What photographer doesn’t dream of having a steady workflow with customers who truly value their work and support their artistic vision?
And who doesn’t want to have the freedom of choosing and working on the types of gigs they like while earning a good income? If you are reading this now, chances are you are still struggling with this issue and you want to know how to get more photography clients for your business.
There are some proven steps anyone who wants to get more or better photography clients can take to reach their goals. Stay tuned to discover the secrets of getting more clients and the challenges that might prevent you from executing them well.
How To Get More Photography Clients: 5 Secrets To Get More Inquiries
Learning how to get and keep original photography clients might seem like a lot of work at first. Over the past couple of years, all sorts of professional photography services have crowded the market, making it incredibly challenging for new photography brands to get clients.
If you have been using different photography marketing techniques but you barely get any inquiries, perhaps it is now time to try a different marketing approach that will help you target more potential leads and retain your existing clients, if you have any.
I want to help bring you closer to establishing a profitable career, so I’ll walk you through the following tips on how to find more photography clients for your dream business.
01. Identifying Your Dream Clients
Some things are worth mentioning just the way they are in reality: your dream clients are somewhere out there just waiting to give you money. But if you are still not sure of who you are targeting, then it’s going to be hard to grab the attention of your dream clients.
Many photographers just don’t understand the true value of this first step. And most of them often just try to sell to anyone and everyone who is looking in their direction. If you know who your dream clients are and build connections, then you won’t only attract more clients.
You will also grab the attention of high-paying clients, as they will see you as the best photographer and the solution they were looking for. As you are trying to identify your dream clients, also try answering these six critical questions:
- Where do your dream clients shop?
- Where do they start looking, or whom do they ask when they need a photographer?
- What are the pain points or challenges they face when trying to find a photographer?
- Do you have, or can you provide, a solid solution to those challenges (or pain points)?
- What is the income level of your dream clients?
- Can you provide answers to these questions if they were the only thing keeping you from getting your dream clients?
02. Understanding How Clients Make Decisions
Understand that if you do not know how clients decide whom they want to hire, then you are unwillingly turning off those who would love and appreciate your services.
Likewise, if you know how clients pick whom to hire, then you can tailor your marketing message to something that provides the details they need to make the right call about you.
You will attract your dream clients, the ones who will appreciate and support your work. And at the same time, you will be turning away toxic clients who like making your work and your life difficult and stressful and don’t even value your art.
If you share info about what your dream clients should be looking for in a photographer, it will show them that you are the person they should hire, or at least recommend if they hear someone asking.
These people will of course be thankful for your rich information that helps them make an informed decision, making you the easiest choice when they want to hire a photographer.
03. Design a Personal Website That Brings in Inquiries
The technology within the scope of digital marketing has surely offered us an easy way to professionally put ourselves out there. And websites—they are truly a great business marketing tool that no photographer should take for granted.
A personal website is typically your virtual storefront where people get their first impression of your work. It’s what makes them decide if they want to hire you or look elsewhere. Keep in mind that you want to be intentional with how your site or portfolio is designed if you want it to convert regular visitors into more inquiries.
If, let’s assume, you are just showing your portfolio, blog, and contact page on your personal website, you are unknowingly losing potential inquiries that you could be getting otherwise.
Take advantage of affordable, self-hosted website builders like WordPress, for example, that provide amazing features and plug-in options that help you create a solid online presence.
04. Do What You Must to Get People Talking
For those of you that might have experienced it before, you would also agree that choosing a photographer for the first time could be overwhelming. People often tend to trust the opinions of their relatives or friends.
Hence, they will often turn to these people for advice or referrals when they need to hire a photographer. If they happen to find out that a family member or a friend had a great experience while working with you, don’t you think it is going to be a lucky day for you?
Do what you must to establish an amazing experience for every customer. They will be happy about it, and they will surely reward you someday by recommending your photography services to their friends and relatives when they start asking.
In a previous discussion in a community of professional photographers, someone asked about how to get more photography clients. While there were a few different opinions, most of them pointed toward using social media, which now brings us to the final tip.
05. Increase Your Online Marketing Presence
Social media is often a budget-friendly way of marketing your services. And it’s no wonder why most entrepreneurs and customers like spending some of their free time there. Are you also taking advantage of the cutting-edge online marketing tools to get more photography clients?
If yes, then you are a few steps ahead or closer to getting more photography clients. Keep using these platforms to show your dream clients what you can do with your camera. But let’s say you are not taking advantage of these free online marketing tools.
Then, I guess you already know the answer if you were wondering why some photographers are always busy when you hardly get any bookings.
They are always active on the following social media channels, doubling or tripling their marketing efforts, which is something you can also do and get more clients if you start now:
If you want to get more photography clients, then you should regularly upload your best work here (at least three times a week). Be creative with your captions and add more targeted #hashtags whenever you are publishing fresh posts or even updating the older ones.
Another great tip is to appear in Instagram Stories. This is just a fantastic way to display your studio or workplace, or even show your followers your behind-the-scenes portraits.
With Facebook, you have the advantage of making live videos and publishing posts that encourage or attract users to your page, and you can do a lot more with it.
You will want to include information about your photography services, such as your personal website, email address, and a CTA button that enables users to contact you quickly. You’ll want to do this as soon as possible if you are serious about getting more photography clients.
The Challenge That Might Prevent You From Getting Original Clients
If you apply the above tips to your photography business, there is no doubt that you’ll get your dream clients sooner. You will be able to charge more for your photography services and work only with clients who will appreciate your work and support your artistic vision.
However, there is one challenge (or, let us say, mistake) that will surely guarantee your failure: not establishing and following an effective marketing plan. I understand how challenging it is to find time for marketing when there is so much more that you need to do for your business.
Even so, fail to find time to focus on that crucial factor, and you will get zero results and hardly any clients to support your photography business. Coming up with an effective marketing plan will push you to ensure that you are setting aside time to follow all your marketing strategies.
Pro Tip
Your marketing plan should outline what you are planning to do and provide a game plan to reach your goals. With it, you will know when to navigate through every task and when you can take some time to focus only on marketing your photography business.
Last but not least, to ensure that your marketing plan attracts your dream clients, you will want to customize it to your ideal client and market.
Final words
When it comes to the creativity field, in this case, a photography career, having wide technical knowledge of your industry alone isn’t enough. With all your amazing skills, plus great customer service and a creative eye, you will only go a long way.
You may have all these awesome skills in addition to a great studio and the best camera and gear for different types of photography. But getting more photography clients, or your dream clients, will take a lot more than just having a fancy camera and a nice studio.
There is tough competition for all types of photography out there. And chances are, your competitors are making fantastic marketing efforts to get ahead of you. But if you apply these sneaky marketing secrets to your photography business, you will put up a good fight and move a step closer to winning your dream clients.