One of the biggest questions I get asked all the time is: How do you market yourself strategically and effectively as a photographer to book MORE brides? We all want to have a booked out calendar filled with our dream brides but how do we actually do that? This blog post is going to help you with just that!
In a previous post, we covered 5 tips to help you feel confident about marketing your business and services – and do so effectively. Today’s video goes one step further in the marketing space to utilize those tips to book more brides.
How to Book More Brides
1. Leverage Referrals
Referrals are a HUGE deal. The reason you want referrals to be a big part of how people find you (especially brides) is that you’re not going to have to do as much selling, convincing, or building of that trust. You already have the foundation of someone else’s trust that’s already been built referred back to you. When someone vouches for you, you’re already one step above others in the industry because you have that word of mouth referral. Referrals are invaluable and should definitely be a part of your overall strategy.
To get more quality referrals, it is essential to have your overall client experience mapped out. It’s no longer good enough to just have quality photos or a quick turn around time, you have to be exceptional and go above and beyond to get quality referrals. To start, map out your client experience and the journey that you take your clients and wedding couples through. What are all of the touch points? Looking over this will reveal your process and what service you’re truly offering your clients. This will also show you any gaps that you can adjust and fill in moving forward. As you outline this and think about the specific elements in your journey, ask yourself: what do my clients get by specifically working with me that they may not get elsewhere? This will ensure that you are weaving value into everything you do!
2. Vendor Relationships
This will come down to generosity! In order to have other vendors that talk on your behalf about you and your services, sharing your work, and in turn sending brides your way – you are going to want to make sure to highlight them and give first. One zero cost way to do this is to find a group of vendors that you really like to work with and highlight them on your blog and social media. As wedding vendors, we’re all trying to get our name out there and increase engagement on socials, so by sharing a vendor’s post and highlighting them with your audience, they’re going to remember you and appreciate your support.
Another way to give back to your fellow vendors is to offer to take headshots or photos of them doing what it is that they do (whether a product or service). When they share those photos, they will most likely tag you and start to think of you more when they come across brides that fit your brand. Having a generous heart will go a long way when building relationships with vendors.
3. Social Media
Leveraging social media is a no brainer. It is free and effective and brides are absolutely hanging out online and looking for inspiration. They’re also specifically seeking vendors in their area so why not have your images come up while they’re looking. One thing to avoid is trying to be everywhere at all times. This will result in burn out and is not feasible or effective, especially as a solopreneur.
It is best to pick one or two key platforms and focus on those. I suggest you start with Instagram because that’s where most of these brides are hanging out. Hashtags are a great way to get in front of brides and Instagram is a very visual platform so it works well for photographers.
There you have it – a few of my best tips for booking more brides! I’d love to hear what you favorite takeaway was from this post and what you have found to work in your own business!
If you’re wanting to dive deeper into booking more brides consistently and marketing your business with confidence, my signature program, Hook and Book Brides would be a GREAT fit! You can learn more HERE!
If you decide to use any of the links above and buy through them, I’ll receive a small commission back. All of those affiliate income commissions really add up over time and help generate revenue to help support this channel
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