A very important part of any marketing plan or strategy is content creation. Content creation is the basis of getting information about your photography brand out into the world. It's also about creating educational, informational, or just plain fun pieces for your potential client base to read or view. When you engage people with your content, you are one step further in showing them how your photography services can be beneficial to them.

Content doesn't just refer to a blog on your website. It refers to the entirety of information you are posting on your website which includes your social media platforms, or any other place where your content might be featured. With that being said, there is a multitude of avenues which you can begin to explore. If this is your first go at content creation – start simple. Then, decide what your business has the capacity for and venture out with content that you feel comfortable testing.

If you've already created your marketing plan, you're likely to have created your buyer persona and set a goal for what you want your marketing to achieve (website visits, conversions, social shares, etc.). The next step is to perform a content audit. A content audit is essentially research of the content you currently have (website, blog, social media, videos, etc.) and how it's performing for you. As in how many views, clicks, and shares you have seen for each item. There are plenty of tools out there that can help you take a deep dive, just find the one that works for you. Once you know what's working and what's not, you can focus on the content that really brings your target audience to your website.

Once you've done that, you can start your content marketing plan.

Determine the Content that You Want To Create

Ideally, start by choosing the pieces that performed the best in your content audit. If you're just starting up, then decide what you have the capacity for, and what you think your target audience might best engage with. Again, you have so many options, so pick what works for you. Currently, video is trending above most other pieces of content, so if you have the equipment and the time, making videos can be a major help. If you're not entirely sure where to begin with video, try a simple tool to get you off the ground. Or research your own options for your level of skill in video production.

Brainstorm Content Ideas

You may want to get a few creative minds together to discuss topics that might be best suited for your photography business. Think of things that will contain keywords, and ideas that relate directly to what you do. For instance, wedding photography: a blog about best photo practices, a social share about the best bride looks, a short video of you photographing a wedding, etc. You might also consider incorporating seasonal content into your calendar. Once you've exhausted your brain, there are also additional tools out there to help.

Create a Content Management System

This can be as simple as creating a calendar, a process, and a review, which can all be done with our favorite thing... SPREADSHEETS! You can also purchase tools to help with this item, but we've found that it's just as easy to create a system on your own that works for you.

Make sure you set up a calendar to not only keep yourself organized but to be able to get an overview of what you're putting out and how often. Your process can be customized to what works for you and your studio. Are you the one posting content? Do you have a studio manager that likes to post on social media for you? Figure out who will create what content, and who will post it to your platforms. And since you have a calendar, you can periodically go back to see what you posted, and then review how engaging that content was. So you're constantly doing check-ins or smaller content audits.

Publish Content

You've done all the planning, and now it's time to publish. Keeping up with your calendar can ensure that you are creating content on a regular basis to keep potential clients engaged. If you let your content fizzle out, it's likely that they'll lose interest, or that Google won't be finding you to increase your ranking on its search platform. Publish what you can, when you can, and watch your marketing and branding efforts soar!

Any content marketing strategy is all about testing, adapting/editing, republishing, and testing again. Keep an eye on your content, figure out what is really speaking to your potential client, and optimize that content to reach more people. Just like anything, practice makes perfect. So the more you post and test, the better you will become at creating just the right content for your clients.

If you're interested in finding out more about how to market and sell your photography service, check out PPA's sales and marketing resources. If you're not yet a PPA member, check out all the other additional benefits and consider joining today!