instagram or Facebook will generate new leads and attract new followers which will increase brand awareness.
To generate new leads, encourage existing fans to tag friends for a chance to win a prize. Make sure that the prize fits the target market and falls in line with the brand. For example, giving away a free engagement photography session could lead to being hired as the wedding photographer.
A fun idea for a contest would be to showcase alternative or older pieces of photography. Given that the digital photo storage device Meet ibi can store more than 250,000 photos collected from devices, social media, and cloud accounts, a photographer is bound to discover some rare or forgotten works. Meet ibi backs up and keeps photos and videos organized, allowing users to privately share personalized links to memories with chosen family and friends.
Start Blogging
Blogging is a personalized way to interact with clients and a great way to put a brand name out. Create a self-hosted blog on WordPress and set a regular posting schedule. Keep posts simple- a few photos with a paragraph talking about the session, inspiration, and the experience will suffice. Include information that will interest readers; an education photography blog that discusses equipment or techniques will attract a technical audience and new potential clients.
Get featured on a photography blog that is in line with your niche market. Promote on social media and include a link to any featured posts to gain brand exposure and strengthen the business’s market position.
