Finding clients is an ongoing challenge for photographers, and finding the right clients is even more complicated. But it’s not impossible if you are know-how.

Every professional photographer dreams of having a stable, lucrative business and a consistent stream of clients who respect their artistic vision and appreciate their zest for their work. Moreover, these photographers also dream of finding clients who are easy to work with, respect their professional boundaries, and who are willing to pay their stipulated rates for a high-quality finished product.

Everyone wants the ability to choose only the projects that interest them while still earning a good income. However, attracting the right clients to your photography business is as much an art as it is a science. There are a few things you should know, especially if you’re still battling to work with your preferred audience.

Read on as we break down how to grow your client base and attract clients who truly value your work and respect your rates.

5 Tips for Attracting the Right Photography Clients

You’ve got to put in the effort if you want to connect with the clients you want to work with! These five tips are a great starting point.

1. Determine Your Ideal Client Persona

Having a clear, concise picture of your ideal client will make it infinitely easier to attract that caliber of the client to your business. The deeper you understand exactly who you would most like to work with, the simpler it is to market your professional services to that very specific target audience.

If you don’t yet have an ideal client persona in mind, here’s how you can start to develop one.

Put yourself in your client’s shoes and consider their needs, wants, likes, dislikes, lifestyles, and more.

Now, ask yourself these questions:

Where does my ideal client spend the bulk of their time? Where do they shop, and what do they spend money on most frequently?
Does my ideal client have any specific interests or hobbies?
Which websites and social media platforms do my ideal clients spend the most time using?

Your answers to these three questions will create a solid foundation upon which to build your client persona. Add additional questions as you think of them. The better you can understand your ‘perfect’ client and how they live, the more targeted and effective your marketing efforts will be.

Once you have developed a clear, ideal client persona, it’s recommended that you base all of your marketing efforts on this persona. This will ensure that you attract very specific clients for whom your services as a photographer will meet their core needs. This is important. One kind of client will be vastly different from other types, even when you are considering clients within the context of a similar type of photography—like wedding photography, for example.

Once you have a concise client persona developed, you can craft a marketing plan that conveys to your ideal clients that you understand their needs and can comfortably meet them. This makes them far more likely to contact you as opposed to your competitors.

2. Know Your Clients’ Thought Processes

Do you know how your clients make their decisions about which photographers to hire and which to pass over? If not, you could unwittingly be driving away clients that may have really enjoyed working with you.

When you understand how your clients select photographers, you can tailor your marketing messages according to their thought processes. This ensures that you give them all the information they need to make an informed decision about booking you.

Knowing your clients well will help you attract the kinds of people you really want to work with and deter stressful, demanding clients that may not value your work or your vision.

3. Create a Captivating, Compelling Website

A professional photography website is a must-have marketing platform in the age of digital technology. This is your virtual ‘storefront’ where clients can brew up first impressions of you, view your best work, and decide whether or not to book you for a session.

This is why it’s absolutely crucial to structure your website intentionally and strategically to convert as many visitors as possible into leads.

If you only use your website for blogging about past client sessions, show off your work, and give potential clients your contact details, you could be missing out on dozens of inquiries that could turn into paid bookings. Ensure your website truly engages your ideal clients and compels them to contact you directly.

4. Get Your Business Noticed

The decision to hire a photographer they have never worked with before is intimidating to most clients. It can be overwhelming for them to decide who to hire and how to make that decision to begin with.

It’s important to note that people tend to trust the recommendations of their friends, colleagues, and loved ones first and foremost, so they will often look for referrals when seeking a photographic expert. Clients are far more likely to book you if they know that one of their friends or loved ones has had positive experiences with your business in the past.

Herein lies the importance of doing everything in your power to create an exceptional experience for the clients that choose to work with you. From booking to shooting to invoicing, the entire process should be smooth, seamless, and as enjoyable as possible.

If they enjoy every interaction from start to finish, they will usually be eager to recommend you to anyone they know who is on the hunt for a skilled photographer. Having a consistent presence on social media will also enable you to gain valuable reviews for your services, which serve as proof of your skills to potential clients who have looked you up online.

5. Spread the Word

You can take the best, most aesthetically astounding photos in the world. But if nobody gets to see them, you’ll still have a hard time attracting clients.

Word of mouth advertising is one of the most effective ways to attract new clients as a photographer. But it is limited, especially if your existing customer base is small. If this is the case, it might be time to spread the word about your talents and services so that you can convince new clients to book you too.

You can spread the word about your services and attract the right clients to your business by:

Network as far as possible. Building healthy working relationships with other photographers, businesses in your industry, and vendors will ensure that they will happily recommend your business when potential clients ask them for their recommendations.
Optimizing your website’s search result rankings. Virtually everyone uses the internet to find new businesses, products, and services nowadays. This is no different for people who search for photographers in their area or professionals who adhere to certain styles. Understanding how search engines display results can work in your favor by allowing you to tweak your site to show up at the top of the front page for searches.
Simple adjustments like improving your website’s loading speed, optimizing your site for mobile devices, and producing high-quality, relevant content can go a long way in boosting your rankings.
Having an on-site, SEO-keyword-optimized blog and using outbound links can help your cause, too, as can using multimedia like images and videos on your landing pages. Last but certainly not least, encourage your existing clients and followers to share your website on social media to improve your rankings and organic web traffic.
Using social media. Social media is a powerful tool for businesses, and each platform (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, Linked In, and others) has its own purposes and unique user base. Assess the differences. Figure out which platforms will work best for your business, as well as which platforms your ideal client base is using most frequently.
You can then use these platforms’ built-in business tools to reach as many potential clients as possible with your marketing messages.
Consider paid advertising. Paid adverts can be helpful to your business, but they can also be a waste of money if you don’t know how to use them effectively. With that said, they can attract plenty of clients for a relatively low investment, as long as you understand how to craft ads that appeal directly to your target audience.
Make The Most Of Your Marketing. Attracting the right clients to your business doesn’t happen overnight, but it’s achievable with the right approach. Use the five tips outlined above to attract the clients you really want and grow your business in a strategic and sustainable way.
Remember that these methods will only work if you have a clear, airtight marketing plan in place for your photography business. It can be difficult to focus on marketing when so many other aspects of your business need your attention.
But the right marketing strategies are essential to your success. Creating a clear marketing plan will guide your marketing efforts and structure your goals, making it significantly easier to achieve them. Gear your marketing plan towards the clients you really want to serve, and you’ll soon have a thriving business.