Senior photography is its own special genre of photography.
Not only are you capturing the spirit and youthfulness of your client, but you are documenting one of the most exciting times in their lives. Just thinking about it gets me excited!
Senior portraits are my jam and I could shoot them every day! One thing I have learned over the past few years of working with these young ladies (and the occasional gentleman) is that they want their senior portraits to be an experience rather than just a photo shoot. They want to feel special, pampered and like a rock star for a day.
So how do we accomplish that? What can you do to give them the experience they are looking for and make your business stand out?
Let me tell you how to create an amazing senior experience for your clients.
1. Warm welcome
The senior experience begins with the very first contact you have with your client. How you respond to their inquiry makes a huge difference.
After a client contacts me to say that she is interested in more information, I do my best to respond as quickly as I can. In the event that she has contacted more than one photographer I want to make sure I am the first to respond.
My response email starts off as a template email with basic session information, but then I customize it to the client. For example, if the client mentioned the High School she attends or that she is a volleyball player I will say something about it in the email I send back. This lets the client know that they are not just another name in my inbox and that I am paying attention to what they have said.
Along with my welcome email, I send my clients a link to my Senior Magazine on Issuu. This magazine gives them the full picture of what their senior session will be like and gets them excited.
2. Social media celebrity status
High School seniors are all about social media! They live for it, so part of creating an experience they will tell their friends about is making them a social media celebrity. This can be accomplished in a couple different ways throughout the time with your client.
The first thing you can do is create a social media announcement when a client books with you. Create a template that fits with your brand and anytime you book a client you post to social media and tag your client. This not only helps your client get excited about their session but it lets all their friends know that they booked a session with you. During your session you can post behind the scenes photos and videos and encourage your client to do the same. After the session, posting a few sneak peek images can help keep the excitement of the session going and gives clients something to share on their own social media outlets.
3. Style session
Part of my senior experience includes a wardrobe consultation. Aside from hair and make-up, what to wear is one of the biggest concerns that senior clients have. They want to make sure they will look amazing, so being confident in their wardrobe choice is critical.
About 2-3 weeks before the session we meet at their house or my studio and go through the outfits they have in mind. We talk about the location they have chosen and how each outfit will work with the style they are going for. I pull up my Pinterest boards for ideas and inspiration and we have fun playing dress up for a little while. By the time we are done they have 3-4 outfits that they feel good about and that I know will photograph well.
4. Hair and makeup
Professional hair and makeup used to be something that my clients could add on if they wanted to, but few of them ever did. I started noticing the difference it made when my clients would have their hair and makeup professionally done so I eventually made it part of the overall experience.
Having hair and makeup as part of the portrait experience makes a huge difference and a lot of times is what gets the clients the most excited. They love having someone pamper them and make them look and feel amazing. I have also noticed the difference it makes during their shoot. They feel really great about how they look and it shows in the way they carry themselves during the session.
5. Thank you gift
By the time my client’s photo shoot and ordering session are over we have spent quite a bit of time together and now I am not just “some photographer,” I am their friend. We keep in touch on social media and through my email newsletter but I also like to do a little something extra to let them know how much I appreciate their business.
About a week after their products have been delivered, I mail out a package with a hand-written note thanking them for choosing me and letting them know how much I enjoyed getting to know them. I also include a gift of some sort. I don’t like to send the same gift to each girl so I try to find something that will match their personality or something that I know they will appreciate.
For example: During one senior session I brought along a Mexican blanket that she wanted to use in her photos. She kept talking about how much she loved it and how she wanted one to take to college with her. I knew of a site online that sold them for around $20 so after her session I ordered one for her that matched her college colors. She was so excited to receive it and called me right away to thank me. She also posted a photo of it on social media with a shout-out to my business. Yay!
When it comes to creating a senior experience it is all about the personal attention and special touches. It doesn’t have to mean that you spend a lot of money or hours of your time. It’s about knowing what means the most to your clients and investing time in getting to know them.
It will speak volumes about your business and your clients will quickly become your biggest marketing tool as they share their excitement for the experience you have created.
Thank you for the 5 tips for creating an amazing senior photography experience. I think it’s a great idea to meet with the photographer or a stylist and go through the senior’s clothes to get an idea of what they want to wear. This will let the photographer know how they should shoot and what colors will work best.
I like how you mentioned when it comes to getting senior pictures done one thing we might want to consider is having my daughter’s hair and makeup professionally done. It’s good to know that this will help her get more excited about them getting done and help her show off her amazing features. This is something we will have to remember to have done when it comes to her appointment.