The Importance of Personal Branding
See why you need to start implementing this in your business...
While your brand name will convey more about you, you and your face need to show up in your business.
Photography is personal. Weddings are personal. Your wedding photography business needs to be built around your personality.
Why is this important?
Well, it’s been suggested that for people to buy your product (or service), they need to have seen your brand at least 7 times. It’s called the Rule of 7.
You may be asking, why so many times?
Well, they first need to get to know you and what you do. Then they need to like you and your work. Finally, they have to trust you. I mean, you don’t invest a significant amount of money in someone you don’t trust, right?
It could be a lot more than 7, but it’s at least 7.
Showing you (and your face) will help to build trust with potential clients.
While your brand needs to be personal, you should use discernment.
You still need to be professional. Posting constantly about your personal life is not professional. You need to discern which aspects of your private life serve your business and brand.
One of the best ways to utilise this is Instagram stories. They aren’t a permanent fixture on your page but are probably the most popular part of the app. You can give your followers a glimpse into your life, but it will be fleeting.
Here’s an example:
The Super Bowl was on this weekend (*at the time I wrote this). For us in the UK, it started at 11.30pm and didn’t end until 4/4.30am (it was a late one, especially with the overtime!).
We’re big Kansas City Chiefs fans so I posted a selfie of David and I celebrating with our Chiefs hats! The next morning, I had messages from three of my future wedding couples sharing their experience of staying up to watch it. It created a connection where there may not have been one before.
Let me give you another one.
We have two dogs, a golden retriever called Ghost and a cockapoo called Lupin. They are regularly snoozing beside me while I edit. When I’m on calls, Ghost tends to get jealous that I’m talking to someone and not giving him attention, so he will regularly bop my arm.
I’ll occasionally post photos of them on social media when they’re doing either of these things, or if they’re just being cute. I mean, who doesn’t like dogs?
Like the first example, people regularly engage with these stories.
They have nothing to do with my photography (or at a stretch, loosely), but my couples and followers love it.
Why? Because it shows them more about me, what goes on behind the scenes of those carousel grid posts.
I know other photographers do a lot more. Namely, Tik-Tok and Instagram reels which are great ways to get yourself in front of the camera and show some behind-the-scenes content from photoshoots.
Again, use discernment. I’ve seen photographers slag or insult wedding guests and couples in so-called funny reels. That sort of thing could harm your brand a lot more than it helps.
Remember, you’re putting your face out there so your clients can get to know you better so they will trust you. You don’t want them to have a negative reaction to what you’re putting on there.
So, who exactly should your brand be attracting?