Tips To Rocket Sales for Real Estate Photographers
To get your name out there as a real estate photographer, you need to develop a successful marketing strategy. With the right marketing strategy, you can build brand awareness and get more leads for your business.
In 2021, 97% of home buyers used the internet to search for homes and they expect to see high-quality photos. Even though your photography skills speak volumes about your work, you still need to get your work in front of Realtors with the help of marketing tactics that actually work.
In this post, we’ll present 9 marketing strategies for real estate photographers that will help you get more clients and skyrocket sales.
1. Know Your Target Market
The first thing you need to do before you get started with photography marketing is to identify and get to know your market or niche.
For example, you may already know that you are a real estate photographer, so naturally, your target market will be real estate agents. Although, getting even more specific will help you go after your target market, and prevent you from directing your marketing efforts to the wrong audience.
You can start by asking yourself how you would describe your ideal client? Why would they want your services, and on what online platforms and locations are they active?
The more you learn about your audience, including their age, gender, typical listing price, and marketing budget you can develop a successful marketing strategy that will appeal to your market.
2. Create a Stunning Photography Website
Having a website and an online portfolio is among the most essential factors for your photography marketing. In today’s Internet era, you can’t expect to grow your photography business without having a digital presence.
Remember that your website is like a digital storefront, and many potential clients will be looking at your work online before they ever contact you. So, make sure to add high-resolution images in your portfolio to showcase your work and also include a headshot of yourself.
Additionally, make sure that your website is responsive, aka mobile-friendly, and comes with lead-capture forms to easily collect contact information from potential clients. You can then send out targeted email campaigns and build engagement with your audience, which we will take a closer look at next.
3. Build an Email List
No matter what type of business you are running, the importance of having an email list is vital. In the worst-case scenario, social media can decide to change its algorithms and you can lose the hard-earned network you’ve built up, but your email list can never be taken away from you.
That’s why it is wise to redirect your clients from social media platforms to email communication. You can do this by stating in your bio that you only accept bookings via email or using opt-in forms on your website that automatically collects email addresses.
All in all, an email list is a personal way to stay in touch with your audience. It allows you to send them personalized offers, success stories, and other news about your business.
Processing your email list regularly makes it more likely that clients will think of your business when they need real estate photography services.
4. Offer More Than Photography
To stand out from the competition and be a great resource for new and existing clients, you should consider offering more than photography. The more you can say ‘yes’ to an agent or Realtor, the more earning potential you have.
For example, you can offer additional services, such as:
- Virtual Staging — This relatively new technology of digitally staging an empty space has exploded in recent years. Especially in times of the pandemic when people prefer to safely view listings from the comfort of their homes and the current high cost of physical staging.
- Virtual Tours — Offering 3D photography or 360º virtual tours can easily be achieved through a hi-tech 360 camera and sophisticated software and will help potential home buyers to get an overview of a property. If you have a budget for it, make sure to look into Matterport tours.
- Drone/Aerial Photography — Drone photography is a great addition to any real estate photographer’s portfolio since it offers an aerial view of the neighborhood of a property. It does, however, require an FAA 107 Certificate to be able to operate a drone in the US, but is rather easy to obtain.
- Video — Even though video requires extra equipment and knowledge, it will help set you apart from the competition. The truth is that if you don’t offer it, the Realtor is simply going to go ask someone else to do the job.
- Single Property Websites — Being able to offer a beautiful single property website with a unique URL, making listings exclusive and luxurious, will definitely add value to your clients and help them beat the competition on the MLS.
The list goes on, and some photographers even offer social media management and connecting clients with home inspectors. Typically, the more services you can offer, the more business you’ll likely get.
5. Become Zillow Certified Photographer
Another good marketing strategy for real estate photographers is to take advantage of Zillow’s massive traffic and become a Zillow Certified Photographer.
Real estate databases like Zillow offer mutually beneficial partnerships with real estate photographers. And by being a Zillow Certified Photographer, you can market your business to Zillow’s real estate agents, enhance your portfolio, and receive discounts on photography gear and services like DJI drones and PhotoUp editing and virtual staging.
All you need to do is submit the required documents and pass the quality check, and you can become Zillow Certified in a matter of minutes.
6. Create a Google My Business Profile
If you’re running a local real estate photography business, you should create a Business Profile on Google My Business. This allows you to be more visible in local searches and on Google Maps, where your potential customers can easily find your business.
In other words, it improves the chances that clients will find you on Google when searching for a real estate photographer in their area or simply using the search term, “real estate photographers near me”.
With Google My Business, you’ll have your own profile and you can add your business’s information, photos, hours of operation, and showcase reviews that will show up directly in the search results.
Make sure all of your information is correct and up to date because a detailed Google My Business profile can help agents pick your business over your competition.
7. Collect and Showcase Reviews
Having testimonials on your website or including them in other promotional materials is among the most powerful photography marketing strategies out there.
