3 tips for finding clients as a novice wedding photographer
If you dream of being a wedding photographer, shooting beautiful ceremonies and emotional moments all weekend long, and creating lasting memories for the bride and groom, the engaged couple must hear about you! Whether it’s through your website, by wedding professionals, via controlled customer opinions, social networks or specialized platforms: your photographs need to circulate!
Create a highly professional website
Of course, the names of wedding photographers are obtained by word of mouth, but very many services start with a search engine query.
The first thing future brides and grooms need to find is your website. A very professional and beautiful site: you’d expect a photographer’s site to be aesthetically pleasing, well-kept and beautifully finished. Although it’s now possible for almost anyone to create their own website, if you don’t have any particular skills in the field, it may be better to entrust the design to a professional. Navigation must be fluid despite the weight of the photos, and optimization for mobile devices must be perfect. We need to get the impression that nothing has been left to chance, that you’re attentive to detail. This is your first point of contact, so you need to be convincing and demonstrate your professionalism.
The idea is for your site to allow engaged couples to discover your world, and for them to be instantly seduced. To achieve this, the site must include a portfolio section with a large number of realizations. Highlight the photos you like best, the work that most resembles you and that makes you proud. We need to understand from the images what you’ve mastered, what your style is, what your stamp is.
It’s also the right place to talk about yourself: you need to tell your own story, combining your professional experience with a few personal details – in short, personal branding. Express what drives you, what your approach is, how you work, and anything else you think will give the bride and groom a glimpse of your personality. You’re going to witness an unforgettable day for them, their intimacy, their emotions, so the engaged couple needs to feel confident with you, to have an initial idea of whether or not it’s going to work out. Human qualities are just as important as the aesthetics of your photographs: the bride and groom should feel at ease sharing the happiest day of their lives with you.
Finally, on the practical side, information must be clear about what is included in the service: hourly volume, number of photos, album…
Be visible to your core target
When you’re a wedding photographer and you want to find new clients, it’s essential to forge links with other wedding professionals, such as wedding planners, reception estate owners, event specialists, DJs, florists, caterers… In short, it’s a great idea to make yourself known to people who work in the wedding industry, because they’ll be able to talk about you, pass on your contact details and warmly recommend you.
To take things a step further, we can even offer a few shoots, free of charge, to various service providers. Whether it’s a wedding dress or suit store, a reception venue, a decorator, a florist or anything else, everyone benefits from a photo shoot and the beautiful, professional images that result. This enhances the value of the service provider’s work, and for you, it’s an effective way of making your photos known to a wider audience. This is even more the case, of course, if the photos are published on social networks and you are identified.
This brings us back to another point: that of the indispensable presence of a wedding photographer on Web 2.0, and in particular on social networks. With regular, attractive publications, you can boost your visibility quickly. In terms of target audience, Instagram is a social network of choice, particularly as around 60% of its users are between 18 and 35 years of age, an age bracket well represented among wedding candidates. It’s also, of course, a network that’s all about images.
Last but not least, it’s obviously a good idea to be listed on specialized wedding websites such as mariage.net, zankyou.fr, or lesitedumariage.com. These sites have a directory section listing hundreds of different service providers in each region. These sites enjoy a considerable audience and are visited by many engaged couples planning their wedding and choosing their suppliers.
Capitalize on customer reviews
Your past customers are the most eloquent advertisement you could wish for. They’re talking about your availability, your attentiveness, the way you made them feel at ease in front of the camera, your discretion at other times – in short, everything that relates to your savoir-être, which, as we’ve seen, is essential at a wedding.
Of course, they also talk about the final result and the shots they received, and what’s interesting is that their words are often full of emotion. By capturing their world, you’ve created wonderful memories for them, for which they’re grateful and happy to share their experience with future brides and grooms. So don’t hesitate to ask them to submit their testimonials. On Google or mariages.net, it’s important to post customer reviews, and this will help to guide the engaged couple’s choice towards one wedding photographer or another. Unfortunately, some of our reviews are false and misleading.
When you really want to emphasize customer satisfaction, publishing controlled opinions is a great asset. This tells future brides and grooms that all customer reviews are real, and that they are the fruit of a successful experience between the photographer and the bride and groom. Couples are meticulous in their search, they don’t want to choose the wrong wedding photographer and it’s easy to understand why, so better authenticated reviews save them time and inspire greater confidence.