Photography Marketing Ideas

Are you a photographer who feels overwhelmed by the daunting task of acquiring potential clients, marketing yourself by building an email list, creating reply templates for your client experience, and understanding search engine optimization (SEO), all while continuing to grow your photography business? 🫤 You are not alone! Here at Flytographer, we have a dedicated HQ team supporting our community of 600+ photographers with our marketing efforts so they can focus on what they do best: be behind the lens! 📸

The world of marketing strategies is dynamic and ever-changing, filled to the brim with new ideas to test and audiences to reach! 💡 If you’re a professional photographer wanting to build your photography business, we’ve distilled the most important things to focus on to help you get new clients today.

 

TLDR

  1. Join Flytographer
  2. Know Your Ideal Client
  3. Build Your Photoshoot Packages
  4. Launch Your Photography Website
  5. Invest Time in Content Marketing
  6. Frequently Asked Questions

 

Photo: Olga in Paris for Flytographer. Emily and partner capture memories in Paris with a vacation photoshoot along the Must-See Paris route.

1. Join Flytographer

Flytographer connects travellers with local professional photographers worldwide for fun, hassle-free photoshoots. 📸 We currently have over 600 photographers in our community who are based in 350+ cities around the globe – here are 5 reasons why Flytographer photographers are amazing!

Flytographer allows you to tap into the tourism market 🌍 and easily access a client base travelling to your city, looking to capture high-quality photos with a trusted local photographer. If you are actively looking for new clients and don’t want to do additional administrative or marketing work, we’d love to hear from you! Submit an application today, and our team will be delighted to review your portfolio. 👩‍💻

Our past clients return frequently thanks to our fantastic worldwide team of professional photographers; here at Flytographer, we’ve built efficient and trusted feedback, rating, and referral systems to help photographers grow, learn, and continue building an ongoing photography business. 🌟 Working closely with incredible photographers and an excited client base is one of the things that brings us the very most joy – it’s a win-win for everyone!

Photo: Natalie in Honolulu taken in Santorini. Flytographer Kimon photographs Lyndsay and partner in Santorini. 

2. Know Your Ideal Client

Knowing your target audience is the first step in building clientele. If your ideal clients are those looking for light and easy, fun candid portrait photography while simultaneously showcasing the beauty of your home city, consider applying to join our team! 👍

Flytographer’s target market is travellers, and we have adopted a global photography marketing strategy so we don’t compete with your small business but rather attract the potentially untapped audience of tourists to your business. Finding potential clients just outside your typical target market can be more work than you want to tackle, particularly for event and wedding photographers, so let us help! 🙌 We’ll take care of the marketing tools, making your job much easier and sending you more business without all the photography marketing materials.

Photo: Steven in Amsterdam for Flytographer. Will and partner capture memories in Amsterdam with a proposal photoshoot at The Jordaan.

3. Build Your Photoshoot Packages

Adding extra bookings to your repertoire is a great way to stay busy during slow seasons, shake up your routine, meet new clients, show off your city, and more! ❣️

Our pricing for photo sessions is in USD, and we have built four primary packages for vacation photoshoots based on time ⌚️ (short 30-minute mini-sessions up to two-hour shoots). Our photography services also include headshots and proposal photoshoots!

Photo: Scheherazade in Dubai for Flytographer. Sonia and family capture memories in Dubai with a family photoshoot in the Dubai Desert.

4. Launch Your Photography Website

If you’re a newer photography business owner and/or looking to launch your photography website, we recommend two high-quality platforms to host your photography portfolio: Showit and Squarespace – both have great tutorials, too!

Once your site is up, you’ll want to attract visitors! 💻 Getting potential clients to your site is key — be sure to get set up on Google My Business to ensure your website is linked to your business listing and includes relevant terms and keywords in your niche and location for ranking and SEO purposes.

Our team’s professional photographers have their own Flytographer profiles (here’s Olga in Paris!), where they can upload their very best work, get bookings from travellers, and target clients across the globe. 🤩 Profile pages don’t only include photography work; they also include fun facts, scheduling info, and real customer testimonials. These photography portfolio pages are awesome; they encourage potential clients to get to know you and your talents!

Photo: Kimon in Santorini taken in Lisbon. Flytographer Michelle poses in Lisbon during a Flytographer meet-up.

5. Invest Time in Content Marketing

Investing time in photography marketing is huge these days – but we understand it can be daunting, too. We’re here to help if you need guidance. Recommended social media channels for photographers to create content and an online presence include:

  • Instagram (The ultimate extension of your portfolio website)
  • TikTok (TikTok will likely become the new Google regarding SEO and algorithms.)
  • Pinterest (We love this visual search engine!)

Video content on social media platforms is not going away anytime soon – remember that creating high-quality Reels and videos that speak to your target audience will really help grow your business.

Looking for more social media photography marketing tools?

  • Optimize your content and online presence using relevant hashtags related to your niche and location.
  • To grow your TikTok or Instagram feed, try collaborating with other local or small businesses in your niche on giveaways or incentives.
  • Follow up with your past clients to get client testimonials and share them on your page.

Although social media marketing, social media platforms, algorithms, apps, and more can feel intimidating, take things one at a time! Find something you enjoy and go from there – baby steps that feel authentic are the perfect way to get going. 😎

Our community of photographers is an incredible resource. Not only do we handle the typical marketing legwork, but you will also be invited to share behind-the-scenes content with us so we can help drive traffic to your Flytographer profile with our official Instagram. 💃

Photo: Kait in Tofino for Flytographer. Lucy and partner capture memories in Tofino with a couples photoshoot at Cox Bay.

6. Frequently Asked Questions

How do photographers advertise?

Gone are the days of business cards leading the way. Websites and social media are king (and queen!) for photography marketing, so ensure you have an online presence where potential clients can see your photography and contact you. 📲

How do photographers attract potential customers?

The most beneficial ways to attract potential customers include social media engagement, word of mouth, referral programs, and being published in the media. Some of those are easy to do on your own, and others are even easier with the help of our Flytographer team! 👏

What is a photography niche?

A photography niche is your specialty – it makes you as a brand and photography business stand out and attract a paying client base. Flytographer has a consistently fun, energetic, bright, candid vibe that connects photographers and ideal clients worldwide. 🥰

Why aren’t I getting clients?

The main reasons you may not get potential clients include SEO, reach, and pricing. Maybe you don’t have enough testimonials on your website or Google – ask your clients to write one for you! Your pricing might be too high or too low for your target audience, so look at your area, competitors, and what you can do to stand out as a new photographer. 🙋‍♀️

Photo: Trieu in Hoi An for Flytographer. Danica and family capture memories in Hoi An with a family photoshoot in Old Town.

Looking to get clients the easy way?

Flytographer clients are current clients, and we love connecting our community of photographers and happy customers! Apply to be a Flytographer, and get ready to join a community of friends and colleagues from around the world. We can’t wait to continue building community together! 👋