Do you get excited when you book a new personal brand photography client, only to feel a bit lost (and maybe sweaty) when they ask, “What shots should we get?” Or do you leave shoots feeling like something is missing? Maybe you take great photos (that your clients love!), but you know you could offer more. You need a brand photography questionnaire!
I felt this same way a year into my brand photography journey. Initially, I focused on gathering clients, taking the best photos I could, and making my clients happy. But soon, I realized we could go deeper. I wanted to offer more than just headshots. I wanted to create images tailored to my clients’ personalities, businesses, and marketing needs.
That’s when I created my brand photography questionnaire. The result? I went from charging $197 for a 1-hour session to $5,000 for full-day, value-packed brand shoots. With this deeper understanding of my clients, I have the insights to create more valuable and strategic photographs for them.
Curious? In this post, I’m letting you in on 3 reasons to start using a brand photography questionnaire and how it will transform your business. Plus, you can download the exact questionnaire I use with my clients so you don’t have to create your own.
Let’s get into it!
What is a Brand Photography Questionnaire?
A brand photography questionnaire is a list of questions to ask your client during the planning stages of their brand photoshoot. I divided my questionnaire into four sections: your business, your brand, your goals, and your story. These topics that allow me to understand my clients, both professionally and personally. Both need to shine in their photos!
The questionnaire can take any form you’d like: an in-person or virtual conversation, an online form, a quiz, etc. I send my clients this questionnaire in an online form created in Dubsado. This way, sending the questionnaire is automated and seamlessly integrated into my workflow, saving me tons of time!
Overall, a brand photography questionnaire helps you understand your client’s vision and goals, generate shot ideas, research their company, boost your client experience, and streamline your process. Major wins!
01. Boost Your Client Experience
Firstly, a brand photography questionnaire gives you clarity about your client’s vision and hopes for their photoshoot. While some clients may have a specific vision in mind, everyone will have a reason for getting brand photos done and expectations for how it will help their business. Asking upfront about these hopes helps avoid disappointment and missed shots later on.
As a brand photographer, one of your key responsibilities is to make your clients happy and provide an exceptional experience. Understanding and fulfilling their vision for the shoot, which you can help elevate, is essential. Your clients will be impressed by how thoughtful and comprehensive you are in the initial stages of working with them!
Furthermore, knowing these hopes and visions ahead of time helps you set guidelines and expectations for shoot day. If your client wants to shoot more than what their package accommodates, you’ll know this before the shoot. Then, you can explain what you can accomplish in your time together. This proactive approach ensures there are no surprises, and it sets realistic expectations for the shoot.
02. Generate Shot Ideas
My favorite benefit of a brand photography questionnaire is that it gives you a well of information to turn into creative shot ideas. Remember how my questionnaire is divided into themes (your business, your brand, your goals, and your story)? Within each section, my clients give me info I can turn into shot ideas. Each step of their client or product creation process can be transformed into a compelling shot idea. This method ensures that every photo session is meaningful and tailored to your client (no more clichés here!).
My favorite way to generate shot ideas is within the goals section. Clients often have specific business goals tied to their brand photoshoot. For example, they might be preparing for a product launch and need photos to market the launch and showcase products on their website. By knowing these goals upfront, you can tailor the shot list to align with their broader business objectives. Shot list—done!
When you understand your client’s vision, goals, personality, and business, you’ll find yourself inspired to think of creative shot ideas tailored to their marketing needs.
03. Streamline Your Workflow
Using my client questionnaire has been key in streamlining and up-leveling my brand shoots. It’s my favorite part of the entire process! It allows me to dive deep into my clients’ worlds and get excited for all of the shot ideas that pop into my head after reading through their answers!
Here’s a brief look at how my process works with the client questionnaire:
- Once the client has booked their shoot (including completing an initial invoice and signing a contract), I send them a welcome email. This email includes a link to their client portal, general guidelines for our collaboration, and the client questionnaire form.
- They complete the questionnaire.
- I carefully review their responses and organize them using a table in Notion (for a detailed guide on this, check out my workshop “How to Plan Your Perfect Brand Shoot in 1 Hour!”).
- After diving deep into their responses and a brainstorming session, I put together a custom shoot plan using my Brand Photoshoot Planner Canva template found in my Resource Shop for Brand Photographers.
Take Action with a Brand Photography Questionnaire
Incorporating a brand photography questionnaire into your client process isn’t just about gathering info. It’s about transforming your client experience and simplifying your business.
By understanding your clients’ visions, goals, and personalities upfront, you’re not only better equipped to deliver exceptional results but also to exceed their expectations.
Now that you understand the importance of incorporating a brand photography questionnaire into your process, it’s time to take action! You can either create your own list of questions or simplify the process by downloading my exact client questionnaire. Grab it here for just $27! You can even add a customizable template so you can customize with your logo, brand colors, and fonts!
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