Does Your Photography Business Have a Brand?

Beyond a slick website and a professional logo, and even beyond your incredible photography, your brand is what matters to potential clients. If you’re having trouble booking clients, or even defining where your business fits within the saturated photography industry, it may be time to reevaluate if your brand is strong enough to stick out. Having a photography business doesn’t mean you also have a brand. Brand building is a very intentional process. Here are a few areas to pay attention to if you feel like your brand may need a bit of work.

What Is Your Brand's Voice?

Simply put, your brand’s voice is the heart and soul of your business. It's the first impression potential clients get about you and your work. Beyond your photos, it is what speaks to people. So what is your brand's voice? Do you have a concise answer to that question? If not, it will be worth your while to spend some time defining what your brand's voice tone is. 

Is your brand authoritative? Fun? Adventurous? These are good questions to ask when trying to build a strong brand. How do you want your brand to make people feel? What brands do you resonate with? What do they do well? Asking these questions will help you figure out if you have a strong brand voice that can stick out in a crowd, and if your current brand is conveying the message you want it to convey.

Have You Identified Your Ideal Client?

If you haven’t taken time to sit down and be very intentional about defining who you’re speaking to, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Having a brand voice but not knowing who you’re speaking to is about as good as speaking to an empty room. One of the most important and foundational tasks you can do to build a stronger business is identifying your ideal client. The more specific you get about who your ideal client is — what they love, what they hate, where they hang out — will help you narrow down your brand voice and vision to becoming very specific with your photography style and content.

Does Your Brand Repel Potential Clients?

No? It should, to an extent. Having a dialed-in brand means attracting a specific client, or even a few different types of client pools, but it should also repel some potential clients. Why? Because you want your brand to be specialized, and if you’re appealing to all different types of people, you may not be specialized enough. Specializing in something builds value for your brand, as well as trust and expertise.

If you’re just transitioning from hobbyist to professional, having a strong brand may not be something on your radar. In order to be successful, knowing your brand and the impression it's giving potential clients is crucial to having a strong business foundation. Spend some time focused on your brand and how it ties into your personality and photography. The better and dialed in your brand, the stronger your business will become.

Lead image by startupstockphotos.com via Pexels.