3 ways to speak to your ideal photography clients now even if you don’t know who they are
Image by: @towfiqu999999
We all hear the term “ideal client” constantly being tossed around in marketing education. We all know we need to speak to a targeted set of people that we would enjoy working with and that will value what we do for them, but trying to understand how to define them and speak to them through our business and brand is another story. I’m currently working on a course that will hopefully make it easy for you to take the steps towards defining your right-fit audience (will be featured on the product page when ready), but in the meantime, you can read this blog post on how to start identifying your audience.
It does take time and effort to get a handle on who is ideal for you, and to define and roll out communication strategies aimed towards this audience. Your ability to improve on this comes as your business and brand matures, so it can be a bit of a long game. But good news! You can start today, with baby steps on the path.
3 ways to start speaking to your ideal photography clients TODAY
Mirror their language
An inquiry lands in your inbox and it’s not just “what’s the price” but they sound somewhat interested and gave you a few details of what they’re looking for. Look at the language they use, and use it or a close variation of it in your response. For example, if someone says ‘looking for a pregnancy shoot” then in your response, use the term pregnancy instead of maternity. A big element of brand development is to ensure our clients feel understood and at home with your energy, and that means aligning with the kind of language they use. When they like you and feel comfortable that you are fitting their needs, they are more likely to book you.
No inquiries to speak of right at this moment? Go back to email exchanges between you and previously booked clients, even if you’re not sure they are a perfect fit. Avoid any that were clearly a poor fit. We’re using the ‘good enough’ approach here. Read the exchange and pay close attention to the words that these clients used, and note any commonalities across more than one client email. For example, if several clients said they felt relaxed with you, write that down. Especially if a few clients said it, and you feel it rings true, it’s hint that this an important element for both parties. Then, when a new client inquires, ensure the addition of a few of these words, phrases or expressions.
Building a portfolio? Watch the language used by your model-call participants.
If you start getting traction with the way you are mirroring language and that traction is resulting in positive client experiences, then you know you’re on the right track with speaking with your ideal!
Bonus: this also can give you clues as to what keywords or phrases clients may be searching for - which can help you tailor your SEO efforts. No client inquiry at the moment? Go through your site and include some of the keywords you’ve noticed and it might help those inquiries to come!
Uncover benefits & values
In the same spirit as above, review any client testimonials (or emails/messages where someone responded with great comments; even FB or IG follower comments) and use those to distil a value or a benefit or a problem you solved. Then find ways to repurpose that as content for blog posts, in your email marketing, and in your social channels.
For example, if someone comments in a testimonial that you were good with their difficult child, this is a valuable item to build on. It means you had some skill in managing that child. What value or benefit might this represent? Patience, gentleness, trustworthiness? The ability to assure your clients you can handle their little one? You can reflect on which (or all) you feel represents you well, and you can start using this information to plug into your marketing.
Building on the inquiry above, someone reaches out about a pregnancy shoot. They say it’s their second child and the first is 2 years old and a handful. You might use the term ‘pregnancy’ back in your response (mirroring), and then you might add that you are known for being patient with young or rambunctious children so they don’t have to worry about their older child being difficult (benefits & values). If they book you, then you immediately gain insight as to what your ideal client may value and that it aligns with what you can provide.
Do an internal exercise: Words matter
This one will be especially helpful to anyone who hasn’t had any paying or model clients yet, but can be done at any stage of your business (and should also be done on the regular to check in that your brand is still on-point, or if you change your target clientele). Create a list of words that you would NEVER want associated with your business. Then, what’s the opposite? Use those words in your communication channels and in corresponding with any inquiries. For example, one of my no-no words is “rigid.” Nothing about me, my shooting style or my business approach is rigid. What’s the opposite? Flexibility. I use that often in my communications and responses.
My real-life example of these 3 items in action
I had a potential client reach out through my contact form. I have a question regarding why they liked my style. She wrote: “Most of the family photos I see from other photographers seem starched, pressed and awkwardly coordinated.” For those of you unfamiliar with this phrase, it was used some years ago where men had their work shirts ironed, and using starch made their collars rigid so that they wouldn’t wrinkle over the course of the day. The comment was quirky and light hearted and hinted at non-traditional, so she sounded very much like my ideal.
Part of my response to her: “Your description of other photographers made me laugh: starched and pressed! I'll agree that my style is pretty much the opposite of that. My aim is to spend time with you in a relaxed and casual way…Sessions can be a flexible blend of home and outdoors based on your preferences.”
While not all 3 must be used at all times, this particular situation allowed me to use all three strategies!
I mirrored by repeating her own words of ‘starched and pressed’ back to her, and matched her light-hearted tone
I provided a value of spending time in a relaxed and casual way - no awkward coordination here
I used ‘flexible’ as an opposing word to how I want to be perceived - rigid - and it happened to match perfectly here because she also didn’t like rigidity.
I booked this client and her and her young family were a delight to work with! Give these strategies a go within your own business, and see how you fare!
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