Branding 101 for Photographers
A lot of photographers don’t realise that establishing a solid brand can multiply the success of their photography business considerably. Good branding connects with your ideal clients, giving them all the feels. It’s this that makes your brand memorable and often leads to word of mouth referrals. When done correctly branding lends a consistency to client touchpoints and interactions with your business, projecting professionalism which builds the trust needed to convert a lead into a paying client.
Branding Basics
Know your ideal client (So, do you come here often?)
Before defining your brand, it is important to outline exactly who it is you are trying to appeal to. While it may be tempting to try and appeal to everyone so as not to exclude any potential clients, this often leads to a generic and forgettable brand experience. Niche down wherever possible. Make a list of things you enjoy shooting or what you’re particularly good at shooting and what sort of style you shoot in. This is a great starting point for niching down and defining your ideal client.
A wedding photographer might choose to focus on weddings shot in urban spaces or Muslim weddings for example. The ideal clients here could be trendy urban couples who enjoy industrial and modern aesthetics or Muslim couples looking for a photographer who knows the significance of capturing certain traditional aspects of the wedding.
A family photographer might have a knack for capturing creative shots with family pets. Their ideal client could be modern young professionals who just started a family and love to make a fuss of their pets.
When you know who you’re trying to connect with, you can create experiences specifically designed to appeal to these clients. It also allows you to target your brand visibility campaigns so that you get the most out of your marketing efforts and budget.
Create a brand guide (you’re more than just a logo)
Once you know who you’re appealing to, you can create your guide. This is a document that outlines what your brand’s colours, fonts, logos and aesthetic preferences are. You can choose to include your values and fun information such as which celebrity best personifies your brand’s tone and style. All this is exceptionally useful when creating content and assets for your brand and makes it a lot easier to communicate your needs when working with copywriters, designers, etc.
Be yourself (nobody can do it better)
Let your personality shine, even if it’s weird. Photography brands tend to be personal brands because clients are more likely to make a choice based on whether they find the photographer both talented and likable. This is why it’s important to inject a little (or alot) of your personality into social media posts, your website and any other touchpoints on your client journey.
Top Tips for Stock Photographers
Optimize your contributor profile
The new PICHA website allows contributors to flaunt their personalities on their contributor profile. Use these tools given to you and update your profile picture, bio and anything else you can to make your profile more memorable to buyers. If a buyer falls for your style, they can “follow” you on PICHA and would be a lot more likely to become a regular supporter of your work for their campaigns and projects.
Share the link to your profile
Links to your PICHA contributor’s profile can easily be shared via your social media platforms, your website, on your business card and in your email signature without much effort at all. This increases the chances of sales and also creates backlinks to your profile on the PICHA website which makes your profile rank better with search engines such as Google.
Develop a signature style
Lastly, some stock photographers have had a lot of success when choosing to cultivate a specific style they become known for. This can be a photographic style achieved using a specific lightroom preset or choosing to shoot in a specific niche. For example, a photographer passionate about food could create a portfolio showcasing home-cooked meals and freshly baked treats or a photographer who loves surfing could shoot coastal/surfer lifestyle related images.
Got some branding questions about your photography business? Comment below and we’ll assist wherever we can!
If you’d like to learn a little more about the “5 Marketing Steps That Photographers Cannot Afford To Miss”, make sure you catch the video over on Facebook.