Join me on my journey. I’m learning a lot and so will you!
As I take my first few steps into the education space, I am applying my extensive marketing background to reach a new audience! It’s got me thinking back to the days when I was first starting out as a photographer and how I found and nurtured my audience, grew my Instagram following and attracted my ideal community! In this journey, I’ll be sharing the strategies that I’m using NOW to get traction in this new industry and a few examples of how it translates into your business! I’m not just showing what’s working — ohhhh no — I’m sharing the trials and errors, the testing and re-testing, the good and the bad!
If you never want to miss a leg of the adventure, sign up to join me on My New Audience Journey. I’ll be sharing content strategies, how to reach my new audience on my blog, Instagram and Pinterest, hashtags and a whole lot more!
No time to read now? Pin for later!
Step One: Give before you receive
Let’s be real — everyone is looking out for themselves. People aren’t coming to your website to show support or give you a virtual high-five. They want something. (Ok, maybe that’s not everyone but most!) If you’re not providing a benefit to your audience, they’re not going to stick around! So the first leg of my journey was the PREPARATION of super beneficial and super valuable content to give to my audience. Before I started inviting photographers to my little corner of the internet, I wanted to have a handful of super valuable, binge-worthy blog posts for them to dive into!
The Super Valuable, Binge-Worthy Content Library
PREPARATION As an educator, I teach photographers the ways I have seen success in my business so my first step was to create a small library of binge-worthy blog posts that photographers wanted to BINGE READ once I attracted them! Because the last thing I wanted was to get someone to my site and they just find one blog post and leave. I wanted them to enjoy one and read another! Or if they didn’t find value in the first, have another one for them to dig into! I highly encourage you to deliver your content via a blog and start creating a handful of blog posts (Like 3 or 4 is all!) that provide value so that when your audience does find you, they read all of your posts and just WAIT for you to serve them again with more!
Example Content for The Preparation Phase
WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY Your ideal community is most like engaged women planning their wedding. I understand that wedding photography is pretty timely and non-recurring (because photographers are usually one of the first vendors to be hired and she most likely hires you once if you only shoot weddings) BUT in this day and age, brides start thinking about their wedding plans long before they’ve even get the ring! So when you’re thinking about blog content, I have some great ideas that will provide value to your target audience over at this blog post! > Why Client Education is Important and How to Get Started <
KICK IT UP A NOTCH: Think outside of the box! Try creating content that will benefit her BEFORE she’s engaged. Think about things she’s interested in during that PRE-engaged season of her life. For example, she’s most likely in a serious relationship (just waiting on that ring!) so what about sharing your favorite local date night spots? Or long weekend getaway destinations? Then be sure mix in some wedding-related topics like “What to Look For in Your Wedding Photographer” or “5 Things to do as Soon as You Get Engaged” to make sure you’re attracting ladies who have marriage on their mind!
FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHY Content creation to benefit your target audience is definitely easier because your target audience, most likely parents of young kids, is not as timely. Someone could follow for months and then finally take you up on your offer! So focus on creating content that is valuable and beneficial for them and “gets them to cross the invisible bridge” from where they are now (not booking family photos) to where you want them to be (booking family photos with you!) For example:
- The importance of annual family photos
- What to look for in a great family photographer
- Your favorite local spots for family sessions
- Tips for getting your kids to behave during your session
Are you picking up what I’m throwing down here? PREPARATION is our first step! Let’s create a small (but mighty) library of valuable, educational and beneficial posts so when your audience finds you, you serve them well and knock it out the part with binge-worthy content!
COMING UP
Over the next couple of months, I’m going to be digging into my SEO, hashtag and Pinterest strategies (or testing and re-testing!), social media best practices, establishing trust with personal marketing, how to get paying clients when you [appear to] have no experience at all and so much more!
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3 Ways to Enhance Your Client Experience
Let’s connect!
Leave a comment. I read and reply to every single one! Or even better, follow me on Instagram! I LOVE to connect with fellow photographers on a more personal level on social. I reply to every DM and comment so let’s connect and chat!
Courtney, of Rose Courts Photography, is an Indiana Wedding Photographer and Educator. Her specialty is fun, colorful & playfully romantic wedding photography for classic and timeless couples and branding photography for boss business owners looking to enhance their overall brand with compelling imagery that tells their story. Within Indiana, she serves Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Carmel, Noblesville, Zionsville, Lafayette, Bloomington and South Bend. Areas in surrounding states that she serves: Columbus, Dayton, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, Ohio; Ann Arbor, Battle Creek and Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is available for destination weddings, engagements, and branding sessions. Contact her for more detailed pricing.
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