As we’re closing out quarter one, it felt like a good time to reflect on what is happening in the brand photography industry as a whole and what’s new in brand photography in 2024. I’ve been a photographer for 10 years and have specialized in brand photography for 7 of those years. In that time I’ve seen a lot of change.

These are my predictions based on the shifts I’m seeing in the market. The trends I think are here to stay. I also share the ways that I’m strategizing and planning in my own business. (As someone who primarily makes an income off of brand photography). The biggest takeaway is this. A successful business owner is adaptable and isn’t afraid to be flexible when confronted with change.

 

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Episode Highlights 

• (01:16) Where brand photography as an industry is headed
• (03:01) Some brand photographers will drop their prices
• (7:11) Companies and businesses have a higher budget for marketing and photography this year 
• (10:23) AI will continue to grow in popularity and how it’s used by Brand Photographers
• (13:55) Brand photography leads will start requesting more branded video content and b-roll options
• (15:12) What content photoshoot days will mean for the brand photography industry 
• (20:38) Brand photography clients will want access to more images

 

What’s New in Brand Photography and Where Brand Photography Is Headed in 2024

Brand photography has been on a growth track for several years. It keeps growing because more and more people become aware of it. There’s such a demand for content and visual branding from business owners. Most entrepreneurs know the benefits of investing in professional photos now.

Demand for Brand Photography Will Increase

Most businesses prioritize photos and view it as important as investing in their logo and website. Whereas in the past that wasn’t the case. Some people would put all of their money on a website or copy. Then they used stock photos or just one headshot for their website.

I used to have to educate my brand photography inquiries and leads on why they needed more than just a headshot when they were investing in photos. Now all of my leads come to me knowing that they want more content. They need content for socials, and a variety of images for their website. In general “branding” and “brand photography” have become buzz words. This is great because that means that there’s a demand for it. 

So my first prediction is that the demand for brand photography is going to continue to grow… But with that growth comes change to the market. 

 

The Cost of Brand Photography Will Change

In 2024 you may notice other photographers are dropping their prices for brand photography. As more photographers pivot into the brand photography market this was bound to happen. Newer brand photographers are going to have lower rates. Or they’re going to have introductory deals to build a branding portfolio. 

If you’ve been offering brand photography for a while and this has been a big part of your business income, you may see a shift this year with your leads not booking as often. You might have a drop in your closing ratio for your brand photography sales. That is because there will be cheaper brand photographers and leads might be confused as to why there is such a difference in pricing structures and packages. 

Should you lower your brand photography prices?

As a business owner it can be easy to assume you need to drop your prices and charge what your competitors are. I don’t think that’s the case. There’s always going to be different budget levels and therefore people need to work with different photographers. Here are three things you can do before you lower your prices:

1. Ask yourself where can you add more value to your clients or how can you adjust your package to better support them.

Is there something in your package that you could add or remove in order to make that price point reflect what your clients can afford? (Examples could include adding or removing a hair and makeup artist, adding or removing the amount of images received, or reducing the photoshoot time.)

2. Is there something that you can change in your messaging to better share the value of the service that you provide.

Are you making it clear to potential clients why your process is different than someone else and why they might have a higher cost to work with you because of that?

3. Reevaluate what brand photography client you’re targeting.

There’s a lot that you can do before you just drop your rates. If you see a trend in your market of people charging less than what you’re charging, you might need to reevaluate who you’re targeting. If you’ve only worked with personal brands and solo business owners, then it might be time to start talking to more teams and larger businesses. The brand photography niche can cover so many different clients and industries. So if you’re running into an issue where the client that you’re working with or the type of demographic that you’re trying to attract cannot afford your services, then it might be time to change your marketing and change your messaging to attract someone else.

I worked with several clients last year that booked my branding photo services after they had already worked with another brand photographer. All of them had worked with someone that was cheaper than me. My clients were disappointed in their investment and experience the first time around. They regretted the initial investment that they made with the other photographers. They all told me they wished they had paid for my services first. I’ve had this happen every year the last few years. This trend shows that at the end of the day the price point will reflect the level of service that is delivered. 

Businesses Have A Larger Budget For Marketing and Brand Photography

My third prediction is that companies actually will have a higher budget for marketing and photography this year. Corporate companies and businesses realize that their generic stock photos and stuffy headshots are just not working now. That’s not how they can make a connection with their potential customers. So they have become aware of brand photography and instead of investing in just team headshots and generic stock photos, they’re going all in on branding photography.

There’s a lot of conversation online about what businesses owners are willing to pay for when it comes to brand photos and I’m in a few Facebook groups where photographers talk about their struggles with finding clients. (Click here to read about 8 ways to generate leads for your brand photography business!) But if you start promoting to small teams and businesses that are larger than a solopreneur, you’ll see they do have a budget and they often plan for that budget at the very beginning of the year. So that might be something to consider to shift your demographic and see if you can start targeting a different type of client that still needs brand photography, but it might just not be a solo business owner. 

 

How to determine what budget a business has for marketing

I had a one-on-one coaching session a few years ago with Mike Michalowicz (the author of Profit First). In my meeting with him he shared an interesting tip for how to quickly determine the revenue of a business. At that time I was still mostly focusing on personal brands, but he’s the one that advised me to start looking for larger teams.

He shared that for every full-time team member a business has, you can be expecting at least $100,000 of revenue. So if you’re looking at a solopreneur, they might be making multiple six figures, but they are going to eventually tap out of what they can make because they’re running a business alone. Whereas if you have a team of 10 people, they’re probably making more like a million dollars. And if it’s a million dollar company, they are going to have a budget for marketing that’s a lot bigger than the solo business owner.

AI Will Continue To Grow In Popularity and How It’s Used By Brand Photographers

AI has the potential to transform your processes and productivity, but it can 100% NOT replace you! When it comes to branding your business, selling your services, and showing up for your clients, authenticity is the #1 priority.

I wholeheartedly recommend finding ways that AI can help lighten the load in your business, but I caution you to MAKE SURE you’re showing up authentically online in your website copy, social media presence and client management.

My favorite AI find last year was Imagen an AI photo editor. While I love my private photo editor, I did find that Imagen saved me hundred of dollars while speeding up my editing workflow. You can try Imagen here (and you first 1500 edits are free!).

Leads Will Request More Branded Video Content and B-roll

Creative visual storytelling will be more important than before. Our world is moving faster than ever, so video continues to be a high value add for brand photographers. Can you incorporate video services into your brand photography packages? I offer a b-roll footage add-on to my photoshoot packages and my clients LOVE it!

I decided to learn brand videography when I noticed an increase of leads requesting both photo and video deliverables. Offering video as an add-on helped me close multiple sales last year. I know the numbers will just keep growing as I promote that service this year.

 

What Content Photoshoot Days Will Mean for the Brand Photography Industry

Another prediction I have for 2024 is that we will continue to see the growth of content photoshoot days. In my market in Nashville, we have several different companies that offer content days and they are not photographers. Social media managers, marketing agencies, web designers, and social strategists are offering content days to help business owners capture images and create content for social media.

What is the difference between a Content Photoshoot Day and Brand Photography?

Brand photography is more strategic. Plus the photos delivered are versatile to be used for marketing on your website, social media platforms, printed or digital brand collateral and more. Brand photography images are edited and high quality, and the business owner is given the commercial rights to use the images to promote their business.

Content Days are solely social media focused, and a lot of times the goal is quantity over quality. Many times the deliverables for content days are not culled down or edited. The business owner has to do that part later, which doesn’t save them time. Content days also tend to include b-roll and iPhone video files that can be used for Reels and TikTok. 

How to book recurring clients as a brand photographer (brand photography retainer packages) 

If you’re in a market where you’re seeing these content photoshoot days growing, there’s a way that you can create a package to compete with the service as a brand photographer. Offer an alternative to the content days by having a retainer package and promoting a package for ongoing photoshoots and for recurring content. Give your branding clients the option of a service where they can work with you on a monthly or quarterly basis to create content for all their marketing needs, and not just social media. 

 

Brand Photography Clients Will Want Access To More Images

In the age of social media and with all of this buzz around content days, brand photographers that offer a package where there are images included in the fee will be more successful in this niche.

Whether you have a package where the downloads are limited and additional images are sold separately, or a package that’s all inclusive with a gallery of images to use… The photographers that deliver various images to their clients will be in higher demand than those that sell their images per photo.

There’s a demand for content, so business owners want to work with photographers that prioritize delivering usable content.

Are you ready to streamline and grow your brand photography business?

This content is brought to you by The Brand Photography Shop. You can find free and paid resources, templates and digital downloads to grow your business. These are all created by a brand photographer for brand photographers. Go to the shop to learn more today!

 

 

CHECK THIS OUT NEXT!

• Struggling to generate leads in your brand photography business? Read this blog post for 8 marketing strategies you can try to book more clients!
• Purchase The Brand Photography Starter Kit for all the resources and tools I use to run my own brand photography business!  If you need brand photography email templates, a brand photography client workflow or planning questionnaire, you’ll find all the downloads in the shop!
• Listen to the Become A Brand Photography podcast to learn how to pivot into brand photography. On the podcast I share everything I’ve learned the last 5+ years (and 200 brand photoshoots later) about running an in-demand brand photography business!