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Image banner for the February 2024 PFRE Photographer of the Month Winner Art Ibewuike, with a featured image of his winning photo titled "Living Room or Family Room""

Congratulations to Art Ibewuike, February 2024 PFRE Photographer of the Month! The theme this month was "Living Room or Family Room". Art Ibewuike - #895 Paul-Dan Dragoman - #898 Peter Wingfield - #900 Here's what Art has to say: Thank you so much for ...

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Best Marketing Strategies for Real Estate Photographers to Skyrocket Sales

Published: 17/03/2022

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

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, I’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.

An image of a real estate

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 I 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.

A closer look on a real estate

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.

An image of a beautiful real estate property

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.

People tend to trust the opinions of others and want to read about other people’s experiences with your business. That’s why online reviews on websites like Amazon are so effective.

Also, Google uses reviews as a ranking factor for the local business search results, so it’s a good idea to develop a system for collecting reviews. Don’t be afraid to send out a follow-up email, asking your clients to leave you a review.

If you feel it’s difficult to ask for reviews, you can give your clients an incentive to leave you the review, such as a discount on their next order. Then, publish them on your website, your social media networks, and use them in your other marketing material. You should be proud of your 5-star reviews!

8. Use the Right Social Media Platforms

Social media is one of the fastest, cheapest, and most effective ways for real estate photographers to get their message out. But before you add your photography business to social media platforms, you need to first identify which networks that are relevant to your business.

Facebook is a no-brainer for real estate photographers since most Realtors are active on this platform. Facebook allows Realtors to publish listing-related updates and content, which makes it a popular marketing channel to promote properties for sale.

You can also join different Facebook Groups related to real estate or create your own FG to start engaging with potential clients and post about your work. Facebook Ads are another great way to target your desired demographic and get more leads.

Pinterest is a popular social media for visual content that’s actually a powerful search engine for images. Pinterest can help you increase your visibility online and drive more traffic and leads to your website.

To leverage Pinterest as the visual search engine it is, you can create boards with different themes and promote your work. But remember to write short descriptions for each board and use relevant tags.

Not to forget about Instagram, which is one of the most influential channels for visual imagery. With Instagram, you can, for example, use the “Stories” feature to showcase your photography. You can also use this channel to run a giveaway contest to boost engagement and get even more exposure.

For instance, an idea would be to ask people to take photos of their homes and post them on Instagram with a branded hashtag, including your business name. And the winner gets a Gift Card to use for your photography services.

9. Offer a Referral Discount

One excellent way of spreading the word about your real estate photography business and giving a kickback to your most loyal clients is to offer a referral discount to Realtors.

Make sure that you have plenty of business cards to give to your clients, and develop a system for when new customers are coming on board. You can just tell your Realtor-client that they will receive a 10% discount on the next order if the customer mentions their name.

In addition, stopping by a Realtor or Broker's office in person and giving them a presentation is another great way to let people know about you. For instance, you can offer them a "first shoot free" or a 50% discount on their first shoot.

Lastly, offering free food to Realtors never goes wrong either!

Conclusion

Real estate photography is changing fast and 2022 is going to be another exciting and productive year for the real estate industry.

As Realtors are looking for new and innovative ways to highlight their properties online, you as a photographer need to stay up to date with the new trends as well. Implementing these marketing strategies will help you add more clients, increase revenue, and take your photography business to the next level.

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