Essential Marketing Tips for Newborn Photographers
A positive on-line presence is hugely valuable to any Professional Newborn Photographer. With social media usage constantly increasing, its paramount these channels alongside your own website market yourself in the best possible way.
How to use Social Media to increase Bookings and establish your Brand
Social media is great because it’s a free marketing tool, when consistently used you can easily appeal to your target market. The platforms allow you to showcase you USP’s and display some personality which is hugely important in such a personable industry.
What Platforms should I be using?
As with any social media platform consistency is key, don’t spread your time thinly over every platform you can sign up to, but focus on just a few and dedicate your time to make them work for you. Deactivate any accounts which you can’t regularly update as they could act negatively on your brand image due to the lack of updates.
Ensure your profile picture across the platforms match to accentuate your brand. We recommend using your branded logo or a professional headshot, don’t forget to maximise use of the cover shot too.
Instagram and Pinterest are great choices for Newborn Photographers due to their main visual appeal. If you have more time to spend on platforms Facebook and Twitter could also be useful.
Instagram is not all about the amount of followers you have but the quality of your followers and your post engagements. You should have an abundance of beautiful content from your edited photographs but you could also add in pictures of yourself at work or new prop set ups.
By tagging parents of edited photographs you will increase engagement which will potentially increase the amount of potential clients that come across you. Do ensure you have permission to share these photos first.
Hashtags should be used on your uploaded posts to help you reach more users. Use relevant hastags and don’t overuse the same ones for every image. Instagram stories are very popular, think about taking quick videos of new prop set ups, your studio, editing images or even during a photoshoot.
Don’t be afraid to make your Instagram more personal by adding stories of your lifestyle away from the camera. Booking a Newborn Photographer is a hugely personal experience, couples are putting their trust in you with their precious newborn and understanding a bit about the face behind the brand prior to a photoshoot adds reassurance they have chosen well.
Pinterest is a great source of inspiration for mums-to-be making it a great place to share your newborn photos. Download the Pinterest browser extension and pin images directly from your website this way users can be directed back to your site to gain more information. Create a variety of different boards and add hashtags to each image enabling them to be seen by a wider audience.
Be Consistent & Engage
As with any digital marketing consistency is key. Upload on your social media platforms a couple of times a day during prime times such as early morning, lunchtime or evenings to be seen by a wider audience. Scheduling is a great idea, by allowing an hour or so a week you could schedule all of your platforms posts instead of manually uploading each day. This is easily achievable on Facebook and there are scheduling tools available such as Onlypult for Instagram and Tailwind for Pinterest.
Engage with any comments people make on your posts, valuable questions could come from your social media platforms. A fast response can lead to bookings.
Campaigns
To increase your brand awareness think about offers and giveaways. Refer a friend could work well especially as most mums-to-be form close networks with other mums-to-be in their local area. A free mini-shoot giveaway would be a great idea to advertise on Instagram.
Database
Ensure you keep a client database, this could be as simple as uploading names and email addresses into Mailchimp (make sure you adhere to GDPR regulations). Follow up emails are essential for repeat custom. Think about the options you have to offer for example bump photography, newborns, cake smashes, seasonal mini-shoots and contact your clients when necessary.
Offering a discount is a great way to help with repeat business, these clients are also more likely to help promote and recommend you to their friends too.
Keep your Website looking Fresh
Usually any digital marketing you do will lead back to your website. Meaning your website needs to perform well. Make sure your site is dedicated to showcasing your finest photos.
Navigation needs to be simple and easy, ensure customers can quickly get in touch and find simple things such as price guides and social media links. Update your homepage regularly by changing images or directing to relevant areas such as Christmas mini-shoots from September.
Photography Directories
Websites which offer photography directories are another possibility to get noticed by potential clients. To receive the best ROI ensure the site matches your style and reflects your brand positively. It is important to get your name heard on a variety of platforms and although the outcome hoped for would be positive enquiries, brand recognition and re-iteration are key. Your perfect newborn offers a photography directory specifically for newborn, baby & family photography dedicated to your target market.
Review
Monitoring data from your digital marketing is vital. Most platforms will include tools that record which posts perform well. It is important to understand this to help with future marketing.
It is a good idea to review what is working, where your bookings are coming from and areas you can improve. A review each year allows you to set some goals and focus on specific areas, perhaps you need to improve your social media presence, or your website needs updating.
Digital marketing takes time, your precious time but the rewards will pay off. There are many different areas to review and work on, don’t over look this and try to create some time each week to keep on top of it. Scheduling social media posts and updating your website can be done in a few hours, so make sure you allow some time to do this.
Increased bookings and excellent brand presence can be achieved by keeping focused and consistent.