4 Ways to Simplify Your Photography Marketing in 2023

If you're a photographer mainly running and marketing your photography business by yourself then you'll be familiar with overwhelm.

It's not just you - and no one is saying it's easy.

But it's possible you're making your marketing much harder for yourself than it needs to be.

One of the best things you can do for yourself and your business is to simplify your marketing in order to multiply your profits.

So, on that note, let me give you 4 ways you can do that.

1. Choose one social media platform

When you try to achieve success on several social media platforms by yourself, all you end up with is several very sad social media accounts.

It's hard to underestimate the power of one thriving social media account.

If you're getting highly qualified DMs and lots of website traffic via Instagram, why would you need Facebook?

If you're connecting meaningfully with lots of perfect clients on LinkedIn, why would you need Instagram?

The thing is, that's unlikely to happen until you go 'all in' somewhere.

Once you decide to zone in on one social media platform you can learn everything about it.

You'll have the headspace to test different things, analyse what works and what doesn't, increase your visibility and build an engaged audience of people who want to hear from you and buy from you.

That doesn't mean you can't maintain a presence on other social media platforms.

For example, my social media platform of choice is Instagram, however, I still grab some of those IG posts and stick them on Facebook. I have an up-to-date presence there in case anyone looks for me. I just don't bother with it much beyond that.

So, give yourself permission to choose one social media platform. 

Choose one your ideal client is hanging out on (although I'd say you'll find enough of your ideal clients on whichever one you choose) but, crucially, choose one that suits you.

Either shut the others down or decide to maintain a presence with repurposed posts and nothing more.

It doesn't mean you can't expand into them again in the future if you start growing a team or find yourself with some marketing energy to spare!

2. Have one marketing focus at a time

Stop diluting your marketing efforts.

When you have something you want to push - give it everything. Direct all of your marketing time and effort to that particular thing so that you can smash it.

If you have a wedding fair coming up, devote everything you have to it. A successful wedding fair can fill your diary but only if you learn how to ace it. If you half-ass your planning and don't effectively nurture the leads you get from it, it's a waste of time and money.

So forget everything else and focus.

If the bluebell woods are going to bloom soon - zone in on planning and implementing a superb marketing campaign to sell out your bluebell family shoots.

Give that your all.

When you focus on marketing one thing at a time, this magical thing happens.

You build momentum.

You're able to nurture the right people in your audience all the way from mildly interested to 'I must book this photographer right now!'

Momentum doesn't happen when you're trying to market two or three different things at once.

It doesn't mean you don't market different things! Of course you do! You just focus on one at a time.

The other magic thing that happens is the increased visibility that comes with momentum. You end up getting enquiries for other things even though you're not at all focused on marketing them at the moment!

For example, you might be focused on your upcoming bluebell shoots but, because you've built momentum and increased your visibility, that person who's been considering a personal branding shoot with you ends up getting in touch.

So, having one marketing focus at a time doesn't mean you're not going to sell your other services. In fact, it means the exact opposite!

3. Repurpose key marketing content

Instead of thinking about all the different marketing content you feel you should be creating and pushing out there to the world, just think about one key piece of content and how you can use it in as many different ways as possible.

So, for example, if you've just put the finishing touches to the FAQ page on your website, use it to create an amazing email nurture sequence to send out to leads.

Take each question and turn it into a few different social media posts. Take big questions from there and tackle them separately and in depth in blog posts.

Same goes for any video you might create.

Don't just post it to social and forget about it! Embed it into a web page or blog post, split it up into shorter segments for your stories, grab a quote from it and turn it into a graphic, create a gif or share a blooper from it, send it out to your email list and, of course, revive it a few months later.

Get as much mileage as possible out of one key piece of content and don't forget that it doesn't even have to be a NEW piece of content. What do you have in the archives that you can revive, refresh and repurpose?

4. Market everything you do to different sides of the same person (and keep it all together)

So you offer family photography, personal branding and boudoir. Great!

I love variety and if the Covid pandemic has taught us anything it's that diversity can be a life-saver.

But please, if you work alone, don't complicate things by thinking you need to have a different ideal client and a different brand for each of these services!

Simplify by choosing an ideal client who could very realistically book you to photograph them in ALL of these different ways over the years and bring them all together in a beautiful, tasty and aligned photography cocktail.

Yes, you'll hear lots of experts telling you that you must look like a specialist.

If you want to be a great personal branding photographer you must have a dedicated personal branding website. For heaven's sake, don't confuse them by showing your family photography too!

But do you know what they don't tell you?

They don't tell you how the hell you're meant to manage two websites and two social media profiles successfully without one losing out to the other (or you losing your mind).

It's all well and good in theory but the reality is what you're living.

If you're running and marketing your business alone, get strategic and think about how you can tailor all of your services to different sides of the same person. Let them see all the amazing photography you offer and cross-sell your heart out.

Why wouldn't a potential bride or personal branding client also like to see how beautifully you photograph families?

When it comes to photography, connection in marketing is everything.

The vast majority of your online audience don't get in touch the first time they become aware of you so a perfectly curated feed or highly specialist website isn't as important as you think.

What is important is how much they come to know, like and trust you after that first touch point.

Don't get me wrong. I think specialising IS important but instead of thinking you have to specialise in a particular type of photography. Think more about how you can specialise in a particular type of client.

But what if you offer two or more services that really can't be mixed?

There are some services that just have to be marketed to totally different markets and need separate websites and social media profiles. I'm not going to pretend that you can successfully mix your AirBnB photography with boudoir, for example.

But what I will say is this...

If you're trying to run two or more photography brands at once and failing, something has to give. You're only one person. How can you simplify for now? 

Can you turn your attention to just one of them and shelf the other for a while?

You can always go back to it but isn't it better to experience great success with one than to tread water with both?

So, to summarise, you can simplify marketing your photography business (and save your sanity) in these four ways:

1. Choose one social media platform

2. Have one marketing focus at a time

3. Repurpose key marketing content

4. Market everything you do to different sides of the same person (and keep it all together)

I hope this helps!

Don't forget to download my Ultimate Photography Business Plan. It includes templates and lots of examples to get you that clarity of strategy so that you can finally focus and grow your dream photography business without overwhelm.