Being successful as a beginning wedding photographer is harder and harder than ever before. The cost of entry is low and even those with iPhones are offering to cover weddings. So how does a beginning photographer market and cut through the masses to get booked and grow their income? Today I am sharing our top 5 marketing tips for beginning wedding photographers. Make sure to read to the end for a bonus.
Join an Organization
People say that there is strength in community and they are right. Look around your local area for both regional and national groups to be a part of. These groups will often offer great education to grow your business and as a wedding photographer, it also acts as a way to network and market your business to fellow wedding vendors. Some of our favorite organizations to join are places like the Professional Photographers of America as well as smaller regional offshoots of PPA. PPA has a national convention as well as webinars throughout the year. Another favorite group as a wedding photographer is WIPPA or ILEA.
Show UP
This may sound stupid but I hear so many photographers complain that they aren’t booking any clients and the first question I ask is, “what are you doing to get out there?” If you want to book clients you have to show up not only on social media but at events. When I first started out I thought if I just believed hard enough and had pretty pictures the clients would find me and the reality is that woo woo stuff won’t get you as far as good old fashioned networking. Your name should be on the tips of every vendors tongues. This is one of the most important ways we move into a new market.
Get a CRM Fast
This is something I waited to long to get for my business! When I say to long, I was forgetting who I delivered images to and who still needed to have a contract signed. This creates a perfect storm for unhappy clients and bad reviews. So, what is a CRM exactly? A CRM is a client management system or software that allows you to keep track of not only day to day tasks but also your contracts, payments, and bookings. This is a powerful tool that allows you to easily scale your business from the very beginning. So how is this connected to marketing your wedding photography business? Simply, a happy client leads to more happy clients. For more tech tool recommendations to help with marketing head here.
Hire a Subject Matter Expert
This was a huge mistake that we made that can cost you more money in the long run than you realize. We attempted to learn from as many resources for free as long as we could because I was afraid to invest back into my business. The problem is that free will only last for so long and they often are not the experts or they hold back some of their best knowledge for paid mentoring. The minute you invest back into your business with education from an expert . . the faster your business will grow.
Check Your Brand
It is easy to get complacent about your website or social media presence when things get busy but this allows for mismatched headshots across the board or even logos, colors, and fonts that don’t match. As you attempt to raise your prices this can be a thing that not only makes you look unprofessional but also holds you back in more ways than one.
While these are just 5 simples things that you can do to better market your photography business, we have some additional bonus tips at on our Youtube video above. Need additional help to restart or grow your business? Set up a discovery call with us here.
