facebook ads for photographers

Oh, Facebook… I can’t believe I am actually writing a post about success with Facebook ads. Why, you may ask? Because in my 6 years of love for online marketing, Facebook has never been my top priority. I saw over and over again photographers raving about how Facebook was great for their photography business, and I kept scratching my head. I had done well with Twitter and blogging, but I had also found that many of my wedding clients at the time were not huge social media users. Then, as new changes to Facebook rolled out once, twice, and many other times, I saw that there were no new benefits for business pages. Then, the whole engagement thing happened, and it was like Facebook had forgotten small business owners altogether. I still don’t believe Facebook is a good representation of my brand, and my goal is to get the Facebook visitors to go to my brand in places like my blog and website.

But despite all this, Facebook has now grown on me. Yup, never, never say never. Since relocating my photography business, I have found that Facebook is a great marketing tool in this new market and I had to take a second look at it. I also saw photographer Jessica Wood from Jessica M. Wood Photography, who had posted in the Bridal Market FB group about her success with a Facebook ad which was intriguing.. She then came out with some awesome tips and a PDF with some great tips. I followed her tips and was astonished that my first ad yielded 2 wedding inquiries in 24 hours! Too bad they were both for the same wedding date, which I was already booked for, but then my attention really perked up! I also got a portrait inquiry that led to booking a family beach session. A month later, I met a fellow photographer at Sam Hurd’s workshop who also raved about his massive success with Facebook ads; he had booked 35 weddings using Facebook Ads.

I see folks saying they are not having success, but I see them just boosting posts or promoting their page, and we need to be more specific on actions and goals. One thing’s for sure, place an ad for website visitors—remember that you want to direct people to your brand, not to Facebook per se.

how to do Facebook ads for photo biz

 There are some important steps to take, so let’s get started plus free download PDF at bottom.

  1. Step 1 is to go to http://www.facebook.com/ads
  2. Create Ad – Clicks to Website
  3. Ad website/blog URL that you want to feature
  4. Targeting: Targeting will be your best friend so use it wisely. Limit the age to what the age groups are for your ideal client. Choose some towns or states that you service. I like to narrow it down to clients, so targeting will change based on whether you are aiming for portraits with clients who are moms, or if you are doing it for weddings and your audience is brides. One tip Martin shared with me is to choose men and women, not just women for wedding photography and I have seen more reach that way, as well.
  5. Add interests if you would like.
  6. Budget: BE CAREFUL here. I suggest you choose 1, 2 or 3 days to start, and not more than that. Jessica had a great tip about aiming for at least an audience of 6-10k reach for your ad. She also stated to be checking your billing to make sure you are on track with your budget.
  7. Pick images: Pick great images that are clean and that will capture attention. I love this feature of adding up to 6 images because then you can see which images are being clicked on the most. I added some engagement images along with the wedding ones.
  8. Add a GIFT in the Text like a call to action with a coupon or discount. Brilliant advice by Jessica. You need to capture the audience’s attention in the headline. I added a $100 discount if they mentioned the ad, which is a very small discount for a wedding client, so choose your gift wisely. This helps in grabbing a client’s attention. They do a live preview, so you can see exactly how your ad will appear, which is awesome.
  9. Connect to your Business Page
  10. Place Order

facebook ads for wedding photographers

 CHECK OUT JESSICA’s FULL PDF HERE!

Most ads do get approved and do not take too long. They do not like ads with too much text on images, and they review your info first before approving you. Keep an eye out for whether you are approved, and watch your budget like a hawk so you avoid extra expenses and make sure you pick your budget per day.

Experiment with Video Ads as video gets more reach in Facebook.  Have you tried any ads? How did it go?