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10 Free Marketing Tactics for Photographers – Part 3: Referrals from Past Clients

 

Hey Photographers! If you’re ready to start booking paid photography jobs, but don’t know how to get your work in front of potential couples, this blog series is for you! Welcome back to our “Free Marketing Tactics for Photographers” blog series. Today, we’re going to discuss how your past clients can actually be an really fruitful source of future clients!

 

Last week we dove headfirst into our Marketing Tactics series by discussing how you can book some of your very first paid jobs using groups and communities on Facebook. This week, we’re going to talk about how a few small steps after every job you shoot can help multiply your paid work.

 

 

The basic principle of this blog is honestly pretty straightforward: do a great job on your sessions, deliver a great final product, and then use those clients to help you book new work. There are a few different ways to do this, but if you do it right, word-of-mouth referrals from past clients can turn every job you shoot into two paid jobs… or three… or even 10! So let’s dive in!

 

 

Why Focus on Word-Of-Mouth Referrals?

So, it’s no secret in the business world that word-of-mouth referrals (someone telling a friend or family member about a product or service that they love) are an incredible source of free marketing. In some cases, word-of-mouth referrals are even more powerful than paid advertising, although they can be a bit harder to get. And the reason they can be more difficult to get is because there’s really only one way to get them: love and serve your clients incredibly well!

 

However, once you start getting these referrals, they can single-handedly make the difference between a photography business that struggles to book any paid jobs, and one that’s so busy it’s raising its prices every few months. Early on in your business especially, word-of-mouth referrals are incredibly important, but we’ll touch on this more at the end.

 

 

An Example: Your Favorite Restaurant

In order to understand why a word-of-mouth referral is so important, let’s think about it in another context: restaurants. Take a moment and think about your absolute 100% favorite place to eat in your city or town. How often do you go there? How often do you go there with friends? When someone visits you from another town, how often do you recommend going to that one place? Do you post about it on social media when you go? And is it the first place you suggest when your friends ask, where do you want to eat tonight?

 

Now think about a restaurant in town that you’ve been to once or twice, but weren’t really that thrilled about. How often do you recommend that place to friends and family? Probably never. But that first restaurant — the one that’s your favorite — if you’re a big fan of it, there’s a pretty good chance that that restaurant has gotten business just because you’re a big fan of them. And they didn’t have to pay to advertise to your friends, or bribe you to share about them. They just gave you the best taco or plate of pasta or salad that you’ve ever had, so you couldn’t help but share.

 

Word-of-mouth buzz can work the same way in your photography business. Imagine if every time you photographed a family session, that family told their friends, and you booked one or two more sessions. Then each of those families booked you one or two more sessions? You can see how this becomes exponential really quickly, and can fill up a photographers calendar in no time! The same principal can even work for wedding photography, as the friends, family, wedding party, and wedding guests of your past couples can become your future couples.

 

 

How to Encourage More Word-of-Mouth Referrals

So, if word-of-mouth referrals are so powerful, how can you get them?? As far as Sarah and I see it, there are sort of 4 methods or “levels”, that go from the least amount of work to the most amount of work. However, the more work you put into getting these referrals, the more effective they can become.

 

Method 1. Just hope it happens

Method 1 is basically to just do your best with your clients, and then hope they tell their friends and family. Although this method doesn’t require any additional work or effort on your part, it also isn’t a great strategy for growth. By default, this is probably what you’re already doing, so if you aren’t getting a ton of word-of-mouth referrals already, you either need to improve your photography and client experience, or this strategy might just not be working for you.

 

Method 2. Ask them to share

Method 2 is only slightly more work than Method 1, since you simply ask them to share you with their friends and family once you’ve given them a great experience. This can be a simple addition to whatever final email you send them, or you can mention at the end of the session: “Hey, if you had a great time with me, I’d love it if you shared my name (or my website or my IG handle) with any of your friends who might also be looking for a photographer!”

 

Method 3. Create a referral program (create incentive)

Method 3 is going to take a bit more effort, as it’s all about creating incentives for your past clients to share you with their friends and family. So you’ll want to create a deal or offer of some kind that’s only redeemable if they send you a new lead that books you. So, for a family photographer, maybe you send them a $50 Amazon gift card or a $100 credit to your print store to print their own images if they recommend another family to you who books you for their family session.

 

 

While this isn’t technically a free marketing method, you only would spend this money after the old client book you a paid job you wouldn’t have otherwise booked, so it’s still a zero-up-front marketing method. But the key here is you aren’t just rewarding them for recommending you, but for recommending you to someone who actually books.

 

Method 4. Create a referral network (direct outreach)

Finally, Method 4 is the most work-intensive and, to be honest, going to work best for those of you who feel like you’re good salespeople. You’ll actually ask your clients after they get their photos back if they feel comfortable sharing the name and contact info of anyone who might also be looking for photography. Then, you call or email those people, name-drop the person who connected you, and try to sell to them, usually with some sort of offer. You might combine this with Method 3 so your clients have more incentive to share leads who may book with you.

 

If you’ve ever worked with a realtor, a financial planner, or heard from an old high school friend about purchasing makeup or energy drinks from them, then you’ve probably encountered this referral-network method. Obviously, your past clients need to trust you and be huge fans of the work you provide for this to work. Then, you need an attractive offer, a warm and friendly email or phone script, and a bit of luck. But all of this extra work can yield big results, and can easily fill your calendar without spending a dollar up front!

 

 

For Newer Photography Businesses

We can’t overstate the importance of word-of-mouth referrals during the early days of a portrait or wedding photography business. During our second and third years as wedding photographers, when we were in the $2,000 – $3,000 range for wedding coverage, word-of-mouth referrals made up the largest portion of our lead sources, booking us tens of thousands of dollars during those early years in the wedding industry.

 

And even before that, our early portrait work was booked almost 100% through word-of-mouth referrals, since we were broke college students/broke just-out-of-college-newlyweds during the formative years of our business. And our Apprentices and Students tell us the same thing week in and week out!

 

One final thing to keep in mind as you’re working on drumming up word-of-mouth referrals, is that the underlying assumption behind this whole conversation is that you’re giving your clients a wonderful experience, and delivering photos that feel like a great value no matter what you charge. If you aren’t do that right now, no amount of marketing effort will get you word-of-mouth referrals. You need to get out there and love and serve your clients to the absolute best of your ability, and continually grow as a photographer so that your clients feel like,“Wow, I can’t believe I only paid THIS much for these photos! They are worth so much more to me than that!”

 

 

That’s it! We’ll be back next week with another free marketing tactic. But in the meantime, find at least 3-5 groups, and start participating in them every day!

 

Want More?

 

Click HERE to get your free copy of our eBook: “5 Essential Tips for Turning your Side-Hustle into a Full-Time Photography Business.” You’ll also be subscribed to our newsletter, so our newest content, weekly encouragement, and exclusive offers will be delivered right to your inbox!

 

 

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Check out the other segments in this blog series!

• Part 1: Maintain a Strong Portfolio
• Part 2: Join Local Facebook Groups
• Part 3: Referrals from Past Clients
• Part 4: Begin Your Social Media Presence
• Part 5: Network with Other Photographers
• Part 6: Networking with Venues and Vendors
• Part 7: Win Over Your Personal Network
• Part 8: Our Secret Direct Outreach Method
• Part 9: Four Reasons to Start a Photography Blog
• Part 10: Get More 5-Star Review from Past Clients