Hey photographer friends! Welcome back to our Photography Blog, Mastering the Wedding Photography Biz with Hunter and Sarah! Today we’re going to talk about marketing as a wedding photography business, and what we did when the best of all our photography lead sources — that had booked us more than $160,000 worth of weddings — seemingly stopped working overnight. And even though our story is pretty extreme, we think that there’s a lesson in it that applies to every wedding photography business!

 

 

When your Best Photography Marketing Source Stops Working

In the fall of 2019, we launched a sales funnel — a combination of paid ads and organic outreach methods that lead to an automated email series and many other steps in between — that booked us over $160,000 worth of weddings over the two years that followed.

 

However, a little over two years after we booked our first wedding with this sales funnel, it suddenly… stopped. A combination of Facebook’s changing algorithms, our new pricing structure, iOS 14’s new privacy rules, and probably some factors that we don’t even understand meant that what had been our largest ever lead source of booked weddings was suddenly gone.

 

At the time, that sales funnel accounted for almost 25% of every wedding we had ever booked. And so what did we do when it suddenly stopped working?! Basically… we did nothing. And if that sounds insane to you, keep reading!

 

 

The “Wagon Wheel” Marketing Method

The reason that we didn’t panic or totally up-end our entire business when this happened is because our wedding photography business had and continues to have a variety of marketing avenues and lead sources. Even though our sales funnel seemed like the silver bullet for our wedding photography business at the time, it was just one of almost a dozen marketing avenues that we’ve pursued over the course of our business.

 

This is actually a marketing concept that Dean Graziosi calls “Wagon Wheel Marketing”. If your business is at the center of the wheel, then there shouldn’t just be one or two spokes supporting the outer rim of the wheel, but many different spokes that are all bringing in business.

 

 

So when we lost the sales funnel, our business didn’t get a flat tire. It just kept on rolling as our other lead sources picked up the slack! And the thing is, this sudden stop of one lead source in early 2022 wasn’t the first time something like this has happened. When we look back on ALL of the weddings we’ve booked over the last 7 years, we can see that our top  lead source has changed five times.

 

And as of the recording of this video, the lead source that’s booked us the most weddings for 2024, is something we’ve been investing in since 2019, but has never made the #1 spot until now. That is why it pays to have more photography marketing sources.

 

 

Why You NEED More Lead Sources

And the thing is, even if you aren’t thinking about your photography marketing sources, you have them. People are somehow hearing about you for the first time. If you don’t think your marketing yourself at all right now, then word-of-mouth and social media are probably your only lead sources. But only two lead sources makes for a very lopsided wagon wheel!

 

If you were to invest in the stock market, even a quick Google search would tell you that betting all your money one or two stocks is dangerous, and diversifying your portfolio by buying many different companies is a safer bet. Marketing works the same way. You never want to put all your business eggs into one marketing basket. Diversifying your photography marketing sources is the best way to do that.

 

 

Yes, We’re Talking to You

And maybe you’re thinking, “Hey, diversifying has worked for you guys, but my one or two lead sources are solid.” But the thing is, things that might seem solid today could change in an instant. Especially if you’re relying on social media as your main marketing source. Every single one of these platforms change their algorithms over time, and one small switch could make the difference between getting tons of eyeballs on your page, and none. Not to mention you could get banned or hacked, which happened to one of our coaching students, and she had to restart her social pages back at 0!

 

And even if the worst doesn’t happen, as your business grows, what worked for a while might not work any more. It’s pretty wild how well a photography marketing source can work for the low budget market, but not work at all in the mid-range market, and vice-versa. And the last thing you want is to have to reinvent your business and start your marketing over at 0 from scratch every time you change your prices.

 

 

How to Fill Your “Wagon Wheel”

Now, if we’ve convinced you that it’s time to diversify your photography marketing sources, but you aren’t sure what your next step should be, this is where could come in to help. Next week, on August 22nd, Sarah and I are hosting a live workshop on Zoom from 7:00 – 9:00 PM called “How to Get More Photography Clients: A Simple Guide to Free AND Paid Marketing and Advertising”. 👈 (Learn more by clicking this link!) In it we’re covering a ton of information all about using marketing and advertising to book more clients and grow your portrait or wedding photography business.

 

 

Our Marketing/Advertising Workshop for Photographers

In this two hour workshop, we’re going to cover the fundamentals of marketing and advertising in case all of this is totally new to you. Then, we’re going to walk you through more than a dozen different photography marketing sources — some that require an investment of time and energy, and some that you pay for — and where they might fit into your own photography marketing wagon wheel.

 

Once we’ve shown you a ton of options to build up your own marketing sources, we’ll teach on all the tips, tricks, and best practices when it comes to ALL your marketing avenues, so you can avoid the most common pitfalls that we see newer photographers making.

 

If you’re interested in attending this workshop, click this link to learn more. And if you’re reading this post after August of 2023, there’s good news! The recording of this workshop is available for sale, so you can still get access to all this great info, even if you’ve missed the workshop itself. But don’t wait to get your tickets to the live event, because tickets are half-off until the 22nd. And as always, don’t be afraid to reach out if you have any questions!