Photography Enquiries in Q2 2026: What’s Working for Photographers Now?
Earlier this year, I launched my first quarterly photography marketing survey to get a clearer picture of what’s really happening “on the ground” for photographers when it comes to visibility, enquiries and marketing.
The Q1 results revealed some interesting trends, including slower enquiries for many photographers and the importance of Google search and referrals in generating new business.
So, as we reached the end of Quarter 2, I wanted to check in again.
Are enquiries picking up? What’s actually generating leads for photographers? What are they struggling with when it comes to marketing? And where are they planning to focus their efforts next?
Photography Marketing Q2 Survey Results
Firstly, a sincere thank you to the 15 photographers who took the time to complete my Q2 survey. I really do appreciate every response.
I would, of course, have loved to have received far more. With such a small sample, these findings cannot be taken as representative of the photography industry as a whole.
However, there are still some interesting patterns within the responses, particularly when we compare them with what photographers told me in Q1.
My hope is that participation will grow with each quarterly survey, allowing us to build a clearer picture of what photographers are experiencing over time.
Who took part in the Q2 photography marketing survey?
The 15 photographers who responded represented a mix of photography specialisms, including pet and equine, wedding, portrait and family, commercial, personal branding and headshots, wildlife and nature, fine art, interiors and events.
Many worked across more than one photography niche.
Most respondents, 11 out of 15, described themselves as full-time photographers. The remainder were working part-time or combining photography with other work.
Key Q2 Survey Insights
1. Consistent photography enquiries remain elusive
One of the strongest messages to emerge from Q1 was that enquiries were slow for many photographers.
So, have things improved in Q2?
There are some signs that they may have, but enquiries remain far from consistent for most of the photographers who responded.
In Q2:
- 47% described enquiries as noticeably slower than expected or very quiet
- 40% said enquiries had been inconsistent but manageable
- Just 13% described their enquiries as consistent and strong
That means 87% of the photographers surveyed did not describe their Q2 enquiries as consistent and strong.
In Q1, 63% of respondents had described their enquiries as slow or very quiet, so the Q2 figure of 47% could suggest some improvement.
However, with a much smaller group responding this quarter, I would be cautious about drawing firm conclusions from that comparison alone.
What we can say is that inconsistent enquiries remain a very real issue for many of the photographers who took part.
2. Half experienced a weaker Q2 than last year
I also asked photographers to compare Q2 2026 with the same period in 2025.
Of those who were in business in both periods:
- 50% said Q2 was weaker than Q2 2025
- 29% said it was about the same
- 21% said it was much stronger
Interestingly, six of the seven photographers reporting a weaker quarter described it as much weaker.
Again, this is a small sample. But combined with the enquiry figures, it suggests that the challenging conditions highlighted in my Q1 survey haven’t simply disappeared as we’ve moved further into the year.
What’s actually generating photography enquiries in 2026?
This is where the Q2 results get particularly interesting.
I asked respondents which marketing channels had contributed to enquiries during the quarter.
Two came out clearly on top:
- Google search (SEO and website)
- Referrals and word of mouth
Both generated enquiries for 10 of the 15 photographers surveyed.
Past and returning clients were also important, generating enquiries for seven respondents.
By comparison:
- Instagram generated enquiries for five
- Facebook generated enquiries for five
- Exhibitions and events generated enquiries for four
- Email marketing generated enquiries for three
- LinkedIn generated enquiries for three
- Networking and partnerships generated enquiries for three
- PR/media generated enquiries for one
- Paid advertising generated enquiries for one
Google and referrals come out on top again
What makes this particularly interesting is that Google search and referrals were also among the strongest sources of enquiries in my Q1 survey.
So, while two quarters of relatively small surveys certainly aren’t enough to declare an industry-wide trend, this is becoming something worth watching.
When I asked respondents about their most effective source of enquiries in Q2, Google search was selected more frequently than any other channel.
There is an important distinction here.
People finding you through Google are actively searching for something.
People coming through recommendations already have an element of trust in you.
Both are very different from simply appearing in someone’s social media feed and hoping to capture their attention.
Don’t overlook your previous clients
Another finding I think is worth highlighting is the importance of past and returning clients.
Seven of the 15 respondents generated enquiries this way during Q2.
It’s easy to think of marketing primarily as something we do to attract new people.
But staying visible to people who already know, like and trust your work can be just as important.
Between the three strongest sources of enquiries in this survey, there is perhaps a simple lesson:
Be found. Be recommended. Be remembered.
That means creating a strong online presence that helps people discover you, giving clients and others good reasons to recommend you, and staying visible to the people who already know your work.
The biggest photography marketing challenge in Q2? Consistency
In Q1, the biggest challenge photographers reported was simply not getting enough enquiries.
That remains a significant concern. Six of the 15 Q2 respondents selected it as one of their biggest marketing challenges.
But this quarter, something else came out on top.
Lack of consistency with marketing was selected by seven respondents, making it the most commonly reported challenge.
Other concerns included:
- Website and SEO not generating enough leads
- Potential clients lacking the desire to spend money on photography
- Not knowing what to focus on
- Being too busy
- Pricing and positioning
What feels difficult about photography marketing right now?
The open-ended responses add some useful context.
Photographers talked about feeling invisible, struggling to complete the marketing tasks they know they need to do, letting marketing slide when client work gets busy, and feeling frustrated by low engagement on social media.
One respondent commented:
“Marketing gets forgotten when I’m busy and is then picked up again when things get quiet.”
Another described:
“Feeling invisible and not knowing what will work.”
And another said:
“It feels like I need to do 10x more of what used to work.”
I suspect many photographers will recognise at least some of this.
Because knowing that marketing matters and actually finding the time and headspace to do it consistently are two very different things.
And when you are trying to blog, optimise your website, post on social media, network, send emails and somehow keep on top of the latest marketing advice, it is very easy to spread yourself too thinly.
The answer isn’t necessarily to do more. It may be to get much clearer about which marketing activities deserve your time and to do those more consistently.
Are photography clients becoming more reluctant to spend?
Another theme worth watching is client spending.
Four of the 15 respondents identified potential clients’ reluctance to spend money on photography as one of the marketing challenges they are currently facing.
Again, the sample is far too small to conclude that this is happening across the wider photography industry.
But it’s something I’ll be interested to monitor in future quarterly surveys.
If demand is becoming more cautious in some areas of photography, giving potential clients strong reasons to choose you becomes even more important.
Your marketing needs to communicate not simply what you do, but why your particular experience, approach and photography are worth investing in.
What photographers are focusing on in Q3
So, where are photographers planning to put their marketing efforts next?
The most popular Q3 priorities among respondents were:
- Improving their website and SEO: 10
- Blogging and content marketing: 7
- Building partnerships and networking: 7
- Refining their niche or positioning: 4
- Getting featured through PR/media: 3
- Social media growth: 2
- Paid advertising: 2
Only two respondents said they weren’t yet sure what they would focus on.
There is something particularly interesting about these results.
The areas photographers are planning to prioritise broadly reflect the channels that respondents told me are already bringing in enquiries.
Google and referrals performed strongly in Q2. Website/SEO and relationship-building are now among photographers’ biggest priorities for Q3.
To me, that feels like a sensible shift.
What can we learn from the Q2 results?
I’m wary of making sweeping claims from a survey of just 15 people. But taken alongside the Q1 findings, there are several things I believe are worth paying attention to.
Firstly, consistent enquiries cannot be taken for granted.
Secondly, the channels that have performed particularly strongly across these surveys aren’t necessarily the ones demanding that you create something new every day.
- Search can help people discover you when they are actively looking
- Recommendations bring trust with them
- Previous clients already know the value of what you offer
- And useful content, relationships and a strong online presence can continue working for you long after you’ve created them.
None of this means abandoning social media. Instagram and Facebook did generate enquiries for some respondents.
But it does reinforce something I’ve been encouraging photographers to think about for a long time: your visibility shouldn’t depend on one platform or one marketing channel.
The aim is to create a stronger, more sustainable marketing ecosystem around your photography business.
One that helps you to be found, recommended and remembered.
What will Q3 tell us?
This is only the second of my quarterly photography marketing surveys, and I’m keen to see what happens next.
- Will enquiries strengthen in Q3?
- Will Google and referrals continue to come out on top?
- Will consistency remain photographers’ biggest marketing challenge?
- And will concerns about client spending become more prominent or fade away?
I’ll be running the next survey at the end of Q3, and I’d love to have many more photographers contribute so we can build an increasingly useful picture of what’s happening across the industry.
Join my mailing list to hear when the Q3 survey opens.
Want to strengthen your photography marketing?
If some of these findings feel familiar and you’re unsure where your marketing efforts would be best spent, this is exactly the kind of thing I help photographers work through.
Rather than trying to be everywhere, I help photographers develop a visibility strategy focused on getting found, building trust and becoming easier to choose.
You can:
- Explore my PR and marketing services for photographers
- Book a Visibility Strategy Session with me
- Download my free Visibility Guide for photographers
Zoe
