Branding is one of the most important things you can do to help generate income for your business. Yet many photographers put little effort into their brand identity or tell the wrong brand story.
If you want to create a strong
What is Personal Branding for Photographers?
Now that you know you need personal branding for your photography business, you may be wondering what
Branding is the process of creating a unique identity for your photography business that sets you apart from others and attracts your target audience. A strong brand helps to establish trust, build credibility, and increase recognition in the industry.
Think about the last time you looked at someone’s website or Instagram, and you felt a connection to their work. There was a consistent style that you felt drawn to. You loved the colors and editing in their photos, and everything flowed and looked like it belonged together. This is photography branding. It’s about creating a consistent brand identity by aligning design elements like colors, fonts, and visuals with your overall branding. It’s not as hard as you think to create either.
Your content marketing strategy will fall together in just a few photos by following these tips and techniques. Once you develop your own brand, it’s essential to slowly grow these looks and messages across all of your
How to Build a Photography Brand
As a business owner, you have to wear many hats. Along with creating professional images, you also have to attract ideal clients and create a unique visual identity.
There are millions of photographers in the world, but by following these easy steps, you will find what makes your business unique.
1. Look Online for Inspiration
When it comes to your photography business, you are not alone. The internet is full of inspiration, ideas, and social media platforms that you identify with. A great place to start is to look up other photographers in your niche that you love.
See what you love about their style and what you don’t like or could make your own. The biggest compliment someone can get is inspiring another such as yourself, so don’t be shy.
Obviously, don’t copy people word for word or image for image, instead imprint your own personality to make the work your own. Next, head over to Pinterest for even more ideas and niches that will be an essential part of your business.
2. Identify Your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
Unique selling points are essentially defining what is unique about you and your personal brand. What are you doing differently that will attract the most people to your photography business?
Are you great with children? Do you make your clients laugh? Are you super prepared and think of things any bride may usually forget? These are just a few examples of unique selling points.
If you are still unsure about what makes you and your business so special, then reach out to friends and family and ask for help and advice. Ask them what made you special as their photographer? What did you do differently?
Clients are usually happy to give feedback, and you can work on these points in everything from your email signature to your website.
3. Create a Mood Board
It’s important to create a physical mood board to get your branding going. Mood boards are a great way to inspire your creativity and business marketing. Look in magazines, newspapers, and the internet for things you like, such as fonts, colors, and photography examples.
Print them and cut them out to add to a board. Next, hang these visual assets in your business office to know where you want your branding to go to attract potential customers. This process is similar to planning a branding session, where setting clear goals for the shoot ensures that the visuals align with your desired brand perception and message.
It doesn’t have to be text-only content but more so pictures and images. Don’t be afraid to get creative and dream of creating your own style in the
4. Work with a Professional Designer
If you don’t feel confident enough to work in logo design, branding, or website design, then think about hiring a professional designer to help you. Incorporating professional brand photography can also be crucial in connecting with your audience and creating a strong, memorable impression. Once you define your branding and marketing, you can convey these ideas to a designer to bring them to life.
Start by checking out Upwork, Fiverr, and 99 Designs to get started and have fun choosing the right designer for you.
Since we are already wearing many hats as
5. Use Local Connections and Social Media Platforms
Using your social media, you can connect with local businesses to spread the word about your brand. Oftentimes photographers will exchange business ideas and sales. For example, if you need a new website, you could offer a local web designer a free photo session in exchange.
Think about some of the things your own business needs and then reach out to local connections and offer to exchange photography services for something such as a logo design. There is a whole world of local businesses that can help you with your advertising in exchange for pictures and images.
6. Evaluate Your Competition
Take a look at the brand of your local competition. What types of images are they sharing on their website? What does their logo tell the person looking at their website? What do you love or hate about their style? Consider how brand photographers invest in their own branding through professional imagery to showcase their expertise and build client trust.
It’s important to look at your competition’s brand to see things from your client’s point of view. Sometimes when we are in our world, it’s hard to see things from the point of view of others.
By taking a look at things from the point of view of your audience, you can better describe your brand and start creating something new.
7. Choose a Theme for Your Brand Colors and Fonts
If you want your brand to stand out from others and attract your dream clients, you need to look at your brand colors and fonts.
Once you decide on which colors and fonts you love best, and your potential client will love them too, make sure to work them everywhere. You should use the same colors and fonts across your logo, advertising, and social media.
A client should be able to look at your images and say, hey, I know that is “so and so” because of the style. Once you reach this point in your advertising, you will know your brand is where it should be as a photographer. You want to create a clear online image that a client can process and identify easily.
8. Design with Your Target Audience in Mind
Just because you love your brand doesn’t mean your dream clients will. Start with your client in mind when it comes to branding. You should write out a list describing your client. Where do they work? Where do they shop?
What
You do a lot more than take photographs with your camera; you help people find a solution. Keep that in mind in your branding. Strive to tell that story on every shoot and give that impression in your advertising.
9. Accept that not Everyone will Like Your Style
No matter how creative and talented we are as photographers, we have to accept that our brand is not for everyone. When we try to be everyone’s photographer, our message becomes less clear and concise.
You should not strive to be the person everyone wants as their photographer. Instead, focus on your dream client that you defined above.
All your online photos should speak to that client and convey a message that focuses on what they need from their photographer.
10. Be Consistent in Your Photography Brand Identity
Your message should be clear and give clients what they expect. Whether you are on a shoot or adding another image to your logo, make sure the message is concise.
Also, every post on social media should tell the same story as well as work in your unique selling points. Consistent social media posts are crucial for enhancing brand visibility and engagement online. If you do this, you will give clients a reason to spend their money on you instead of another photographer.
11. Create a Photography Portfolio that Stands Out
Creating a portfolio is a very important part of your photography business, and sometimes it’s really hard to choose the best images to show in your photography portfolio. When I started my own photography business, it was hard for me to figure out which images to show, and it was hard for me to critique my own work, it was only through years of working as a wedding photographer, that I realized what attracted my customers, what were they looking for, and what type of images they really appreciated. So I am going to break down how to choose images for your portfolio, the design, and what would attract more clients.
- Carefully select your images
You need to be picky about what you showcase. I recommend not showing all your photos, as I struggled with this a lot at the beginning of my business. You should get rid of some of the photos that are not the best. You can even ask your family and friends which images they love the most.
- Order of your images
When you are showing off your work, consider what story you want to tell, so take the time to consider what idea or story you are trying to convey with your photos, and based on the story you are trying to tell, think about what order makes the most sense. For example, I photograph a lot of marriage proposals, and I make sure to first show how the man proposes, then the pictures of the women reacting to the proposal, and then photos of how he jumps up, and then when they kiss each other. Also, it’s important to help your clients find the beauty in the images and imagine it’s them in the images.
- Keep it simple and impactful
Ask other photographers and friends which images are their favorite. If you can’t explain why the image is great, then don’t share it. Think about your target audience’s interests and consider what they want to see. Moreover, think about the pain points of your target audience.
Common Mistakes to Avoid in Branding as a Photographer
Here are a few common mistakes that most photographers will make when it comes to
Stale Content
Is your content repetitive? Are you creating unique ideas or repeating the same old story over and over? As I mentioned above, we want to share a consistent message in our brand, but you also need to find ways to tell that message in different ways that are fresh and new to clients.
Content Quality
Less is more when it comes to sharing images for your branding. You should choose quality over quantity when it comes to sharing images on your site.
High-quality, customized images can enhance engagement across various platforms, including social media and websites. They can also showcase behind-the-scenes processes to build trust with audiences.
Choose only the very best and those that align with your branding and target audience. Check your website and other media to see if some of the images are old and no longer fit with your new strategy.
Not Being Consistent
Once you decide on your branding, be consistent. Make sure it appears everywhere, including your logo, email signature, and ad materials. Every post should be made with the same consistent look, so customers know who they are looking at before you tell them.
Want More?
Branding for photographers is a critical component of building a successful photography business, and I hope this article helped you to take a better approach to your
The course is full of insider information from an industry pro with over 15 years of experience and who has moved her business abroad. She covers everything you need to know about branding and much more!
