Photography Promotion: How I Found My Niche Supporting Photographers
Day in and day out in my business, I work in photography promotion. I help professional photographers get featured in the media. I also create and publish search-optimised blog content for their ideal clients, which gets them noticed.
I offer both ‘done-for-you’ and ‘done-with-you’ photography marketing and PR services.
Am I a photographer?
Many times, I have been asked about whether I am a professional photographer myself and how I came to work only with professional photographers.
The answer to the first question is ‘no’ – I’m not a photographer myself, but I have been working in PR and marketing my entire career, and with photographers for more than a decade.
For my answer to the second question, keep reading. I’ll tell you a little bit about the story behind my photography marketing and PR agency.
A career-defining encounter
Let me take you back to 2012 when it all started…
My eldest son had just been born and I quickly realised the value of hiring a professional photographer to capture this precious stage. Thankfully, I found that there were a few newborn photographers in my local area to choose from despite newborn photography not being anything like as popular back then as it is now.
Karen Wiltshire of KW Photography was one of the Dorset-based newborn and family photographers I came across. Her professional baby portraits literally leapt out of the screen at me when I visited her website for the first time. I loved her photography style and knew instantly that she was the photographer I wanted to hire.
After the newborn photoshoot, I wasn’t disappointed! I adored every image that Karen created. I recommended her to all my friends and instantly built a rapport with her. Then, once I set up my marketing and PR agency business the following year, Karen and I began working together.
I had identified stories and opportunities which I knew I could use to help Karen grow her photography business. Her work was amazing and she was achieving great things including international photography awards! I was confident that with just a bit of help from me getting the word out about her photography business, that she could reach more people and grow her business as a result.
Two decades in Marketing Communications
It’d probably be worth me explaining that, at this point in the story, I had ten years of experience and had worked in various senior PR and marketing roles. I had graduated from Bournemouth University with a BA (Hons) in Communications in 2002, and had spent the decade leading up to my son being born working my way up in the PR industry.
My first job in PR involved working with local and regional businesses here in Dorset, at Liz Lean PR based on the south coast. There, I helped clients secure media publicity and to use this to promote their businesses. I quickly caught the PR bug!
National and international PR experience
I later worked at the luxury paint and wallpaper brand, Farrow & Ball managing PR activities both in the UK and across Europe, gaining valuable national and international PR experience.
Then, at just 26 years old, I became PR Director at an integrated marketing agency called Marketing Matters.
For four years, I led PR campaigns for national and international clients there. I headed up a small team and we created marketing content and secured invaluable media publicity for our clients. There, I promoted everything from funeral directors to national charities, and housing associations to superyacht manufacturers.
In 2011, my PR campaign for the British Tinnitus Association’s ‘Tinnitus Awareness Week’ – which involved working with celebrity influencers and international DJs including Eddie Temple Morris – won a Chartered Institute of Public Relations Regional Gold Award. It was also featured in the PR industry bible, PR Week, as a case study of excellence – a career highlight for sure!
Supporting busy photographers with their marketing and self-promotion
Back to the story…For six years Karen and I worked together continuously, and she has hired me for project work since then too. She invested in my ‘done-for-you’ PR service because she recognised the importance of marketing to the success of her business and that she couldn’t do it alone.
Finding the time and knowing how to pitch the press and create blog content was a big challenge for her, as it is for many professional photographers who are juggling many hats running their businesses. This is how I usually support photographers who are in the same boat!
Press success!
Working as Karen’s PR and Content Manager over those six years, I was able to quickly demonstrate to her that sharing stories about herself and promoting her work in the media would be an impactful way of reaching potential clients.
I also significantly boosted her website SEO by creating regular blog content for her, driving valuable traffic to her website. This content, and the SEO work done on her website, helped her to climb the rankings on Google and got her noticed online.
Over the years, our work together led to local, national and even international press articles. I secured radio interviews and ‘guest expert’ feature opportunities in glossy magazines and photography trade titles too.
Thanks to her commitment to PR and content, Karen has also been able to maintain highly coveted, top-ranking positions in Google ever since. Rankings secured for search terms relevant to her business were secured in the early days and have been largely maintained since, thanks to her early and sustained investment into SEO content.
This has secured her valuable visibility online and has been responsible for tens of thousands of visits to her website. This has translated into many thousands of pounds worth of bookings and helped her to develop a reputation as a leading newborn photographer not just in Dorset but nationally.
“Zoe has transformed my business from a local, largely unknown small business to being recognised on a national level. She has been a fantastic asset, improving my PR beyond my expectations!”
Karen Wiltshire
I began working with more professional photographers
The success of the photography PR and marketing work I did for Karen led to exciting things! She kindly recommended me to other professional photographers in her network.
This, together with my marketing efforts to position myself as a specialist in PR and marketing for creative small businesses, led to me developing a client base almost entirely of photographers very quickly.
Finding my niche in photography PR and marketing
Finding my niche in photography PR and marketing wasn’t straightforward though. I wasn’t 100% sure about niching to work exclusively with professional photographers initially. I guess I was fearful that, by niching down, I would no longer be considered for work outside of the photography industry.
Was there going to be enough demand for my services? Would the photography industry prove to be a good fit for me long-term? And, could I make it work without leading to a conflict of interest between clients? These were all questions I had at that time.
But, with the encouragement of my brilliant business coach, Laura Phillips, back in 2015 I took the leap! I made the transition to being a PR and content marketing consultant to photographers and, ever since, I have worked exclusively with independent photography professionals.
That decision was the best decision I believe I’ve ever made in business!
PR consultancy for professional photographers
Since then, I’ve been fortunate to get the chance to work with many incredibly talented professional photographers. Many are the leaders in their field; multi-award-winning photographers who are well renowned in the UK and abroad!
Any fears about a lack of demand were unfounded – in fact, I’ve experienced the opposite!
Providing marketing support to professional photographers around the world
Word-of-mouth referrals from happy photography clients continue to bring professional photographers to me.
And, as I gradually transitioned from working part-time to full-time, my own marketing efforts increased too. This has helped me to become visible in the professional photography community and to become known as the go-to PR consultant for photographers.
I have led PR talks at photography events and shows, hosted online training workshops of my own, been invited as a guest expert at various photography marketing summits and been interviewed on various photography podcasts.
I also am committed to practising what I preach!
- I regularly create blogs packed with tips for professional photographers here on my website. These help me to rank highly in search engine results pages
- I have also organically built a email list and share value through my email updates to my subscribers, and give access to free resources designed exclusively for professional photographers
- Also, I have created a photography community on Facebook – called PR-Savvy Photographers – where I share PR and content marketing tips, advice and offer accountability for photographers who are keen to up their marketing game
In addition to my PR and marketing consultancy services, I also now offer marketing mentoring.
This allows me to help more photographers – by teaching and mentoring, rather than doing the marketing and PR for them, I can help those who are struggling to market and promote themselves, without them having to commit to working with me on a ‘done-for-you’ basis.
The Photographer’s Visibility Blueprint is my signature framework on which all my services are based. I simply love promoting photographers and helping them upskill in SEO, blogging and PR.
Helping professional photographers with promotion that grows their businesses
So, in summary, the photography industry found me! And, I’m so glad it did!
It’s now more than a decade since I set up my business and, in that time, I’ve had the honour of working with:
- baby and family portrait photographers
- wedding and elopement photographers
- boudoir photographers
- pet and equine photographers
- wildlife photographers
- commercial photographers
- landscape photographers
- travel photographers
- humanitarian photographers
- those who train and mentor other photographers
- and many more!
I secure valuable press coverage and create search-optimised blog content that boosts my clients’ Google rankings, attracts clients, and supports the growth of their businesses. It’s the work I love to do!
Related: In the Press: Features & Interviews with Zoe Hiljemark
Photography PR and marketing services
I’m passionate about helping professional photographers promote and grow their businesses. I want independent photographers like you to succeed.
Too many small businesses fold, and I believe that, often, this is down to them not adequately marketing themselves. I don’t want that to happen to your photography business!
If you’re curious or are looking for outsourced marketing support, find out more about me and my photography marketing content and PR services, then get in touch if you’d like to chat.
You can also subscribe to get access to my free PR and marketing tips for photographers by email as well as a 10-page visibility guide as a thank you.
Do also join my free photography community on Facebook. The PR-Savvy Photographers group is where you can gain tips and advice on how to use media publicity and content to promote and grow your photography business.
Thanks for your interest in my story! Find out more about me on my About page, and discover PR and marketing tips here on the blog.
Zoe
