How to Educate Photography Clients

Being a photographer means being an educator. The longer you work with clients, you’ll realize that most have limited knowledge of how a professional photography session works. Even after explaining it on your consultation call! It’s your job to help them understand what to expect and how to prepare.

You are the expert and the teacher.

Taking the time to eliminate their worries and questions will help build trust before the session. It also improves your client experience, leaving your clients feeling more confident. (And confident clients are key to beautiful images!)

Understanding Your Client’s Perspective and Your Capabilities

Before diving into the strategies, let’s step into your client’s shoes for a moment. Imagine you’re planning a special event, maybe a wedding or a family photoshoot. You probably have a ton of questions. Wouldn’t you want someone who not only captures beautiful moments but also guides you through the process? Of course! This understanding and empathy are the cornerstones of successful client communication.

Which is the goal! However…

Let’s not forget, you’re also running on limited time. Especially wedding photographers who deal with a high volume of clients every year. Being a caring educator claims a lot of time. You have to educate prospective clients and booked clients. To prevent working 24/7 to answer questions, you must focus on how to educate your clients efficiently. 

Educating Prospective Photography Clients (Before Booking)

The first step is to educate people who are interested in your services. There are lots of questions to answer, from choosing where to host the session to what the process is from booking to session day and beyond.

Not knowing the answers can prevent people from inquiring altogether.

Blog Posts as Education Tools for Photographers

I recommend using blog posts as your secret education tool. Create blog posts from frequently asked questions prospective clients ask about your photography services. Host them on your website so people browsing your services will be able to easily find their answers. There are hundreds of topics you can choose from! Just remember, these blogs are meant to get people to inquire. Always add a call-to-action at the end to book a consultation call with you.

Create Freebies

I firmly believe everyone loves freebies! Freebies aren’t just for coaches and other service-based creatives. People who are interested in your services will want to get their hands on a single PDF they can browse that answers questions. Take those same FAQs you brainstormed for blogging and pick out the most asked questions. Create a freebie that people can download from your website. That also puts them on your email list so you can nurture and wow them with your portfolio.

Guiding Your Clients from Booking to Photoshoot

Once your client books your photography services, the real education begins. Now, you aren’t just telling people about your services on a whim. They have to understand how to prepare for their session or risk jeopardizing their photos.

Activate Your Client Communication Email Workflow

The first thing to do once your client books is activate a friendly and informative client communication workflow. Here, you introduce yourself, express your excitement to work with them and provide an overview of what they can expect. Make sure you include important reminders, such as payment dates, pre-session check-ins, etc.

If the task of having to send too many emails is what brought you here, do yourself a favor. Use an email template designed for your photography niche. Email templates are typically copy/paste and allow you to quickly create a communication workflow. (Without having to do much writing yourself. Win!)

Send Your Session & Style Guide

Recently, I broke down everything you need to know about session and style guides here. Your session and style guide is the ultimate educational Wikipedia for booked clients. Include it in your client communication workflow in one of the first emails you send.

Your guide will educate clients on everything from:

• Choosing the Perfect Location: Offer insights into selecting ideal photoshoot locations and the impact they have on the final images.
• Wardrobe Tips: Share advice on what to wear for a photoshoot, emphasizing color coordination and comfort.
• The Creative Process: Demystify your creative process, explaining how you plan and execute a photoshoot.
• FAQs: Like what happens if it rains, Dos and Don’ts, what to bring, and more. 

It’s kind of a big deal. 

Include More Blogs

It may take more than saying something once to keep your client prepared. Especially if there is a long time between when your client books and their session. I recommend creating blogs specifically designed to address booked client questions. You may even recycle some of the topics you used in your session and style guide.

If your client’s session date is more than 2 months out – include helpful blogs in your client communication workflow. If they don’t need the reminder, great, but better safe than sorry!

Educating Your Client After the Session

And you thought you were done. Ha! Your role in educating your client carries into post-session gallery delivery, album selection, and collection selection. I like to frontload some of this into that initial client communication workflow. (Seriously, that thing puts in work!) But if you practice In-Person Sales (IPS) you’ll also have to do some in-person education.

In this phase of teaching, invest in some nice print-outs of your collection or a presentation walking the client through the ordering process. If you’re IPS, you’ll be there to help them too. The goal for this stage of education is to lead them to product purchases.

Take The Time To Educate Your Photography Clients

At every opportunity you get. The more you pour into your client, the better their experience with you will be. The better their experience, the more likely they purchase products, tell their friends, and become a repeat client. So, go ahead, embrace the educator’s role, and watch your client relationships flourish. 

I hope you find these tips helpful. If you’re ready to dive deeper into any of the tips I provided, I have tons of blogs to read through. If you want to explore more photography blog post ideas, don’t hesitate to check out my $15 guide – 150 Blog Ideas for Photographers.