How to Create a Marketing Plan as a Wedding Photographer
Okay... so you've got your beautifully designed website up and running, with beautifully lit photos of gorgeous couples. You've joined the most popular social media channels for photographers (Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest) and are creating beautiful images daily for your followers to drool over. Your friends think you're the next big thing in wedding photography , but when it comes to actually booking weddings, you're just not getting any bookings.
Marketing Plans for Wedding Photographers
How can that be?! You've got the best website in town, and your work looks so professional! Well my friend...if you want to grow your client base in this competitive industry, then I'm afraid you will need a good ol’ marketing plan!
Developing a Marketing Plan for Your Wedding Photography Business
Now that you're aware of the fact that you need a marketing plan, let's get into it. What is a marketing plan? Marketing plans are basically how businesses approach generating leads and converting them to sales. They look at things like; where will our customers be hanging out online (i.e which social media channels), what do they like, what are they saying about us (be sure to use Google alerts for this), and how will we reach them (be sure your website is mobile-friendly). Once you've got all of these figured out, then it's time to start advertising, marketing and making sales. See where I'm going with this?
What should a marketing plan include?
There are several components that make up a good marketing plan. To start, your content needs to be consistent (whether it's across all platforms or just one), well-thought out and engaging. Your website design should also match what you're doing online (be sure to use search engine optimization to get more clients). Target the right audience by using the right keywords and hashtags, and create a calendar for your content so that you're not posting aimlessly.
When it comes to converting leads into sales, a good marketing plan also includes a strategy for your follow-up. Create a system that ensures all leads are followed up with within 1-2 days max. You can even automate this using an email marketing software. A good marketing plan also includes your business's vision, goals and budget.
How to find your target market
This is probably the most important component of your plan. Who are you trying to reach? Where are they hanging out online? Once you have an idea, start playing around with different posts to determine which works best for you and where. You can also create a short questionnaire on Survey Monkey or Google Forms to ask potential clients questions about themselves, what they're looking for in a photographer and more. This will give you an idea of what direction your marketing should take.
How to create an outline for the marketing plan
Okay...so now that you know what goes into a marketing plan, it's time to create one. I understand this might all seem kind of overwhelming, but fear not! It's actually pretty simple and straight forward.
Let's get started: The first step is determining where your clients hang out (specifically) online. The best way to do this is to look at your dream client's social media accounts and see what they have in common. Who are they following? What is their vibe? Now, I know what you're thinking..."But I want ALL of my clients to love me!" Okay...so maybe that's a bit much, but if you do want to expand your business then it could be good for you in the long run to narrow down your target clients.
What are some ways you can market your services as a wedding photographer?
Once you know who you're going for, it's important to figure out how to reach them. Let's start with social media...which platform do they spend the most time on? Is it Instagram or Facebook? Maybe it's Pinterest or Twitter? You can also use a tool like Iconosquare to get more in-depth analytics.
Once you know where to find your target market, it's time to create a strategy and develop content that is going to interest them specifically. The next step in developing the perfect marketing plan is creating a calendar for your social media posts. How often do you post (on average)? What days of the week? What times of day? What kind of content should you share?
Don't be afraid to do a little research here! See what other photographers in your area are up to and how often they're posting. Maybe you even want to test out different times of the day to see which performs best for your audience. But...don't forget about creating unique content! It's also a good idea to support other photographers in your area, even if you know it's not going to lead to sales. This can be a great way to build relationships within the industry and help out others who are doing amazing work!
Why does it matter if I have a marketing plan as a wedding photographer?!
The biggest reason why it matters is that it will help you stay on track. If you have a plan, then you won't get overwhelmed by the whole process and just give up. You'll also be able to see measurable results of your efforts which could drastically improve your business! And we all want that, right?
Now that you know what goes into a marketing plan as a wedding photographer, it's time to start creating one! It doesn't have to be perfect and polished at first but it never hurts to do some research and figure out where your clients are hanging out online so that your posts actually reach them.