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Local Marketing Ideas For Wedding Photographers

You might be the best wedding photographer in the world but it doesn’t matter much if nobody knows you exist. Here’s our guide to local marketing ideas for wedding photographers.

A Little Marketing Philosophy

Marketing is about getting your business seen by potential customers. Having a website is great but people have to be able to find it. You also need to diversify your marketing in case something goes wrong, such as Facebook going down or Google changing its algorithms. On the other hand, you don’t want to spread yourself thin by trying to be everywhere. Know who your customer is, where they are, what they respond to, what kind of person they are, etc. Use this knowledge to pick 2 or 3 marketing methods that will effectively attract customers. 

Local Marketing Ideas for Growing Your Photography Business

Local marketing is how you make sure people can find you when they need a wedding photographer. Here are some ways you can increase the visibility of your wedding photography business.

  • Powerful Website with Portfolio – Your website is probably the first thing your prospects are going to go to for checking out your past work and to learn more about you. A powerful website is one that not only looks pretty but also follows good SEO practices. If you have been in business for some time you probably have a good deal of great wedding pictures. Make sure to put together a powerful photo gallery. If you are new to the business, post pictures that highlight your experience and skills in photography.
  • SEO - Search engine optimization (SEO) increases the quantity and quality of traffic to your website. Here are a few ways to do it:
    • Search terms - Determine what search terms people will use to find you. Research terms with tools such as Google Trends. Use the search terms you choose on your site by writing blog posts using terms you want to rank for in blog posts, in your tagline, on your homepage, in your image labeling, and in Google snippets. 
    • User experience - Provide the best user experience possible. If visitors can’t easily use your site or it’s not what they’re looking for, they’re going to leave and your rank will go down.  
    • Links - Create great, shareable content, such as blog posts so people will share it and link to it. Also, link relevant pages on your site to each other so that visitors can easily navigate it and Google will rank you higher.
    • Blogging - Consistently and regularly write about interesting and useful topics for your customers, such as weddings, top 10s, reviews, or ideas. If you don’t know what to write about, try using topic generators, such as Hubspot's Blog Ideas Generator.
    • Content Marketing - Write useful and informative pages or posts about what’s important to your customers. Lists, tutorials, or guides are all popular. Start with what people are searching for and write something that speaks to it.
    • Citations – Make sure your business’s name, address, and phone number are correctly listed on all major citation sites such as on Google My Business, Bing Maps, etc.
  • Social Media Ads - Ads are a great way to market your business. You can offer giveaways or run competitions. Target the right people to avoid wasting money advertising to people who don’t need or want your service. Ads don’t always work and different times of the year can be more competitive. For the best results, you need the right message in front of the right people at the right time.
  • Referrals From Other Photographers - Join social media referral groups and engage with wedding photographers similar to you. Make useful posts in the groups to build recognition. If you get a job from a referral send the referrer a thank you gift. 
  • Customer Referrals - Existing clients tend to have friends like them. The best way to get referrals from your customers is to do a great job, make sure they love you and your photos and let them know that you love getting referrals. Some ways to generate referrals from your clients include:
    • Next day sneak peeks on your blog that they can share
    • Become Facebook friends and ask them to follow you on Instagram
    • Facebook posts of images from the wedding with tags of the couple, the venue, and suppliers
    • Same day sneak peeks on Instagram
    • Slideshows embedded on your website as a page, not a blog post
    • Branded gifts before the wedding, such as date night items, gift cards, etc.
    • Welcome pack with useful items to plan their wedding such as a magazine, branded planner, and other Instagrammable freebies
    • Anniversary cards, gifts, and posts
  • Vendor Referrals - Venues and planners are usually the first things that gets booked, so they’re the best place to go for referrals. Build a relationship with these people. Offer the venue free use of your photos, or print an album or postcards with their branding and your photos (and your name). If you’re new to the venue, offer to do free headshots of their staff, and food/venue shots. You can create an album of photos from that venue for them to use during client meetings or leave in common areas.

Ellipsis Marketing can help with more ideas or marketing your wedding photography business for you!

Tags: local marketing ideas, wedding photographers

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Geoff Strauss
Jun/08/2021