How to Promote Yourself as a Commercial Photographer
Commercial photographers snap photos that help sell their clients products or services. When it comes to promoting their own businesses, however, many commercial photographers struggle.
In our current era of photography, a lot of commercial photographers simply set up a website / portfolio and start uploading photos to their dedicated photography Instagram account, hoping they’ll go viral or a potential client will stumble upon them. But, to really promote yourself as a commercial photographer and start landing clients, you need to first figure out who your ideal client is, and then develop a strategy for reaching them (spoiler alert - your potential clients may not be on Instagram).
A lot of the online resources for marketing yourself as a photographer point to social media and Instagram as one of the main places to share your work. But most of these marketing resources are actually focused on B2C (business to consumer) marketing for specific types of photography, such as portraits, weddings, family photos, etc., as a lot of consumers frequent social media platforms like Instagram. Commercial photography, however, is a little different.
Commercial photography requires B2B (business to business) marketing, as your photography services are aimed at helping other businesses sell their products and / or services. Now, there is, of course, a place in a good commercial photography marketing strategy for social media, as a lot of consumer-focused brands do use Instagram and TikTok. But, depending on your niche and industry, your target clients may not frequent those platforms.
The key with any well-planned marketing strategy is to first gain an understanding of your target client(s), their pain points, and the best ways to connect with them. Once you have that established, you can start to focus your promotion efforts on the actual marketing tactics that will put your commercial photography business on their radar.
Not sure where to get started? Here are some B2B marketing ideas for how you can promote yourself as a commercial photographer.
Networking & Referrals
When you first start out, one of the best ways to promote yourself as a commercial photographer is to tell your friends, family and existing network about your new business. Some of the closest people in your life may have businesses that could use your commercial photography services, or they may know someone that they could refer you to. Either way, send them your portfolio so they’ve got a full understanding of your photography services and skill, and so that they can pass it along if they come across any opportunities that may be a fit for you.
Beyond your close friends and family, attending applicable events can help you gain commercial photography leads. The key is to attend the events that your target customers are going to. First, determine who your target customer is, including their industry and job position, and then research local events that they would likely attend. When you do attend events, ensure you bring a business card that provides your contact information and a link to your portfolio. These days, you don’t need to spend money on printing business cards; you can start by using free digital business cards that you can easily send from your phone.
Client Outreach
When you determine who your target customer is, you can start to reach out to them directly. LinkedIn is a valuable tool for finding key decision makers in your photography niche, so you can start by trying to connect with potential customers there. You can also try reaching out to local businesses through their website contact forms, asking to speak with the applicable key decision maker.
When reaching out to companies and key decision makers, avoid simply hard selling your services. To effectively gain your potential client’s attention, start by complimenting their business or current marketing efforts, and then provide a bit of insight into how your commercial photography services can deliver value to their business. Finish your message by asking if you could set up a quick call to discuss further.
Try to keep your reach out email short. Your target customer may receive quite a few promotional emails a day, so keep yours short and to the point so that you don’t waste their time.
Blogging
Blogging is one of the best ways to promote yourself as a commercial photographer, as you can not only drive traffic to your website through search engines like Google, but also position yourself as an industry leader in your commercial photography niche. To achieve this, focus on writing articles that help solve your ideal clients’ problems. As a commercial photographer, that could include articles discussing the best types of photos for a product page or how to prep for a fashion photoshoot.
Think about it. As a business owner yourself, you’ve likely spent a lot of time searching for information about how to grow your business. That’s probably how you ended up on this blog article. So, when you start writing articles for your blog, put yourself in your target customer’s shoes. What would they be researching to help grow their business? What kind of commercial photography articles can you write that fit into that research? Once you’ve outlined a list of potential articles, start writing!
Case Studies
Case studies are an important part of any commercial photographer’s marketing plan, as they provide validation by proving that your commercial photography services deliver results.
The great thing about case studies is that, if you start a blog on your photography website, you can publish your case studies on it, creating a library of content that showcases your expertise and skills. To write a case study, follow a simple structure, outlining the challenge your client faced, the solution you provided, and the results you achieved. As you are a commercial photographer, try and combine writing and photography in your case studies to not only tell the stories behind your work, but also showcase how your photography can help tell your potential clients’ stories too.
Social Media
Social media can be part of any good commercial photography strategy, but a lot of photographers (and businesses in general) put a lot of weight on it, focusing more on vanity metrics than actually gaining real paying clients.
In today’s world of photography, a lot of us (me included) see other established photographers with massive followings on Instagram and assume that’s what they need to be a success in this industry. But the reality of it is that, to be a successful commercial photographer, you need paying clients, and large Instagram followings don’t necessarily equate to that.
As you may have noticed, most of the promotion strategies on this list focus on connecting with your target customers and helping solve their problems. Your approach to social media should be the same.
As a commercial photographer, it definitely makes sense to share your work on social media platforms like Instagram, as that can help guide potential clients to your website / portfolio. But also spend some time actually connecting and reaching out to potential clients, building connections and offering insights into how commercial photography could help build their business. In the same regard, create posts that provide value to your potential clients, helping solve their problems, while also showcasing your services as a potential solution.
If you treat social media as a marketing tool to connect with your potential customers and provide value to them, you may not reach a million followers, but you have a chance of actually making business connections and gaining paid work.
Conclusion
Commercial photographers help promote businesses. However, promoting themselves can be a challenge. As you start out on your commercial photography journey, determine who your ideal client is and what their pain points are so you can build a marketing strategy that resonates with them. Next, tap into your existing network to generate referrals. In addition, reach out to businesses in your niche that could use your photography services. In terms of content marketing, develop blog articles that not only drive organic traffic from search engines, but also help solve your potential clients’ problems. At the same time, develop case studies for your website or blog, showcasing how you have successfully used your commercial photography services to help solve your clients’ problems and make their businesses grow. Lastly, utilize social media, but not just to grow followers; use it to provide value to your target customers, positioning yourself as a leader in your niche.