A successful photography business is so much more than capturing the best images – you often need to be just as creative in marketing yourself as a photographer as you are behind the lens. Good photography marketing means your photos, and your business, are getting seen by people that want to hire you – and you’re able to transform those views and leads into real gigs and photoshoots.
This guide will walk you through the basics of how to market a photography business. There is no shortcut, but there are tried and tested techniques that you can use to set yourself apart from the competition. From establishing your photography brand to getting your work in front of potential clients, we’ll show you how to get started.
Establish Your Photography Brand and Business
Before you start marketing your photography business, you need to consider how to position it as a brand. You’ll want to think about the full context of both your photography and the kinds of clients you’d like to land. Many photographers work under personal name brands and develop their portfolios to fit their niches, while others may choose to operate under separately branded studios or businesses.
You don’t have to make a ten year plan right away, but your brand should be able to naturally grow and scale with your business. In addition to helping define the kinds of photography you plan to pursue, your brand’s name, style, and voice will also play a key role in forming the foundation of your marketing strategy.
Check out our library of photography business articles to learn more.
Set Yourself Apart
Pick a Photography Business Name
A name can set the tone for your brand and can be vital in attracting clients. Learn more about photography business names. Still getting things started? Learn how to start your photography business.
Find Your Style
Similar to your photography, your brand should have a consistent style no matter where you show up. Think about how to unify your website, blog, and social media platforms. Part of this is always done with your photos, but don’t downplay the role of logos, bio information, and good design. If you still need a home for your photography, Pro Membership has you covered with everything you need.
Set The Tone
Develop a consistent brand voice that speaks to what makes you unique. Communicate clearly and use all of your platforms to tell a singular story of your photography and the kinds of services you offer.
Develop a niche
Find Areas for Specialization
Think about the genres, styles, and clients that your photography can uniquely speak to and leverage. Your brand could have a single, refined specialization, or a few to help broaden your business. Regardless, each should have a well-developed portfolio that clearly showcases your skills. If you don’t feel like you have a standalone style yet, work within your existing portfolio and interests to guide your next steps – and shoot, shoot, shoot.
Some common photography specializations include: wedding photography, portrait photography, real estate and architecture photography, event photography, commercial and product photography, editorial and documentary photography, travel photography, and more.
Define Your Audience
Your specialization not only helps define your style, but also your audience. With this, you can use targeted marketing strategies that speak directly to the types of clients you want to book and further position your business as a go-to solution for their needs.
Make Your Online Photography Portfolio
Your portfolio can be your most important piece of marketing material as a photographer. It’s often the first thing potential clients want to see, so having a discoverable, easy-to-navigate photography portfolio can make all the difference in making a positive impression.
The process of building a portfolio never really stops, no matter how experienced you are. You should be constantly evaluating your work, latest photoshoots, and photography website for potential improvements and updates.
Here are some of the most important things to focus on as you build your photography portfolio.
Build and showcase your photography portfolio
Your portfolio is often the best way to communicate your skills as a product photographer. If you’re new to product photography, focus on building your portfolio first. If you’re experienced, never stop refreshing and refining your portfolio – editing out old work, adding new, and ensuring potential clients can easily navigate your portfolio.
Your VSCO Profile is perfect for showcasing your photography and shaping your portfolio. With a Pro Membership, you can also use your profile to build a portfolio website in seconds and keep it up to date with all of your recent work.
Essential Elements of an Online Portfolio
- Your Best Images: Showcase your best photography and what sets your work apart, emphasizing the type of photography you want to be hired for.
- Photo Albums: Organize and curate your photos by genre, project, or style to help your site visitors find what they’re looking for.
- More About You: Connect with clients by sharing a little about yourself and what drives your passion for photography. Cover your experience and don’t be afraid to drop any humble brags about what you’ve accomplished or who you’ve worked with.
- Contact Info: Make it easy for potential clients to reach you by listing an email or sharing a contact form, and link out to your social platforms so they can follow you.
- Client Stories and Testimonials: Photography blogs can be the perfect way to dive deeper into client stories and give glimpses into your process. Going behind-the-scenes for clients can help give confidence in your ability to not only produce stunning photos, but also manage photoshoots from start to finish.
Make a Photography Website with VSCO Sites
How you showcase your portfolio can make all the difference. With VSCO Sites you can launch your photography website in as little as a few seconds. Easily curate albums of your work, publish a blog, and expand your reach with a professional portfolio site that works seamlessly with your existing VSCO Profile.
Start building your website on desktop at vsco.co. Sign in, go to your profile, then tap Build Site.
Social Media Marketing for Photographers
Social media can be a powerful tool for building your brand, business, and network. Think about the platforms that your target audience and clients may also use and start dialing up your efforts there first before making more social media accounts than you can keep up with. Consistency can play a huge role in building your social media into something that’s profitable for your photography business.
Social media can also be a great place to connect. In a world where emails get lost in overflowing inboxes, a well thought out direct message may have a better chance of getting seen and sparking an authentic connection. ‘Cold calls’ or - messages - can be intimidating and don’t always lead to success, but you never know without reaching out first.
Incorporate SEO Principles
Search Engine Optimization – or SEO for photographers can help ensure that your photography is getting discovered by people who are looking for it. One of the best ways to do this is to keep your internet presence up to date and use clear descriptors, or keywords, that describe things like the kind of photography you do and where you’re currently based. Here are some proven practices that can help boost your exposure through SEO.
SEO Best Practices
Create Business Profiles
Many search engines and customer review platforms allow photography businesses to create or claim their own business profiles. Make sure your business name, where you’re based, phone number, website, and availability are all updated regularly. As you gain experience, you can encourage clients to leave positive reviews – you can even offer special incentives for doing so.
Optimize for Keywords
Whenever you publish or update your online presence, it's important to consider keywords. Think about the words and phrases that a potential client might use to find you, or a photographer like you, when they search online. There are many specific kinds of keywords and ways to use them to get discovered in searches. Ultimately, keywords shouldn’t feel too forced – use them to practically align your goals with the hidden nuances of online search engines.
Stay Active
Keeping your website updated and sharing new posts on a blog can help let search engines know you’re still active and help drive traffic to your site. Consistency is a common theme in almost all aspects of marketing, and SEO is no exception.
Build Your Professional Network
Scaling your professional network is a great way to scale your business as a photographer. You can discover opportunities to learn from more experienced professionals, insights on where the industry is heading, and leads for your next photoshoot.
Get Listed on VSCO Hub
Pro Members can choose to get listed on VSCO Hub, where brands and businesses search for the best photographers on VSCO to hire for their next shoot.
Update your availability on your profile to indicate that you’re open to “Professional Work.” The more you post to VSCO, the more likely you are to appear in relevant searches — so keep creating!
Learn more about how VSCO Hub works and how you can increase your visibility in searches.
Partner with Businesses
Think about your photography and the different kinds of businesses or services that it may share an interest with. If you’re a portrait photographer, a make-up artist could be a great relationship to have. If you're a wedding or event photographer, consider partnering with planners, venue managers, and even caterers.
Referrals from other established businesses are one of the best ways to market your photography. Think about ways to reward or incentivize referrals in your network with things like discounts or special offers.
Connect with Photographers
Other photographers can form the foundation of a thriving professional network. You can learn from mentors, get referrals when they're overbooked, and collaborate on larger projects that may need extra hands.
Follow inspiring photographers on VSCO and show your support by favoriting and reposting their work, or spark a discussion on a post to see what you can learn. Join the global network of photographers on VSCO.
Advertise Strategically
Organically growing and marketing your photography business is an excellent approach, but sometimes you need a little extra reach to get your business started or push yourself toward that next goal. Paid advertising can help get your name and photos in front of more people, but it often requires thoughtful targeting, placement, and a few iterations to refine.
Consider advertising options on search or social media platforms that your potential clients may use, or go local with print ads or mailer promotions.
Engage Your Audience
In addition to just posting photos and updating your portfolio regularly, you may also want to use more strategic content that can help connect clients with your photography. Think about the kinds of questions potential clients may have and start a blog with articles that help answer them. This approach lends you credibility, while also drawing visitors to your site where they’re one click away from your portfolio or contacting you for a shoot.
Blogging on VSCO
Use Blogs to create and share posts that combine text, photos, and videos. You can also use VSCO Sites to curate which ones show up on your site.
Go behind-the-scenes, show your creative process, and use your expertise to connect authentically with your audience.
Email Marketing
Consider building an email marketing list – you can build this yourself by researching potential leads and tracking down email addresses, or give your audience a way to sign up themselves. Either way, be conscious of how and when you use promotional emails – they should feel valuable and impactful, and not too frequent.
Send quarterly updates to prior and potential clients, start a newsletter, and share recent work.
There are legal requirements regarding email marketing and consent, so make sure to be mindful of these requirements whenever you're sending a marketing email.
Adapt and Grow
Consistency and adaptability are key to long-term success in photography, and the same goes for marketing your photography business. Build your business and marketing process in phases, and always measure your results.
Marketing often comes at the expense of other work that needs to be done, so you want to make sure every minute, and dollar, is worth it. Small changes and improvements over time will slowly but surely build momentum that can generate real results for your bottom line.
Marketing Yourself as a Photographer
Your photography business is so much more than your images — it's a brand of your very own. By refining skills and portfolio, fostering relationships within your community, and maximizing your marketing impact, you can position yourself as a go-to photographer in your field.
Marketing ultimately comes down to amplifying what makes you and your vision unique, so always maintain the same authenticity and creativity that you use in your photography.
