The wedding photography industry is quite challenging and survival seems difficult at times. But this is what this profession makes more interesting and makes you do things that are out of your comfort zone. The photography business always tests your creativity level and helps you find out new skill sets hidden within you.
However in recent times even though the competition is intense there is a continuous demand from customers to hire the best wedding photographer for their big day. This builds a lot of hopes for many photographers to get landed with an exciting and challenging wedding photoshoot project. This gives them the much-needed opportunity to prove their skills and develop a brand themselves in this industry.
Starting out as a professional wedding photography business can seem like climbing a hilltop but right now the only foremost condition to survive in this competitive industry is getting well aware about how to market your services.
Let us know some effective marketing ideas that will help you to elevate your wedding photography business, find new clients, and retain existing customers.
As a professional wedding photographer, one of the most important things that you cannot neglect is having a good wedding portfolio website. In this digital age, it is the need of the hour for a creative professional to have their own website. Since today a lot of customers find wedding photographers online, you might not want to miss any chance to show up at the right time.
In fact, your Website is the gateway for your prospective customers to get introduced to you and your works of art. A website portfolio can be a superb idea to showcase your previous work experience as a wedding photographer by sharing your best-clicked pictures on the site.
You can even display testimonials and feedbacks from some of your highly satisfied customers that will generate trust amongst your online visitors. And lastly, your website will also contain your contact details making it easy for your site visitors to contact you for any inquiries.
Next time when you take up a wedding photography project, make sure to interact with other wedding vendors as well. The trick is some or the other way this informal communication will help you to enable your photography business to next level. It is said that the wedding photography industry is often dominated on the 'Word of Mouth' basis.
So it is very evident that you build connections with DJ/Band, food vendors or venue management, etc, who knows that for your good gesture and your quality work they might refer you to someone for their wedding photoshoot contract.
In fact don't just limit yourself to only non-photography vendors, try to build relationships with opposite party photographers as well. In this way it will be a great learning experience for each other, you can collaborate or team up for a shoot on an occasion or even exchange client referrals when the dates are booked.
Social media marketing is one of the most important pillars in your wedding photography business marketing plan. Your social media platforms are a visual representation of the experience that your services can offer to your future clients.
It is said that the more you are visible the more you get business. Today almost the maximum population has access to mobile phones and the internet so it is unlikely to say that social media has become a part and parcel of our daily life. For this, you need to understand where your target audience is present the most and then create accounts on those social media platforms.
Every social platform serves a different purpose. For example Pinterest and Instagram can work as an online portfolio as well as a medium to generate leads and engage users. Whereas Facebook and Twitter can be a great source to join photography-related groups and forums and here you can start conversations and build your connections there.
Even though writing may not be every photographer's cup of tea but this actually helps in a big way. Having blogs on your website makes your wedding photography portfolio richer and increases your chances of being discovered by couples looking for wedding photographers on search engines.
Blogs also give you the opportunity to showcase your expertise in the industry through sharing some photography tips & tricks, the best photography equipment to use, your wedding shoot experiences, etc. Blogging is a fantastic affordable and scalable promotional strategy that any wedding photographer must opt for. The most ideal suggestion would be that you can publish one or two blogs per week. The more consistent you are, the better the results will be.
In the wedding photography business ‘Client Happiness’ is the greatest profit that any wedding photographer would earn. Being a wedding photographer it becomes your duty to make every couple feel special on their big day. Weddings are one of the most sacred and memorable events that happen in the entire life of every couple.
Apart from wedding photoshoots and album delivery, you can find out more ideas to let your clients have a delightful experience with your services. For this, you can gift your clients with personalized calendars, cups, pillows, t-shirts, a photo collages, or else simply a congratulations card. These kinds of small sweet gestures will be like a cherry on the cake with your clients getting overjoyed and eventually would not leave a chance to refer your name to others for their wedding photography contract.
Don’t be afraid to take up challenges, the wedding photography industry is very creative giving you a lot of space to explore new areas and prove your skills. A versatile photographer is what today most of the couples prefer and choose to hire.
Don’t just limit yourself to shooting weddings only but also allow yourself to take up pre-wedding shoots as well. Invest yourself with a good auto album designing software and design albums as well. In this way, you can save much of the extra cost that you would incur in hiring an album designer and other related costs.
Hope these marketing tips would help you to sail through your wedding photography business journey. With the deliberate time and efforts given to market your business, will help you to become a well-known wedding photographer and customers would love to hire you for their next wedding photoshoot.