How to Promote your Photography Business

You might be an incredible photographer but aren’t making as much as you would love to from your craft.

It is likely because you aren’t excellent at promoting your photography business.

Learn how to promote your craft and make it a successful business through maintaining a flawless portfolio online, starting a photography blog, and attending influential photography conferences.

Also, you might want to do some volunteering, offer special deals, or get listed on photographer directories to expand your reach.

Here’s more on what you need to do in detail.

Remember, the competition is fierce, but the demand for epic photographs is still high.

So, you can combine as many methods as you can.

Create a Flawless Online Portfolio and maintain it

Set up a photography business site since we are in a digital world and most people prefer accessing websites for products and services from their phones or computers.

Thanks to many intuitive site builders and templates, it is a DIY affair.

Select a platform that offers a free trial to start with and test the waters.

Building an online portfolio is one thing and keeping it up-to-date is another thing, but both are crucial here.

Have an About Us page, Sign up form, and Contact Us page to engage your visitors since it isn’t about posting your photos alone.

Before reaching you, people can see your latest and current projects and understand your style.

Start a Photography Blog

After setting up your site, consider creating a blog.

Use it as a platform for telling a story about your photography journey and sharing your creative paths to show your expertise.

It helps your personality and interests shine through.

Once visitors have read your posts, they will consider checking your portfolio, and you might be in their minds when they need photography work done.

Maintain the blog to improve your site’s visibility on the internet.

Attend Photography Conferences

Photography conferences are excellent places to network with professionals like you and get contacts.

Nowadays, online groups and local clubhouses create more avenues for photographers to discuss.

The contacts can cross-promote your craft or refer valuable clients to you.

You can choose to create business cards and share them with anyone you talk to at the conference.

Volunteering won’t Kill

Volunteer and get your photography work out to many people.

You can do this in charity events like fundraising banquets or give professional site headshots for the employees of charitable organizations.

The organizers might use your photographs for their website or social media.

Remember that attendees could turn into clients once they love your work and hire or recommend you to their companies.

Give Special Deals

Most people love limited-time offers on products and services because they are great deals.

You can offer previous clients special offers to encourage them to book your services again.

Share the deals on social media platforms for mini sessions for quicker and affordable shoots.

Slash prices reasonably but maintain your expertise while in your work to avoid chasing clients who would want to hire you again.

Listing on Photographer Directories

Photographer directories help find potential clients currently looking for fantastic photographers.

You will pay a small fee to sign up for most of them, but a few allow free listings.

For instance, photography directory project is free, while the photographers’ black book will charge you $15 monthly for listing.

Enter Photography Contests

Sponsor companies or contest websites show submissions.

Even if you aren’t among the winners, contests help to stretch one’s creativity and improve your skillset.

If you win, that’s awesome, and you can list this on your site’s About Me page.

It contributes to your credibility as a talented photographer.

Kick it with Social Media

Photography and social media work well together.

For most photographers, Instagram and Facebook are powerful tools for lead generation.

Other social media networks like Pinterest and TikTok are rising too as long as you are consistent, create captivating content, and engage with your followers.

You will notice a growth on social platforms that can lead to well-paying projects.

Set up professional business pages on various platforms to access advanced tools and metrics that can reach more people to promote your photography work.

Encourage as Many Referrals as Possible

Word of Mouth is the best way of marketing and getting referrals.

Most people might reach out to you if they are recommended by a trusted person who has a fantastic experience.

Remind happy clients to share with friends, colleagues, and family about you and your work.

If they do and you get a referral through them, it won’t hurt to offer small discounts.

Invest in Paid Adverts

Ad campaigns like Facebook and Instagram are great ways to start paid advertising when starting a photography business.

Here’s the secret: The pricing is flexible, and you can start with a dollar only.

Paid Facebook and Instagram ads offer numerous tools to help target the ads to users who are most likely interested in your photography business.

Your Email Lists should Help.

Start building an email list for your photography business now.

The best method for keeping in touch with past clients and nurturing interested persons into payable clients is through email marketing.

Having an email list means you mustn’t fight with any social media algorithms to get noticed.

Once you send out emails, they chronologically appear in clients’ inboxes.

Printed Advertising Works

We all want to focus online because of the amount of reach available there.

However, if you can try marketing offline, printing advertising material could work.

Most people love tangible experiences, and if you can give prospective clients tangible takeaways, they quickly remember your business than scrolling on-screen.

Distribute your photography business flyers to local spots and promote specials specific to your area.

Serve your target audience with current offers.

Chat with businesses in your area and request them to allow you to leave your advertising material behind for potential clients.

Host Events for Fellow Professionals

You can host your events for colleagues in the industry or hold a clients’ get-together.

If you often take family photos, host family get-together sessions, and take fun photos.

Build as many word-of-mouth referrals as possible with these images.

Offer the Business at Local Auctions

You might be having work that you could put up for auction and build your brand awareness among locals.

It is also an incredible way to show charitable action in the community and build a solid customer base.

Send Previous Clients Holiday Cards

Holidays are excellent opportunities to connect with previous and current clients besides special events like anniversaries and birthdays.

Send them cards to wish them happy holidays and add discount vouchers they can redeem for family and friends.

You can make it an often thing depending on the state of your business.

Partner with Fellow Photographers

Having connections in your niche and industry, in general, is fantastic, and this includes other photographers in and outside your niche.

You can select two or three photographers in your region with the same experience, style, and price levels.

Become good referral partners and if you happen to get inquiries for dates you are books, refer the clients to your referral partners.

Plus, it will be beneficial to write fantastic short reviews when referring partners but remember to be honest while at it.

Create Sample Albums for Favorite Venues

Create beautiful sample albums for your favorite venues, and they appreciate your help in marketing their venues in their glory.

Venue owners or managers can use the sample albums as promotional material when handling potential clients.

Ensure to include your social media handles, pages, website, and logo in the album to let them know how to reach you if they want to see more or contact you for a project.

Below are more ways of promoting and marketing your photography business that you can implement alongside those explained above.

• Set up Google My Business
• Submit your previous projects to relevant blogs and sites in your niche but seek approval from clients first.
• List your site on local business directories.
• Sign up as a vendor on relevant directories in the photography industry.
• Reach out to other bloggers and collaborate with influential vloggers.
• Guest post for other vendors.
• Create Instagram challenges.
• Host giveaways on your social media platforms.
• Share clients’ reviews and testimonials on your socials.

Conclusion

There are numerous ways of promoting and building your photography business online and offline.

It is crucial to think deeper and be creative as a photo professional.

You can agree that the market is flooded with photographers, but setting your business apart from the competition will make it sell itself.

Try out these 17+ methods and remember to be patient, persistent, and observant as there will be ideas that work best and others that need more time before seeing the results.