Are you looking to elevate your photography business? The photography industry is far from saturated, and there are effective marketing strategies for photographers to help you thrive. Here, I’ll share four strategies that have personally helped me grow my business into a multiple six-figure success.
The photography and creative industry is NOT saturated.
Let’s look at 4 different marketing strategies for photographers that have worked for me personally to grow my photography business to multiple six figures in PROFIT.
Whether you have a photography, coaching, or other 1-to-1 service based business, you can use any or all of these easy marketing strategies!
These marketing strategies are not just about getting your name out there and building a following. Rather we are focusing on building real communities that will help you connect with clients in a meaningful way this year.
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Understanding Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing Strategies for Photographers
Before we dive into the specific strategies, we first need to understand the difference between the two types of marketing: inbound versus outbound.
Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing is all about creating valuable content and experiences tailored to your audience. It’s about drawing clients in through relevant, engaging content – think blogs, social media, and SEO.
Outbound Marketing
On the other hand, outbound marketing is more traditional; it involves reaching out to potential clients directly, through methods like cold calling, direct mail, and traditional advertising. While outbound can be effective, today we’re focusing on inbound strategies that help you build communities, not just audiences.
Marketing Strategy 1: Local Networking
The quickest way to find your next client is through networking. This is a great outbound marketing strategy for photographers. And by local networking, I mean talking to people face-to-face! Or, as close to face-to-face as you can get. With everything being so digital focused and go-go-go, it can be easy to forget how powerful it is to meet people in person. When you meet somebody face to face, you are able to build a connection so much faster than somebody just scrolling and seeing your Instagram post every once in a while.
When I am locally networking, I am always looking for a group of people that meets on a monthly basis. When a group meets monthly, you really get to build those relationships over time and get to know people. Even if you are business to consumer, you can still find meetings like this.
How I used local networking to market my photography business after moving across the country
When I moved my photography business from California to Boston, where I knew absolutely nobody. I posted in a very large Facebook group of 40, 000 local business owners, and I invited people who engaged with the post to schedule a virtual or in person coffee chat with me. I spoke to at least 20 or 25 different entrepreneurs, which led to me sending out $14, 000 worth of proposals and $5, 000 of those have booked. Plus that number is always changing because these connections, they pay off! Now, some of them are my friends, which is really exciting being in a new city.
We want to avoid just putting out a sales pitch when we are networking locally. The goal is to build lasting relationships. In my Facebook group post I didn’t sell anything. I just said I was a brand photographer and videographer with a studio who had just moved here. This tells people everything they need to know about me, and the only ask was, “Hey, I would love to get coffee and I would love to meet you.” Even though I didn’t make a hard pitch, I was still able to send out those proposals after creating a connection. If you want more tips and the template of message that I use to post to Facebook groups like this, I have a free local networking guide.
Marketing Strategy 2: Harnessing Social Media
It’s 2025 and yes, Instagram is still a key player, but as I’m sure you already know, the game has changed. It is not just about posting every single day, trying to get likes and views. The way to use Instagram successfully in 2025 is to use it to build a community.
What some people won’t tell you is that every social media platform at its core is the same. Sure, there are nuances in the way the algorithms work, best posting times, the type and format of content that you post, but at its core, the goal of social media is to build a genuine community. Here are 3 social media marketing tips that your can apply to your business:
1. Act like you are speaking to one person
We, as human beings, are not meant to have one to many relationships. We are much better one to one. Often times we treat social media like we are speaking to this big group as if we are up on a stage. However, if you think about the way people are consuming social media, it is still one to one. It is one person watching your video, watching your reel, or looking at your Instagram story; therefore, we should still treat it as a one to one relationship.
I always write content as if I’m speaking to one person. The more consistently you do that, the more comfortable you will become with it. This is a key factor to being successful on social media and using social media as an inbound marketing strategy.
2. Create Content That Your Ideal Client Wants to Read
Another key factor to being successful on social media is to create a content strategy around something you and your ideal client would want to read. You can share behind the scenes, client testimonials, and case studies. Of course, you can also showcase your beautiful work, but don’t forget to engage. Prioritize genuine interactions—reply to comments, start conversations, and connect on a personal level. You can even send back a video message or a voice memo. This establishes a closer connection with that person by talking to them instead of just type, type, type, type, type. All social media platforms are a two way street and genuine interactions with people is what’s going to set you apart.
3. Focus on building a community not a following
You do not need a big following to be successful on social media. I do not have a huge following on social media, but what I do have is a very tight knit community.
I feel like I know the people that show up on my feed, and that is what is important when using social media to market your business.
Marketing Strategy 3: Building an Email List
Email marketing, the underrated hero of marketing. With social media, you have to rely on that platform’s algorithm to display your content to who you want it to display to, with email marketing, you have a direct line into somebody’s inbox, which is amazing.
How to grow an email list
The easiest way to grow your email list is by providing a lead magnet or a freebie. A lead magnet is something we have all downloaded before. It is the 15% off coupon that pops up when you open up your favorite store’s website or the guide that gets sent to your inbox – just like my networking guide that is linked earlier in this post. You want your lead magnet to be relevant to your potential clients, ideally something they are already searching for.
Once you have a lead magnet, you share it on social media every once in a while. Your lead magnet is a free tool that helps your potential clients., so they will be thankful that you are sharing it with them! From there, people will find your landing page, put in their email, and on the back end your email marketing platform will then send an automated email to deliver the promised resource.
Once you send that automated email with the lead magnet, I recommend having a welcome sequence in place, which is a series of between three and six emails that goes every day or maybe every other day after somebody downloads your lead magnet. We get so many emails every day, so the welcome sequence helps to remind them of who you are. This is where you can tell a little bit more about your story, make that one to one connection, and teach them something that they want to know.
Marketing Strategy 4: Blogging, SEO, and Pinterest
Now, let’s talk about blogging, search engine optimization (SEO), and Pinterest. I like to group these together because they go hand in hand.
Blogging as a Photographer
You can think of your blog as an extended portfolio. It is an opportunity for you showcase your expertise. As a brand photographer, I write blogs designed to help my clients prepare for their brand photoshoot and blogs featuring client case studies and testimonials. I like to have a blog post for every industry I work with. I also sprinkle in some personal stories as well to showcase my journey and related topics I really love!
Example Brand Photography Blog Topics:
- What do you wear?
- What props do you bring?
- How do we pick locations?
- How do we pick props?
- Realtor brand photos
- Coaching brand photos
- Artist brand photos
- How I became a brand photographer
- Goal setting
Whatever blogs you’re writing, it should be related to the main service that you offer, so potential clients can binge your blog content to get a better understanding of your offer.
We can’t just stop there at posting these blogs… We have to think about how these blogs get seen! That is where search engine optimization and Pinterest come in.
SEO as a Photographer
When it comes to search engine optimization or SEO, you want to do your keyword research. This ensures the blog you are writing is something that people are searching for. You will also want to add optimized images to your blogs. And don’t forget about writing descriptions that include your target key phrases. Think about the terms people are searching for when they’re looking for somebody that provides your service, and include those in your blog.
Pinterest Marketing as a Photographer
Pinterest is a visual search engine, so it is very similar. Since I am a photographer, I include a lot of images in my blogs. All of those images get pinned to Pinterest with the help of my amazing Pinterest manager who helps me with this. I also create pin graphics of that blog post with different titles to test what title works best. For example, I may try “brand photography for realtors” versus “brand photo shoot for real estate agents” to see which gets me better results. This gives me a better idea of what people are searching for.
This type of testing goes back to my five pillars of profit, specifically the message pillar. We always want to create content using the words that our potential clients use and search for. This helps our content first get in front of these potential clients and then also resonate deeply with them.
Combining the Best Marketing Strategies for Photographers
All of these strategies are great on their own, but the real power and success in marketing comes when you combine them all.
Your Instagram posts can lead to your blog.
Your blog can lead to your email.
You’ll bring in people from Pinterest over to Instagram.
It all cross pollinates.
Your marketing is a cohesive ecosystem where each part supports one another.
If you enjoyed this blog post, you might also like:
- Become a brand photographer: my story to full time in 3 years
- 5 key elements to build a profitable photography business
- 4 mindset shifts for success in business (and how to do it)
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