A picture is worth a thousand words.
And yet, if you’re a photographer trying to market your business, you’re probably thinking “Sure, except I still need those thousand words to market these pictures!”
Copywriting for photographers is crucial for convincing people that the photos you create are just the tip of the iceberg for how great it is to work with you.
In my experience, photographers, videographers, interior designers (basically any visual-heavy brand) have nailed down their images — it’s the words that tend to lag behind.
But the words (aka, your copy) is what takes someone from “maybe I’ll hire this photographer for my wedding” to “OMG I need to hire this photographer NOW and recommend her to all my friends.”
Every business needs words. And as an artistic brand, you deserve exactly the right words that will get you to be the most booked-out photographer in your area.
Copywriting for photographers is more than just sharing your niche and your location
→ Wedding photographer in Boston
→ Newborn photography in Minnesota
→ Headshots in Atlanta
You’ve seen it all.
Not to throw shade on your fellow photographers, but there is an abundance of local photographer websites that are sorely lacking in their copywriting.
Just because you get seen on Google for your photography business in your area does not mean you’re landing every lead that comes your way.
And in fact, if you care about the copywriting on your website/emails/marketing, you could drastically outpace the competition, since so many local businesses feel they don’t need copywriting since they’re seen on Google.
However, Google wants to send people to websites that are helpful, engaging, and offer a great user experience.
All of which you can do through your copy.
As a photographer, you need to focus on the feeling, the vibe, and the experience of booking with you.
From bored to booked-out: 8 copywriting tips for photographers
If you’re ready to outpace the competition, here are the 8 copywriting tips I recommend to photographers.
1. Get specific on what you want to be known for
Sure, you might be one of a dozen wedding photographers in your town, but what is the secret sauce that only you bring to the table?
Getting specific on what you want to be known for is crucial for any business, but it’s especially important for photographers.
Why? You are working very closely with your clients. They’re trusting you with their image. That’s a big deal.
Maybe you want to be the most fun-loving, vibrant photographer in the city. Every Gen Z brand goes to you. Or maybe you want to be the most approachable, female-empowering boudoir photographer in your very conservative town.
No matter what, it pays to know what you want to be known for (even if it’s different from what you’ve been doing – don’t hesitate to change your copy to attract more of the people you want.)
2. Write to one person (your soulmate client)
This is going back to basics with copywriting, but your copy should follow these two rules:
1) Your copy should be more about your ideal client (less about you)
2) Your copy should be written to only one person (the client you really want)
It’s the difference between a personal text to a dear friend and a general email blast just thirsty for you to put down your credit card. Which one would you rather receive?
When you start to get really specific on who you’re writing to, it helps narrow in on their experience when interacting with your brand. You’re able to provide better answers to questions like these:
- What is my soulmate client thinking the moment they land on my website?
- What is the ideal experience they want to have when working with me?
- What’s something that will make them say “oh HECK yes, this is the photographer for me”?
You’ll get better conversions the more specific you are in your copy, so get real up-close-and-personal with your soulmate client before you write a word of copy for your brand.
3. Include your prices on your site
Is this strictly a copywriting tip? No. Is it vital to making more sales and booking out your photography business? Abso-freaking-lutely.
People hate surprises. That’s why we want to get so specific on who you’re writing to in your copy and what their experience is like interacting with your brand. We want to map out their whole journey to becoming a paying client, and hold their hand each step of the way.
Your pricing? That’s a pretty crucial step of their journey!
Especially since photography services can range from $100-$10,000, it’s only a kindness to let people know what to expect so they don’t faint at your lofty (but completely worth-it) prices.
You don’t even have to say exactly what they are. You can still give people an idea of what an investment with you is like if you include language like:
- Prices start at…
- Most clients invest $___ amount with me
- Packages range from $___ to $___
Just give them something to go off of so they can plan accordingly.
(And if you’re nervous that your ideal clients will be turned off at your pricing, don’t worry. Good copy can take people from “eh, this is a bit out of my budget” to “it’s a bit more than I was planning, but obviously she’s worth it!”)
4. Get clear on your brand messaging
Brand messaging is a huge topic, and can be super overwhelming for a lot of business owners.
For photographers, you don’t need to go through the same brand messaging work that a big company like Starbucks has to go through. Let’s keep it simple and only adopt the brand messaging frameworks that will help you grow your business.
Answer some questions like these when you’re trying to determine what your “messaging” is as a brand:
- What do you want to be known for? (write down 3-5 things)
- What do people tell you you’re good at? (look at your testimonials and client feedback)
- What do you do really well or differently within your industry or niche?
You’ll notice these are some things we’ve already been talking about in this blog post, but now I want you to actually brain-dump some answers to these questions.
Then, you’ll write down 3-4 “themes” your brand is known for/will be known for. This becomes your messaging.
Boom! Now, when you’re writing copy for your business (whether that’s email, social media, or website copy) consider how that copy lines up with your messaging, and you’ll create more consistency and better branding across all platforms.
5. Paint a word picture of what it’s like to work with you
As a photographer, you’re more than just a point-and-shoot kind of photographer. You have a process, an artistry, and a feeling you create for your clients when you’re working with them.
Give them the inside scoop on what it’s like to work with you by painting a word picture.
***A great exercise getting this word picture created is to do a creative writing exercise of your soulmate client describing the experience of working with you.
→ Write this like it’s a journal entry your client is creating and describe everything. The feeling of walking in your studio, the playlist that’s on during their shoot, the smell of the candle you’ve lit to set the mood, the pounding of their heart as they open the email containing the pictures you took for them.
Get into the nitty-gritty of what this experience is like for them, and start pulling from that exercise to create your copy.
Like we said, people hate surprises. So getting into the details, the feeling, and the experience will help them imagine working with you like it’s already happened and was the greatest experience they could ever hope for.
6. Keep your messaging consistent across all platforms
Now that you’ve got your messaging nailed down, make sure you’re staying consistent with it across all platforms.
I know how it goes: you look up things like “how to write an Instagram bio” or “how to create an email funnel” or “how to write a services page” and you get writing based on the resource you’ve found to help you.
But sometimes this can result in the different places you’re showing up sounding like different versions of you. You should sound the same and have the same message whether you’re on LinkedIn, TikTok, email newsletters, or your own website copy.
As an artist and creative, your voice and your message is important. You deserve to give it time in the spotlight, no matter where you’re writing your copy.
This brand consistency pays off, as you’ll be doubling down on what your photography brand is known for.
7. Stalk your competition (mindfully)
Now, let’s address the elephant in the room: if you want to be the most booked-out photographer in your area, you need to make it easy for people to choose you over the other photographers in your area.
Although it’s a good idea to scope out the competition to see what their messaging, copy, and pricing is saying about their business, you don’t want to hyperfixate on what they’re doing. You certainly don’t want to copy them to a T (because, you should aim to be better than the competition, not the same!)
Take a look at the other photographers that come up on Google for your area and your services, and consider these questions:
- How easy (or hard) is my competition making it for clients to book them?
- What’s their main message or experience their clients have working with them?
- What’s their unique strength (or weakness) in this market?
From this mindful stalking, you can get a sense of what’s doing well on Google and then brainstorm some ways for you to stand out.
Then close out those tabs, baby! You don’t want to think about the competition too much and then accidentally copy them or get too in your head about writing your copy.
It’s just a good idea to have a general pulse-check on the unique niche you can carve out in your city or town. Focus on how you can stand out being authentically you, and making it easy for people to say yes to the experience of working with you.
The competition will be sweating to keep up with you if you do that.
8. Find a middle ground between your brand voice and being clear on your services
Now, if you’re creative AND you want to be booked-out, you’ll want to make sure you find a middle ground between giving Google the location of your photography services, AND creating the feeling of working with you in your copy.
A lot of photographers fall into either trap (being too LITERAL with what they do, or being too CREATIVE in their copy that they forget to literally say what they do)
Seriously, the number of photography Instagram accounts that don’t include their location in their bio? Astonishing.
Be sure you strike a middle ground between saying things like “wedding photographer in Atlanta” and your unique brand messaging.
More resources on copywriting for photographers:
Need some more resources on marketing and copywriting for your photography business? I’ve got loads!
- My Free Homepage Email Course
- The 5 Things To Consider When Hiring a Copywriter
- The Complete Guide for Writing A Service Page
- Check out my photographer’s website copy
- The Easiest Website Copywriting Checklist Ever
- Brand Messaging for Photographers (my podcast interview with Inkpot Creative)
TL;DR – Copywriting for photographers is all about shining a spotlight on the *feeling* of working with you
The person with the clearest feeling usually wins the sale.
As a photographer, I know you care a lot about your clients. When your copy tells them exactly what feeling they can expect from working with you, that is HUGE for closing more sales.
Creating this feeling for your leads when you’re already working so hard on every other part your business? That’s hard. So, if you need help writing your website, check out my services here.
If you want some quick feedback, I can roast your website (a copy audit that gives you actionable advice for changes.)
Questions? DMs on Instagram are open!
