Let’s face it, these days the photography industry is absolutely saturated. Check out any of the hashtags you’re using on your own images on Instagram and you’ll see an impressive number of photographers posting to the same hashtags. Your posts are getting buried in the feed faster than ever. Do a Google search for photographers in your state and you’ll see photographer after photographer after photographer. Look for venues in your area on Pinterest and you’ll see hundreds, maybe thousands of photos posted by photographers who have also shot at those same venues.

So how do you stand out in this saturated market in order to get seen by your ideal client and get booked, too? Well, the good news is that you don’t have to have a huge following!! Woohoo! I’m living proof of that since I have consistently reached my booking goals year after year with a small following. It’s not about the number of people who follow you – it’s about how well you stand out among the sea of photographers. In order to do that, you have to be different. Pretty pictures don’t cut it anymore. You have to be doing something that not everyone else is doing. In the words of Seth Godin in “Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable”:  “In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is failing. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible.”

I don’t know about you, but as a wedding photographer looking to have consistent bookings year after year, the last thing I want to be is invisible. I want to stand out amongst all my competitors so that I can continue to book out my years without stressing out about where the next inquiry is coming from. So what is the #1 way I do that?

By showing up! I’ll admit, I’ve struggled with this through the years. There were times when I was hardly showing my face on Instagram, the photos on my website were outdated, and I was doing a terrible job at standing out and a fantastic job of blending in. It’s not easy to show up all the time; it’s much easier to hide behind the computer. Luckily, I got away with it because I was focusing on other marketing strategies that were allowing me to attract clients. But times have changed and, nowadays, showing up is the single most important way you can get your potential clients to know, like, and trust you. Ultimately, you want to stand out, be noticed, stay front of mind, and get booked, right? Hopefully I’ve convinced you and you’re ready to start standing out. Here are 5 ways you can stand out in a saturated market.

One. Get updated photos of yourself!

In order to show up, you’ve got to have updated photos of yourself to put on your website, blog, newsletter and social media outlets. And I don’t mean stiff headshots! I mean lifestyle and behind-the-scenes photos that show you naturally, in your element, and doing the things you love to do! Inject your personality into your photos in order to have a cohesive set of images that you can sprinkle throughout your online spaces. Using photos of yourself in multiple places across the web is great for brand recognition and it also humanizes your brand so that clients know who they are doing business with.

Two. Show up on Instagram.

Assuming Instagram is where your ideal client is hanging out these days, you’ll want to show up there as much as possible.

1. Sprinkle photos of yourself into your feed regularly and add personal captions that help your audience get to know you.
2. Show up on Instastories – these should’t be overly produced – they should be raw so that people can get to know the real you. I’ve saved some of my favorites from wedding days to my Instastory Highlights under “BTS” – check them out here.
3. Share videos of yourself talking about specific topics on IGTV. See how I’m doing that here through my Friday FAQ series.
4. Do IG Reels that showcase your personality. Click here to see how I’ve been doing that over the last four months.
5. Go Live to enhance your client experience.

The possibilities are truly endless for how to show up on Instagram. Make a list of how you’ll show up on IG, pick a day to batch your content, and start showing your face! Also, personalize your captions so that people get to know you and your personality that way. Generic captions will not make you stand out in a saturated market. Genuine, heartfelt captions will.

Three. Write a blog post. Or two. Or twelve.

Blogging is not dead, friend! My blog is how I bring in the most amount of traffic to my site! Traffic matters because the more traffic you get, the more eyes on your work, the more leads, and the more bookings you’ll have from those leads. Share your knowledge about industry-related topics that will allow your clients to get to know you better and don’t forget to include your photo in the bio or sidebar area.

Four. Start an email list.

I’m sure you’ve heard this question before: If Instagram were to disappear tomorrow, how would you get in touch with potential clients? Not only that, but if the algorithm goes through some crazy overhaul (again), how would you make sure you’re still showing up in your potential client’s feeds? You need a way to get in touch with your past, current, and potential clients. Start an email list and you’ll quickly discover that the money is truly in the list! Last year, I sold out my holiday mini-sessions in two hours thanks to my email list! Don’t forget to put a photo of yourself in emails to your audience. Remember that seeing your face regularly will keep you top of mind! If you’d like to try out my email marketing software, check out Flodesk and save 50% off by clicking here.

Five. Make connections.

Making genuine connections is a surefire way to get you to stand out in a saturated market. They will increase your word-of-mouth referrals, and those types of referrals are so powerful! If someone recommends you to a close friend, that lead is much more likely to convert than someone who finds you randomly by doing a Google search. Not only that, but it’s much easier to convert a past client than it is to convert a new client! Serve your clients well and they will refer you even years after you work with them.

You’ll also want to make connections with wedding vendors and other photographers. Personally, in addition to generating leads through SEO, Instagram, Pinterest, and Word-of-Mouth, I also bring in leads thanks to vendor referrals and other photographers. Spend some time this off-season sending past galleries to wedding vendors and venues. Remember that now more than ever when weddings are happening less frequently due to COVID-19, wedding vendors need images! Solve their problem by providing them with content.

Start meeting regularly with your photography friends to build stronger relationships, bounce ideas off of each other, and stay updated on what is happening in your area. And if you’re not part of a referral network, start one! Referral networks are so important for generating leads.

Conclusion

While it’s true that we’re in a saturated market, it’s also true that technology these days has made it quite easy to reach our target clients. Don’t waste these opportunities to stand out – remember that you don’t want to be invisible, you want to be noticed!

Photos from all images above from my brand session with Jocelyn Cruz Photography. Stay tuned for photos from my most recent brand session! Because, yes, you should be doing at least two brand sessions a year, my friend.

Learn More

Do you need help with your marketing strategy? I’d love to sit down with you to go over your current marketing efforts and make an action plan for your marketing moving forward.  Click here to learn about my one-on-one custom coaching sessions and let’s talk about how you can stand out in a saturated market.