Photography marketing have you confused? Not sure how to promote your photography business? It doesn’t matter if you’re an established photographer or a beginner photographer, these ideas will help grow your photography business! Want to get more clients and generate more leads to your website? Ready to never run out of ideas on different ways to market your photography business? Check out my 68 of tips on how to market yourself as a a photographer.
I’m going to start with the basics of how to market your photography business and then will go into how to take your photography marketing to the next level.
1. Market on Social Media
The first step for photography marketing is to make sure you are on social media and that you are posting at least once a day! This is crucial. It doesn’t even have to be photography-related. It can be what you are up to that day, a throwback, what you’re eating/drinking. But make sure you’re showing your post consistently on your social media.
A lot of photographers are using Instagram to market their photography. Want to get started on Instagram? Have a look at our self paced Instagram 101 For Photographers course.
Not sure what to post on social media or how to promote your photography business on Facebook? Need some ideas on Instagram captions? We have over 5,000 posts for photographers.
2. Build a Photography Website to Market Your Photography Business
If you haven’t already make sure you have a photography website where you are displaying your portfolio. Make sure your website is easy to navigate and that each niche that you photograph has its own page. Your navigation should be very organized. I have two website builders that I love: Pixieset and Photobiz.
3. Make Sure Your Photography Website is Mobile Friendly
Once you have your website set up make sure it’s optimized for mobile. The majority of your photography clients who will be viewing your website will be doing so on a phone/tablet. Make sure your images aren’t cut off and that it’s easy to navigate.
How Do Photographers Find Clients
4. Local SEO
Local SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is very important. This is how people find your photography business on search engines. You want to make sure you have a photography marketing strategy on how to rank on google locally. I will be going over more of those strategies below. You will want to implement your area and your niche keywords all throughout your photography website.
Example: In your website footer you can say:
Your Photography Name is a maternity, newborn, and family photographer based out of (city, state) servicing (area), (area), and (area).
5. Use Text within Your Website:
The text within your photography website is what Google crawls. So you need to make sure each page is optimized with keywords for that specific page. For instance, if you’re targeting wedding photography clients, here are some keywords and keyword phrases I would use.
- Wedding photography
- Boho Wedding Photographer (If that’s your style)
- Wedding Photography in (area) prices
- Creative Wedding Photography
- Affordable Wedding Photography (use this if you’re just starting out)
Pro tip: Remember you want to use words that they are searching for. Photographers say photo session, clients say photoshoot. Photographers say photos/images, clients say pictures. I would make sure to target words that photographers and clients use.
Always make sure to include your area all throughout your website so google knows!
Want more ways you can help your SEO? Check out our SEO 101 For Photographers.
6. Add A Live Chat To Your Photography Website
There are apps you can put on your website called “live chat” apps that allow customers to directly contact you. The message will pop up like a text on your phone, allowing you to talk to them on the go. If you’re not available to answer the live chat then you can switch it to off and direct them to your contact page. This is a great tool to have on your photography website.
7. Rename Your Photos That You Upload To Your Photography Website
Rename all photos that you upload to your photography blog and website. Google will read the names of the photos so you can optimize them for your SEO. So you wouldn’t upload a picture that said DSC2049 instead you would rename it wedding-photography-red-barn-event-center.
Make sure images are all lower case and separated with hyphens which makes it easier for search engines to understand. Rename the image by saying what the image is about but also include a keyword you want to target.
8. Use Google Business Profile to Rank Higher
Have you ever looked up: “restaurant near me” on google and restaurants pop up? This is how you can get that to happen for your photography website.
Go set up a Google Business Profile for your company. It’s easy and free to do, and it will help move your business up in online searches. Make sure to fill out the profile completely and update it often. Add as much as you can to the profile, even photos, and videos.
This is my #1 tip for you to use to market your photography business. Did you know you can still set this up even if you don’t have a photography website?
9. Use Google Search Console To Check Your Google Health
Google Search Console is an amazing tool that shows you just how many people are searching for terms you’re using in your blog posts and website content, as well as what they’re clicking on the results page. You can also see where people are coming from when they click on those links (what countries, what cities, and what devices). Plus, if you’re not on the first page of Google search results, Google Search Console will tell you why, so you know how to fix it!
Google is such an important part of photography marketing. You have spent all this time building a photography website so you want to make sure people can actually see it when they are searching for photographers.
10. Figure Out Where Your Competitor’s Traffic Is Coming From
There are tools like Ubersuggest that allows users to enter a website’s URL and see how much traffic each page gets. This is important because you can target what pages are doing well on their website or blog and you can recreate those pages but make them better. You will also be able to see what keywords they are ranking for.
11. Set Up Google Alerts
Once you set up a google alert for your business, Google will alert you once it’s mentioned by anyone on the internet. This is a great tool for you to have.
12. Create a Yelp Profile
Yelp is an online directory that allows people to review local businesses. It is a great way for potential clients to find you because people are always looking for the best photographers in their area. It’s also a great backlink to your website. Backlinks are when another website links to your website. This is great for your SEO!
13. Created a Linked In Profile
Many photographers aren’t utilizing LinkedIn. If you’re a headshot, personal brand, or real estate photographer, LinkedIn should be at the top of your list. This is where all the business professionals are. It’s a great idea to start sharing your work here and start networking with local companies.
14. Add Lead Magnet Templates To Your Website or Blog
What is a lead magnet template? A lead magnet template is something you use to collect emails. In this case, it would be a photography client guide with tips and pricing. I suggest not having your pricing online but instead having them fill out a form and get your client guide. This can be a client prep guide filled with useful information for the type of service they are interested in. This will also help you build up your email list.
Gathering emails and providing value is a key way to promote your photography business.
You can use a client guide, session prep guide or a welcome packet template as your lead magnet template. Check out our lead magnet templates.
15. Utilize Your Email List to Advertise Photoshoots
Make sure you’re using your email list to provide content that your photography niche wants to hear about. If you’re a wedding photographer you can send out wedding tips for their wedding day, timeline ideas, etc. You can also use this list to send out any photography promotions you’re running on prints/products or other services.
16. Use Pinterest In Your Marketing Strategy
Pinterest is slept on by photographers in my opinion. Pinterest is considered a social media but it works as a search engine. If you’re not posting your blog posts and your work on Pinterest you are seriously missing out on so much potential traffic. Make sure to create a business profile and start pinning your work. This will help you with long-term traffic.
17. Start a Blog to Market Your Photography Business
If I could scream one thing from a rooftop it would: MAKE SURE TO HAVE A BLOG. This is very important to your SEO photography marketing strategy. Let’s say you’re a wedding photographer and you just photographed a wedding at a really great wedding venue. Blog about it. That way when someone in the future looks up weddings at that wedding venue they will see that blog post.
Not sure what to blog about? Check out our Prewritten Content for Photographers.
18. Feature Every Vendor You Work With
Take the time to feature every vendor and venue that you have worked with (if it was a good experience) and if it fits within the target client you’re trying to reach. Once you make the blog post, email them to let them know you featured them. What will they most likely do? Share that blog post on their social media. You want to create every opportunity they will share your blog with their followers.
19. Create A Vendors We Love Page On Your Blog
Take it a step further and create a vendor we love page. This sets you apart as an expert in your niche. If you’re a wedding photographer, break it down by categories: Venues, DJs, Caterers, Florists, Coordinators… you get the idea. From there you will link their website and you will also link it to the corresponding wedding that you worked with them on. Make sure to email that vendor and let them know you’re putting them on this page. Maybe they have a page like this and will put you on their page!
20. Feature Your Client Businesses On Your Blog
Does your client own a business? Go the extra mile and do a blog post about their business in the area. You can feature the images that you took of the client and then write up a blurb about their product/service. Then you’ll email that client and let them know. What do you want to bet that they will share that article across ALL of their social media? The idea is to make shareable content.
21. Feature Local Businesses On Your Blog
You will want to do the same thing with local businesses in your area. Do you photograph seniors? Feature different prom boutiques or a local hangout. Are you a wedding photographer? Do an article on a new wedding venue or transportation service! Does this take extra work? Yes. Is it worth it? Double yes.
This is a great way to promote your photography business because that company is likely to share your article on their social media creating more traffic to your photography website.
22. Get Your Photography Business Featured
One of the best things you can do to get backlinks to your website/blog is to get your work featured on other blogs or publications. Remember Google likes backlinks! You need to be reaching out and seeing if they are accepting submissions. Do not be afraid to do this. Another great way for those publications and blogs to find you is to post your work on Pinterest. This is basically free photography promotion.
23. Get Reviews to Build Trust
You are going to want to reach out to all of your previous clients and have them give you reviews on Facebook, Google, and/or Yelp. What do you do when you’re about to buy a product on Amazon? You check the reviews. Do not miss out on this.
If you haven’t made it a point to reach out to gather a review as part of your workflow. Implement this as an email to all your future clients after the session/event.
Reviews convert and this is a great way to market your photography business for FREE.
24. Reply Back to Google Reviews
Once you get google reviews you want to reply back with optimized keywords. Did you know that Google reviews are searchable? They are. So you want to make sure to use keywords that you are trying to target. Here’s an example as a reply.
25. Join Your Local Chamber of Commerce
This is a great way to get your business a backlink in a local directory. Normally there is a small fee but it’s worth it. If you’re a corporate, headshot, real estate, or personal branding photographer – you absolutely should be joining your chamber of commerce. The chamber of commerce is like a club of local business owners. This is a great way to network with other businesses.
26. Build a VIP Program To Market Your Photography Business
Offer a VIP program to your most loyal photography clients. Give them something that gets them excited, such as the first choice of mini session times, a free canvas because they booked you five years in a row or a canvas print from their last session. You could even give them priority editing! Something that makes them smile and makes them feel appreciated.
27. Build A Rep or Influencer Program
This isn’t just for senior photographers. You could pretty much do this with any other photography niche as well. Basically, you’ll find people that you want to be your reps or influencers. Whenever someone books using their special code, they will earn an incentive. The incentive could be session credit, print/product credit, or whatever you want to give them.
Check out our Portrait Rep Program blog post to learn more on how to start this program for your photography business.
28. Use Video Marketing To Promote Your Photography
Video marketing is where it’s at. I know it can be very intimidating but you need to be adding this to your photography marketing strategy. Whenever you make a blog post try to make a video of that blog post. From there you can upload that video to Youtube and embed it within your blog post. Did you know that Google loves blogs that have videos?!
Tiktok and Instagram Reels are not going anywhere anytime soon.
I give out daily photography marketing ideas on my Tiktok channel which you can follow here.
29. Use Short Form Video
Short-form videos would be considered videos like Tiktok videos. Don’t know what to talk about for your photography business? I have 500+ Tiktok and Instagram Reel Video Ideas for Photographers. That article will go over the importance of using Tiktok and Reels in your photography marketing strategy and give you ideas on how to get started. Just remember to post consistently. I batch create my content for a few hours each week. That way it’s not consuming my entire week.
30. Create Client Guides and Build Buzz Over Who Gets The Cover
I suggest using client guides in your marketing strategy and changing the cover every season or even month. Here’s why. Let’s say you put a newborn on the cover. You’re going to get 5 of those client guides printed and send them to the client’s mom or dad. Guess what they are going to do? They are going to post about it on social media then they will probably also show it to their friends and family. This will create an offline buzz about your business.
Pro photography marketing tip: You can get these client guides printed through Magcloud. There is no minimum print order which I love!
I have client guides for Photoshop and ones that you can customize in Canva in my shop. They include all the text and pricing. All you have to do is put in your relevant photography business information and add your photos.
How To Market Yourself As A Photographer by Networking
31. Advertise Your Photography Business Locally By Putting Your Client Guides In Offices
Client guides can be great to include at local dentist offices, restaurants, boutiques, ice cream shops, and the like. The possibilities are endless. Feel weird about asking a company if you can put your photography client guides in their establishment? Ask them if you can put in an advertisement within the client guide for their business. They will probably love that idea and let you put the guides in their office/store. You could even include a seasonal calendar of local events.
This is an easy way to market your photography business. It takes some time and it might feel weird. But you can’t be afraid to get out there and tell people about your work. Remember businesses are looking to network as well!
32. Write Blog Posts About Your Photography Niche For Other Websites
A great way to mark your photography business is to write for other websites. Think about local blogs that have to do with your niche. Maybe you’re a family photographer and there’s a blog about fun things kids can do in your area. This would be the perfect blog to approach and see if you can contribute. Perhaps you can talk about taking better photos of your kids or promote your kid’s workshop that you’re hosting.
33. Network with other Photography Companies
Did you know you can actually network with other photographers? It’s true. If you’re a wedding photographer, team up with a boudoir photographer and you can cross-promote each other. This would work if you were not photographing the same niche. Maybe you can do a podcast together or interview one another!
34. Give Your Albums To Venues/Vendors To Display
Wedding photographers do not miss out on this photography marketing idea. This is one that got me a lot of clients!
Think about the venues or vendors that your target clients are coming from or are you using. If you’re a wedding photographer and you notice that your highest paying clients are coming from a certain wedding venue. That is the time to make an album for that wedding venue! They will display it at the want to hose your event here table. This can give you a ton of client leads.
35.Make Sure To Follow Up With Your Potential Leads
A lot of the time photographers are not following up properly or they don’t know what to say. I have made that easy for you with my Follow Up Scripts for Photographers. Remember sometimes people just get busy and forget. So it’s important that you’re following up in a timely manner on every inquiry.
36. Teach Photography To Other Photographers
Are you finding that you’re not booking enough clients and not sure why. Perhaps this is your time to pivot in your photography business and start teaching photography! You can offer workshops or one on one mentorships. Want the lesson plans already done for you? Check out our workshop kits. You can start teaching how to photograph or even how to edit.
37. Teach Photography To Kids Online
I always let photographers know that there is a huge opportunity to teach kids online via sites like Outschool. You can teach them online or you can host in-person workshops for kids during their school breaks. We have different lesson plans to teach classes to kids in our shop.
38. Teach Photography To Parents
If you’re a family photographer, here’s a great add-on service you could be offering. Teach a workshop for parents on how to take better photos of their kids.
Want to learn more about how you can earn more money teaching photography? Check out our blog post 12 Tips To Make Money Teaching Photography In Person and Online.
39. Make A Mini Session Schedule
A huge part of photography marketing is making sure you’re organized. It’s important to make a mini session schedule that way you’re not doing things last minute. You want to make sure you have plenty of time for advertising photography minis. Make sure when you’re marketing your mini sessions that you are sending out an email to your previous clients and potential clients letting them know.
40. Offer Mini Sessions – Character Meet & Greets
A photography marketing idea I always give to photographers is that you want to start creating year-long photo session opportunities. You can do that by offering character meet and greets. A lot of photographers offer Santa photos during the holidays but you can do this same concept all year long. You would hire a princess or prince and set them up like your Santa photos. Make sure to use generic characters so there’s no issue with copyright. You would include the cost of the character in the session.
Not sure what mini sessions to offer? Check out our 300 Mini Session Ideas for Photographers.
41. Offer Holiday Portraits
I’m not talking about Christmas portraits (those are important too!). I think if you’re a portrait photographer you should be targeting Halloween. Collaborate with a trunk or treat location and offer your Halloween mini sessions there. You could even throw in face painting. You would include that in the cost of the mini session. But this is a brilliant idea, the parents are already going there.
42. Update Your Email Signature to Cross-Promote
Make sure you’re email signature is not a non-clickable graphic. You want to make sure that they can click through on all the content you’re cross-promoting in your email signature. A great way to do this is to use Hubspot’s free email signature generator tool.
You will want to make sure you include your contact information, links to your website, social media, and any awards/publications you’ve been featured in.
Want more free photography resources like this? Check out 9 Incredible Resource Websites For Your Photography Business!
43. Start A Tiktok Series To Market Your Photography Business
Tiktok is the fastest way to get the word out there about your photography business. I have seen photographers get millions of views in a day. Yes, a day! Make a series on Tiktok. How to take better photos of your children, wedding day tips from a pro photographer, and what you need to look for in a newborn photographer. People also love behind-the-scenes footage. If you’re looking to get into the realm of photography education, Tiktok is a MUST.
44. Go Live on Tiktok and Facebook
If you have a following on Facebook or Tiktok, now is the time to go live! This is a great way for potential clients to get a feel of your personality and ask you questions about your photography services. You could talk about your photography session promotions. You could even do a live giveaway! Partner up with a local business and offer a great giveaway package.
45. Repurpose Your Content To All Social Media
If you’re making short-form videos you need to repurpose them on the following platforms.
- Tiktok
- Instagram Reels
- Pinterest Idea Pins
- Facebook Reels
- Youtube Shorts
That seems like a lot of work but different websites like repurpose.io can help with this!
46. Advertise your Photography Business at a Booth or Local Fair
Team up with a photographer that doesn’t photograph that same niche as you and go in on a booth at a local fair. This will give you double the traffic and that means more leads!
47. Market Yourself As A Freelance Photographer
Some photographers don’t want to deal with the marketing aspect of photography. My idea for them? Email local photographers that are in need of assistants, second photographers, and backup photographers. You could make a ton of money by doing this.
Want other creative ways to make money as a photographer? Check out 7 Ways To Make Even More Money with Photography.
48. Get Different Signage For Your Studio
Here are some marketing ideas for your photography studio. Do something a little different to the outside. Maybe you add a banner or a flag, get a landscaping makeover, redo the display window, or get a blinking “open” sign. New changes and anything that moves (such as a flag or blinker) will direct attention to your space!
49. Advertise Your Photography Business with A Car Decal
Have a bumper magnet for your car that features your logo and website. I would suggest a magnet feature so that you can take it off. You don’t want to make yourself a target for theft if you have your camera equipment in your car.
50. Get Shirts With Your Company Information
Do you have shirts made up with your company’s logo and contact information? This can be a great way to advertise your photography business. You can put a catchy phrase on the front with your logo and contact info on the back. Don’t want to wear a t-shirt? Get a pin made up with your name and your company name. This is a great conversation starter.
51. Join Relevant Groups Online Geared Towards Your Niche
Join an online group that you can that pertains to your niche. Family photographers should be in mom groups. Photograph cosplay? Join cosplay groups! This is a great way to show them your work and let them know what you offer by contributing to this community.
52. Create a Customer Base and Reach Out On The Holidays
You should be collecting emails from all your clients, even their significant others. Why should you do this? If you’re a wedding photographer and your past client has an anniversary coming up. This is a great time to reach out and offer up a wedding album that you can create for them. Perhaps tell the husband/wife this would make a great gift for their anniversary.
Pro photography marketing tip: Remember once the session is done, it’s not done. There’s always different ways to promote your photography products, albums, gift cards and prints later on down the road!
53. Re-release Your Client Galleries Before The Holidays
Every October you should be re-releasing photography client galleries. This gives them enough time to order prints and products before Christmas. Always do this especially if you expire the galleries.
Pro photography marketing tip: Run a photography promotion for the holidays! You could offer a percentage off or a BOGO offer.
54. Go The Extra Mile During the Holidays
Reach out to your clients and offer complimentary gift wrapping and delivery during the holidays. This is a great way to add that extra bit of customer service! Going above and beyond is key when marketing your photography business.
55. Post Your Work To Your Personal Profile
Sometimes we get so busy posting to all of our business channels that we forget to tell our friends and family what’s going on under our personal profiles. Let them in on your accomplishments and what you’re offering. Do not feel weird advertising your photography services on your personal page! People want to support you.
56. Offer Payments Plan Packages
When you offer payment plan options for your photography packages, you make it possible for your customers to choose a more expensive package than they would have been able to afford otherwise. Make sure to have a contract in place for this agreement.
57. Set Up A Booth At A Local Kid’s Night To Market Your Photography Business
Do you have a local restaurant that offers kid’s nights? Contact them and ask if you can have a booth there. You could take photos of the event for their social media and offer a giveaway at your booth. This is a great way to get some local leads.
58. Offer Gift Cards
Make sure your clients are aware you offer gift cards by posting about them on social media or sending out an email promotion. Photography gift cards are great for so many reasons. For example, they’re a thoughtful gift for real estate agents to give to new homeowners, for giving to family members or friends for the holidays, and so much more.
59. Create A Sign Up For Text Alerts
This should be used sparingly, but you can text people about new mini session availability, upcoming openings in your schedule, and more. Make sure you only text people who sign up for this list and consider an incentive for them to do so.
60. Start A Birthday/Anniversary Club
Ready for a photography marketing tip that you can use today for your current clients? For the entire month of the client’s birthday or anniversary, they get a small discount on any session or product that you offer. This also creates a stronger incentive to buy now and makes the client feel special.
61. Ask Your Photography Client For The Booking
When a client books you and the session are over. Give them an incentive to book the next sessions. Especially if you know they tend to book every year or multiple times a year. This is a great way to fill up your calendar. Implement this photography marketing strategy in your follow-up email after the session is over.
62. Offer A Sense of Urgency In Your Photography Marketing
Begin strategically implementing a sense of urgency for booking when a potential client reaches out. Maybe offer them 10% off their wedding if they decide to book within the next 72 hours.
63. Setup An Advertisement At A Local Movie Theater Or Mall
Reach out to a local movie theater and inquire about placing an advertisement. Many locations do this for a fee, and it’s great to target specific clients. Remember photography marketing doesn’t have to always be online, in person advertising is still thriving!
You could also reach out to a mall and see if you can rent the window space of a storefront that is not currently being rented. Normally, this is a lot cheaper than renting out the entire space and it’s a win/win for them because they are still making money off the space.
64. Start A Registry Program
If you haven’t used this idea for your photography marketing. I really encourage it! Once you start offering gift cards you can start letting your clients do a registry program. Let’s say your newborn client books a package with you. She can post about it or put it on her baby shower invite so that they can also contribute to the photography session as a gift.
This photography marketing idea is perfect for many niches of photography. Wedding and newborn photographers should definitely try this out.
65. Change Your Pricing To Include Freebie Gifts
Do a little shopping for “freebie” gifts to throw in with your session purchases. Maybe it’s a keepsake box for their prints, a $10 coffee card, or a trinket they can put on display. People love receiving an unexpected surprise and it will solidify you in their memory. Create room in your pricing structures to include these gifts.
66. Buy An Email Promotion In A Local Blog
For example, my area has a kid’s blog that sends out all the latest things you can do in our area with your kids. I recently saw a photographer advertise through that email for their mini sessions. This is a great way to reach your niche client in your area.
67. Collab With A Videographer
Want to set yourself apart from the competition? Collaborate with a videographer and start adding video to your sessions. This could be for portrait photographers or wedding photographers. If you’re looking for a great promotional photography idea… this is it!
There’s not a lot of people using this photography marketing tip. I would jump on it, especially if you’re a wedding photographer/newborn photographer.
68. Advertise By Renting Out A Billboard
I live in a fairly small town so renting out a billboard isn’t much. Take a look in your area and see if this would be possible for your photography marketing budget.
69. Donate Your Services
Find a local cause that is important to you and reach out. See if you can help them by donating your time and services. This is a great way to give back to your community.
Conclusion:
I hope you enjoyed our 68 photography marketing ideas for your business. Remember you don’t need to do all of these at once. Take it one day at a time. Interested in a one on one photography business strategy plan? Email me at bp4uguides@gmail.com. Looking for more photography resources? Head over to BP4U Photographer Resources.
PS: Make sure to grab my free photography contract and our monthly freebies.
