Marketing your photography business well is no small feat. Most of us photographers didn’t get a degree in marketing/sales, yet here we are running a business whose success depends on just that. Let’s face it, pretty photos will only get you so far. Without steady leads and bookings coming in, your photography business ends up being nothing more than an expensive hobby. If you’ve been wondering how to use Facebook Ads for your photography business, keep reading!
Does any of this sound familiar? You post on social media everyday. You’ve done all the free giveaways to get more eyes on your page. You’ve gone to the networking events. You’ve blogged your heart out, but still can’t get to that first page of Google.
So what do you do when your traditional marketing efforts aren’t enough? The great news is you don’t have to be an SEO or marketing expert to see results quick! With Facebook (Meta) ads, you can skip the waiting game and start seeing tangible results almost immediately. Even just $5-$10 a day can produce impressive results, filling your inbox with eager leads in no time! So, let’s dive in on how to get started!
Table of Contents: How to use Facebook Ads for your Photography Business
Understanding Marketing Basics
There are many, many ways to market your business and services. Every single one involves a sales funnel-which simply put is a person’s journey from first encountering you to becoming a booked client. When using Facebooks ads for your photography business, it’s important to have a strategic sales funnel in place, otherwise you’ll likely be wasting money. It’s the foundation I always recommend first when teaching others How to use Facebook Ads for Your Photography Business.
Whether you realize it or not, if you are currently booking paying clients, you already have a sales funnel in place. When running Facebook ads, the steps just look a bit different. The great news is, you can automate almost everything and literally book clients while you sleep!
A Specific AND Enticing Offer
When investing money into ads, you need a really specific and enticing offer. That doesn’t mean you have to discount anything, but it does mean your offer needs to be unique and exciting to your ideal client. Examples include:
- Themed mini-sessions i.e. The Santa Experience, Easter Minis, Mommy & Me Sessions, Headshot Marathon, etc
- Limited bonus gift offered with (your specific genre) booking
- Professional content creation day
MOST IMPORTANTLY: Know your ideal client!
Think about what type of portraits/events THEY would be interested in throughout the year.
Special offers and events open the door and invite new clients into your business. Giving you the opportunity not only to upsell, but also the opportunity to serve them well and convert them into a client for life.
Don’t get overwhelmed with the next step. It’s super important if you want to know How to use Facebook Ads for Your Photography Business.
Set up your Meta Pixel
Using the “boost post” feature is not going to get you maximum return on your ad spend. At best, it will gain you some new followers on your social media page. Running ads through the business suite is also not the answer.
If you learn nothing else from this post on How to use Facebook Ads for Your Photography Business, hear this: the best way to run ads is through the ads manager, using a pixel embedded on your website. This ensures Facebook (Meta) can track the actions taken by those who click on your ads and get to know the type of people who should see your ads.
Test your Ads
If you only throw one single ad out there and it doesn’t perform, you’ll probably give up and conclude Facebook ads don’t work. Just like any “experiment”, you need multiple test groups and real data before drawing any conclusions.
- Create multiple versions of ad creative and copy. Run a campaign for a few days to see which ad performs the best.
- Evaluate which ad performed the best. Turn off the underperforming ads. Leads and conversions take some time, so give it a few days to evaluate performance before making any changes.
- Retarget your ads to keep showing up in your ideal clients’ feeds PLUS create look-alike audiences to broaden your local reach.
Budget
Yes, running Facebook ads will require you to invest money. Key word: INVEST.
With the right strategy, you can see anywhere from 2-20x ROI on your ad spend. Even with just $5-$10/day, you can generate leads that convert to bookings.
A word of advise: build advertising costs into your CODB. When you have a designated budget in place, you can invest that money guilt free.
If leads + bookings aren’t coming in organically, paid ads can be the boost your business needs.
Conclusion and Next Steps
Facebook ads can be a powerful piece of your photography business’s marketing plan. They must be done properly and strategically, however, to ensure you aren’t throwing money down the drain.
If you want to dive deeper and learn how to use Facebook Ads for your photography business, I invite you to join me inside my newest online course The Photographer’s Guide to Facebook Ads. A comprehensive course that teaches you the exact strategies I’ve successfully used in my own portrait business to book out my offers and keep my calendar full.
Click here to get full details on how to use Facebooks ads for your photography business inside my online course, The Photographer’s Guide to Facebook Ads.
ABOUT NASHVILLE NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHER KRISTIE LLOYD
Kristie is an experienced Nashville Family Photographer and Nashville Newborn Photographer. Her work has been featured in places like People Magazine, Nashville Baby Guide, YOUR Williamson, The Kindred Path, and Maury County Living. Plus multiple other local online and print media sources.
Her clients enjoy a luxury portrait experience from start to finish, which includes Kristie’s assistance in planning every detail. Clients are drawn to her use of natural light, bright and natural editing style, and her unmatched attention to detail. If you would like to learn more about the KLP experience, let’s chat more!
March 24, 2024
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