A client once canceled their wedding after receiving their engagement photos. The couple wanted LESS candid photos and MORE posed, stiff, both-people-looking-at-the-camera shots. I was crushed and left wondering: what was I doing wrong? I started a deep dive into researching branding foundations and I ran across the term “ideal client avatar” for the first time. Discovering your own ideal client avatar is one of the best lead generation strategies to put to work first in your business!

Know Your Own Goals and Values First

I took the time to figure out who my ideal client was in my business at a point when I didn’t have any clients that were actually ideal. From this experience I learned some important things about ideal clients:

What makes a client a good fit isn’t ONLY through the ways that they connect with your work. That may be how they initially FIND YOU, but you actually BOOK them through a connection over shared VALUES and GOALS.

Based on these values and goals you can more easily find your ideal client knowing you are able to provide them with an experience that serves them well. I decided to look into what the couple valued, what they were looking for in their photos (both the feeling and the look of it), their lifestyle, and what was most important to them about the wedding day. Utilizing this starting point as lead generation strategies taught me a TON about who exactly I wanted to work with.

Knowing what my ideal client wanted helped me realize what I already valued in my work. Knowing this opened up a whole new world of photography for me. You can thrive in what you do best because you know that’s what your client wants!

Steps to Discover Your Ideal Client Avatar  

An ideal client avatar is a term used to define who you want to work with or who is your buyer persona. Another way to phrase this could be your “dream customer” or “best fit clientele.” It’s a fictional representation of your perfect customer.

Creating your ICA takes researching and gathering information. You’ll want to conduct surveys, interviews, and identify the pain points and goals of your ideal clients. I had to do the same thing by gathering market research and testing it to ensure I was catering to the right group of people.

If you don’t have existing data or experience to work with, then we can start from scratch in your lead generation strategies! Write down what you imagine your ideal client could be and then you can adapt this once you get that information through future experience!

How Your Audience Finds You

• What are the top three most common ways that your audience finds you? (pull data from the “How did you find me?” section of your Inquiry Form or ask directly during an initial consultation call)

Your Client Type

• Look at Past Clients (reviews/testimonials), Inquiries (current/past), Sales Call Conversations & Styled Shoots.
• What is it that most of your clients say that they love about working with you? What are descriptive words they used about how working with you made them feel?
• Send past clients a Questionnaire (or conduct an interview) asking them how they found you, what originally drew them to you, and what the experience was like in working together! (in the future, I would recommend including this in your testimonial form as you close out each client!) Provide a reward for helping you out!

Know What Resonates with Your Audience

• Social Media Analytics, Website Demographic Analytics, Email List Analytics, Google Analytics
• Based on your top blogs, top visited website pages, top performing social media posts, and most opened email list emails, which topics are performing the best? 
• Survey your audience via Instagram Stories.
• Which kinds of social media posts/stories/reels get the most engagement and what topics/tips are you covering in that content? (look at the comments too!) If you don’t have much to pull from already, make Instagram Reels and Stories to test out their response.

Lead Generation Strategies That Guide Your Ideal Clients to You

Knowing your ICA impacts everything as you incorporate it into every single piece of your business. Once discovered, this might bring in the need for changes to your branding and website through these lead generation strategies:

LEAD GENERATION STRATEGIES TO START: BRANDING

• Create a mood board that reflects your ICA to base your branding on.
• Get branded headshots done that now reflect a style that builds trust and your ICA would look for.
• Create a brand voice guide with a list of 100 words using language that resonates with your target audience. Also record which words/topics to avoid.

MARKETING THROUGH LEAD GENERATION STRATEGIES

• Use your research to determine which platforms to focus your organic marketing on.
• Create content (social media, blogs, emails, etc) that provides free value based on their values and goals while also addressing their pain points. 
• Showcase desired shots from weddings or styled shoots based on ICA preferences that will lead to an informed decision for their wedding photography.
• Change the language on your website to reflect your ICA.
• Change out photos that now reflect what your ideal client values.

SALES IN LEAD GENERATION STRATEGIES

• Change the language and layout of your initial inquiry template and pricing guide to reflect the ideal client’s vernacular.
• Write out a pitch to use in all initial sales calls.

I truly believe that there is an “ideal fit” for each photographer that pairs well with them. They may not be the perfect fit, but there’s enough connection in what matters most to make it work!