9 ways to leverage your images from a content shoot for maximum impact
Success is a simple formula of passion and consistency.
Showing up day after day for your ideal clients and serving them with a great customer experience is key to booking out season after season (and living the lifestyle you want).
Whether you are an established photographer or new to wedding photography, a content shoot is a great way to build your portfolio, relaunch your brand or challenge yourself creatively. To arrange your own content styled shoot or attend a ticketed workshop is an investment. Personally, I always look for a 10 x payback by booking real clients and so I am very strategic about leveraging my content.
Here are 9 ways to leverage your images from an editorial content shoot to maximise the impact and book your ideal client.
Take your audience with you on your journey
Use your new content across social channels to keep engagement high
Update your website, client guides and directory listings
Submit the editorial content shoot to a magazine
Lay bread crumbs on socials for your ICA (ideal client)
Launch a Blog Post
Follow up new leads and referrals
Confidence is key
Revisit your RAWS or Gallery 6 months later
Scroll down for more information on the above points and a sneak peek at my Villa Alba image gallery.
Villa Alba Editorial Content Workshop by Lei Lei Clavey Education, Melbourne
9 ways to leverage your images from a content shoot for maximum impact
Take your audience with you on your journey
Whether you have 5 followers or 5k, take your audience with you to the editorial content shoot by sharing behind the scenes and your thoughts about the day. People love to see what others are up to; hearing your point of view, what you are excited by and what you have been shooting. Let them feel the FOMO.
Pro-Tip: At the end of the day, save down your top performing IG stories or favourite BTS as a Highlight. When clients visit your Instagram, they can relive your journey with you.
Use your new content across Social Channels to keep engagement high
Push out your new content at a steady and consistent pace. Think of it like a marathon, not a sprint
Curate your feed to ensure it is a pleasurable experience for ideal clients who visit. Consider layout of images, use of negative space and colours
Check your Instagram Analytics to see which types of post or Reels are performing best and generate more content like it
Pro-Tip: Follow @mosseri of Instagram for latest updates on Instagram upgrades and features. Be aware of how Instagram is designed to help artists connect with people.
Pro-Tip: A good way to judge your Instagram feed is by looking at the last 9 squares and asking yourself ‘What does this snapshot say about my brand and business?’ and ‘What am I telling the world about who I am, who I want to be or who want to serve?’
Update your website, client guides and directory listings ASAP
Your selling tools should reflect the type of client you would like to attract. Don’t be afraid to update your website and client guides regularly to reflect your latest body of work. If your editing style has evolved or you are looking to attract a new niche, consider revamping both platforms to clearly communicate your new direction. Cull old content that no longer serves your brand identity and new niche.
You are selling an idea to the client that you can shoot a version of them that no one else can. Here is a tip on the type of images to include on your website, client guides and directory listings:
The images need be relevant to your niche only, ie. for a wedding photographer only include wedding related content including styling details
Let the imagery be aspirational and take your viewer on a journey by including mood shots, styling details and a few bridal and couple portraits
Curate, curate, curate
Submit the editorial content shoot to a magazine
If you have arranged your own editorial content shoot, look for a magazine that accept editorial content shoots for features on social media or on their website. The publication should serve your ideal client and being featured with them should resonate with your brand. For example, my editorial content shoot was submitted to The Lane as the directory attracts my ideal client.
Pro-Tip: Magazines generally prefer real weddings instead of editorial content shoots so don’t be disheartened if you do not receive a positive response right away. If they accept to feature your work (yay!) it could be 6 months before it is released to their audience, so continue to market your work through your own social channels whilst waiting for on feature date to come around.
Pro-Tip: If your editorial content shoot is featured, this is great social proof for your ideal client. Social proof is an endorsement that demonstrates to your ideal client that you are credible and in demand. Add a comment to your Instagram Bio and on your website that shows ‘Featured in…’ so clients can see where your work has been endorsed when visiting your Instagram and webpage.
Lay bread crumbs on socials for your ICA (ideal client AVATAR)
Instagram is the top lead generation tool for wedding photographers, especially new photographers looking to establish their niche and attract their ideal client. On average 60% of wedding photography leads come from Instagram, so investing time or money into a social media strategy can have a huge pay-off.
Rather than go deep into social media content strategy in this post; consider what your ideal client is looking for when they stumble across your profile on Instagram.
A face to name - People buy from people, so ensure your profile icon and feed includes images of you. The images of you should portray the version of you that is ‘on-brand’ for your business
Location – List your location or locations you service.
Easy to contact – State if you are open for bookings and how to best contact you, whether via DM or website enquiry or both.
Social Proof – State any magazine or directory listings that have featured your work
Regular updates – Demonstrate you are busy and ‘in demand’ shooting incredible weddings or content by posting regularly and sharing IG stories with updates of what you’re working on
Curated Body of Work – Your Instagram feed should only include work that represents your brand at its best, including a consistent quality of work and editing style
Your ideal client may visit your Instagram or website up to 6-8 times before they send you an enquiry. Scatter breadcrumbs by being active and showing up for them every day or week, so that when they are ready to enquire, they know exactly how to reach you.
Pro-Tip: A content calendar and regularly reviewing your analytics will help you stay on track when it comes to posting on socials. If you are overwhelmed by social media and dread posting (let along writing captions), investigate CHAT GPT or outsource this task.
Launch a Blog Post
Let the blog post speak to your personal experience and any creative or business transformation you experienced because of the editorial content shoot. Again, people love to read about personal growth, the highs, the lows, and any wisdom you can share with them. Don’t hold back.
Ensure Blog Posts are at least 400 words, aim for at least three internal and external links, all images are named for SEO and include at least 30 images.
Pro-Tip: Ask a key vendor involved in the editorial content shoot to participate in a Q&A as part of the blog post and ask them to reshare the blog post with their audience. For an example, check out a Q&A I did with Ruby and James, a wedding stylist and planner.
Here is a great example of a Content Workshop Blog Post, launched by photographer Amy Wren.
Follow up new leads and referrals
Networking is such a key part of running a small business. It’s human nature that people want to help others and see them succeed. You never know when the next opportunity will come knocking but being front of mind by showing up on social media and networking, means you are more likely to establish a formal or informal ‘referral network’. Don’t limit your network to photographers, network with venues, planners, stylists, florists, celebrants, videographers etc.
If attending a workshop, take down everyone’s Instagram and follow them. Support their business, catch up for coffee or wine, look to build quality relationships with genuine support for each other’s personal and professional goals. The universe rewards positive energy, with more positive energy so always seek to ‘spiral up’ no matter what gets thrown your way.
If you’re just starting out as a wedding photographer, reaching out to your network to offer to second shoot can be a great way to build confidence and learn from other more established photographers.
“What you put out there into the universe – good or bad – you get right back. ”
Confidence is key
When I booked my first wedding, I had shot exactly ZERO weddings. All I had in my portfolio was an editorial content shoot that I organised during quiet COVID months. The shoot was featured in The Lane, which was a dream come true. A client then fell in love with my work based on the editorial content shoot and never even asked me how many weddings I’d shot before. I believe you can do this to.
Use the images from the editorial content workshop to open doors with clients. Let them fall in love with your work and let it flow from there. Read more about my story here.
Pro-tip: Have confidence in your work and believe that you are an amazing wedding photographer to book your first client. Between booking your first client and shooting their wedding, get as much experience (paid or unpaid) with other wedding photographers seeing how they shoot and serve their couples on the wedding day.
Revisit your RAWS or Gallery 6 months later
After a few months of sharing content from the same shoot, it can start to feel a bit dull especially if you haven’t shot new content of late. I often feel frustrated in these moments and am hunting for the ‘rush of love’ when you first fall in love with an image. If you are feeling like this, revisit your gallery or RAWs to look for images that were originally culled or can be cropped for an interesting new angle. Converting colour images to black and white can also give an image a refresh.
For those of you who attended my Villa Alba Editorial Content Workshop, I hope you find the below post a helpful step-by-step breakdown of how to leverage your content. My next workshop will be in August 2023 and the waitlist is open here.
Lei x
