We’ve been so fortunate to have started our business with the advice and lessons from so many successful people. One of the most impactful things we learned was that in order to attract our ideal clients, we needed to know who our ideal client was! Sounds pretty straightforward, right? But the truth is that so many people set out in business without taking the time to fully identify the type of client they want to attract. It makes it incredibly difficult to bring in your picture perfect client if you don’t know who they are, because it makes marketing to that client so difficult.
Proper marketing involves understanding who you want to attract and then tailoring your content to that person. What you show is what you will attract. That is why we took the time to put together our own style guide, so that our clients have a better understanding of what works best on camera. We wanted to attract clients that felt confident and comfortable in front of our lenses, so we gave them the information they needed to put together outfits that made them feel that way! The same is true with marketing on social media! Taking the time to not only identify, but to understand your ideal client is crucial if you want to have your social presence make an impact.
Early on, we knew we wanted to attract beautiful, newly engaged couples. We took the time to identify things about them like their age and what styles of photography they preferred. But we also wanted to understand who they were, so we put together a list of things our ideal bride would be into. For example, where does she shop, what brands does she prefer, what TV shows does she watch? It took some time and effort, but after understanding so much about our ideal client it helped us be smarter marketers on social media.
Every time we post, we ask ourselves, would our ideal client like this? It helps us stay on target and post content that will be meaningful to her. Now, if this sounds super pie-in-the-sky, Marketing Theory 101 to you, let us share an example!
Only a few months into our step into full-time photography, we received a wedding inquiry from a bride we had no personal connection to. We had no idea who she was and no clue what to expect when we met with her and her fiancee to discuss their wedding dreams! To our surprise, when they arrived at the coffee shop, we literally watched our ideal bride and groom walk in and sit down with us. The ideal client, the one we had taken so much time and intentionality to identify, had found us! During our meeting, we asked them how they found us, and the response was music to our ears. She had found us on Instagram while looking for wedding photographers. It was a huge WIN for us only months into our focus on intentional marketing on social media. It proved to us that it really does work and was worth all of the effort.
It also transformed the way our meeting with this sweet couple went. Because of our thought out posts sharing about our work, who we are as a couple, and what we do outside of photography, our potential bride and groom already felt like they knew us! The connection was already there! Our conversation centered around them, their engagement story, their wedding dream, and how we could serve them as photographers.
A few short days later as we booked their wedding, we realized that there really was power in this social media marketing thing after all! We realized that by showing our work with the mindset of our ideal client, they would find us. We saw an early win, but that doesn’t mean it always woks that way. As a matter of fact, no marketing plan does! Repetition and consistency are the main ingredients in the success of your social media marketing plan. Get intentional and start showing your service or product in a way that would attract your ideal client!
Want to read the others posts in our series on Social Media Marketing? Find them here:
Comments +