Building a Brand That Stands Out in a Crowded Market with Craig Peterman

Step into the world of wedding photography with Craig Peterman, a visionary who has mastered the art of building a brand that resonates with couples. Join us as we explore Craig's inspiring journey, starting from his roots in high school photography to becoming a sought-after name in the wedding industry. His unique approach to storytelling, where candid moments take center stage, offers invaluable insights for aspiring photographers looking to make their mark.

Discover how Craig emphasizes an authentic client experience, crafting luxury services that cater to each couple's narrative. We'll dive into the challenges of navigating a saturated market and learn how fostering genuine relationships holds the key to success. You'll also hear about the importance of capturing the unscripted moments that truly reflect the joy and chaos of wedding days.

With practical advice on branding and marketing strategies tailored to the wedding photography landscape, Craig shares the lessons he's learned throughout his career. So, whether you’re a newly-engaged couple or a photographer keen on refining your craft, there’s something in this episode for you!

Join the conversation, subscribe to our podcast, and don't forget to share your favorite moments from the episode!

The Wedding Academy
The Wedding Academy is an industry certification body & recognised globally.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Wedding Empires
• 6:02 Introducing Craig Peterman: Journey to Wedding Photography
• 14:37 Developing a Signature Style: Luxury and Authenticity
• 25:54 Navigating a Crowded Market with Purpose
• 39:15 The Importance of Candid Moments and Storytelling
• 51:19 Overcoming Challenges in Building Your Brand

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:29

Welcome back to Wedding Empires, where we, of course, explore the strategies and stories behind some of the most successful wedding businesses. Today, we're thrilled to invite Craig Peterman, photography and videography. Visionary Craig Peterman, how are you?

Speaker 2: 0:45

Good. How are you doing?

Speaker 1: 0:47

Good, thank you.

Speaker 2: 0:49

Good.

Speaker 1: 0:49

So I've heard that you've mastered the art of building a brand that not only stands out but truly resonates with couples. So we thought we'd invite you on to kind of dive into your journey of developing your signature style and the power of authenticity and, I guess, how you can navigate a crowded market with purpose and passion, a crowded market in wedding photography which, Benjamin, I believe you know a bit about.

Speaker 3: 1:15

No, nothing at all. Nothing at all. I'm going to take notes on this one. I want to hear all about you, Craig, and hear what you've done, and hear how you've created what you've created. So I'm looking forward to this one.

Speaker 1: 1:32

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 1:33

All of them with you, Jack, but we've got Craig today, so you know we're both photographers, so it's going to be a bit of a bromance today, I reckon for a little bit.

Speaker 1: 1:42

So yeah, yeah, what everyone missed was before we went live, they were both. Oh, I like your background, I like your background.

Speaker 3: 1:55

Yeah, so once again, everyone, we are coming to you, but we're both in different rooms of the big brother house now.

Speaker 1: 2:00

So, yeah, all right. Well, ben, I'm gonna keep this in hand, this one over to you, because I believe you're you're more of the expert on this one or is it just because I didn't want to do the intro anyway moving right along?

Speaker 3: 2:11

so, great mate, what inspired you to start? Craig Peterman Photography and Videography.

Speaker 2: 2:18

Well, that's a great question. I had a really strong passion for photo and video from an early age and it really started when I was in high school. I took a class and I really loved how I could create a scene or create a moment and kind of tell a story without actually speaking it. So I think that really kind of resonated with me. But I started doing photos for friends, doing portraits for free and that kind of snowballed into doing weddings and that sort of thing. So I guess starting that business was just a natural step once I started getting into weddings a lot more and kind of getting down that road. So, yeah, just really inspired to tell stories of wedding day. It's really cool. I get to party for a living, so it's so much fun and just seeing everybody's unique cultures and stories and everything like that.

Speaker 3: 3:04

Yeah, it's a different vibe on a wedding day, isn't it? I think when we've got a good wedding day and a good couple, we've got the best job in the world.

Speaker 2: 3:17

Yeah, it's amazing. I mean, you get to see people at their happiest moments most of the time. It's incredible, yeah, seeing everybody at their happiest and just seeing all that fun and capturing the story and just afterwards too, seeing the couple and how happy they are with what you give them too. It's just, it's so satisfying, so it's an amazing job it's so satisfying, so it's an amazing job.

Speaker 3: 3:36

Yeah, yeah. So tell us about your style, craig what is, what is your style, what is who is craig as a person, and and you know, how did you go about developing that style.

Speaker 2: 3:45

Three yeah, yeah, so, yeah, yeah. So my style I guess really you know it's more of an ethos, I guess is what I would say is it's an approach on how I, how I do photography and videography and how I approach business in the wedding industry as a whole. So I believe in developing a luxury kind of brand, a luxury lifestyle that caters to a great experience from start and even after the finish of the wedding. So I'm trying to give the best possible service to my clients, as I can do, from the start, from when they first contacted me, you know, all the way till the delivery of the photos and videos as well. So it's not just about the wedding day itself, it's about building that great approach from start to finish. And that's what I think my style is is kind of giving that luxury experience without being over the top pricey too, so, which I think is a great thing. So, yeah, just developing that kind of signature approach I think is really what's helped me develop into a good brand in my area and my state.

Speaker 3: 4:52

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 4:56

Can you give me a couple sorry to jump in in? Can you give me a couple of examples of of how I guess if, if I was a bride and considering a few different photographers, what would be different, what would be the experience as a lead? That would sort of make me think, oh, this guy's a bit different.

Speaker 2: 5:10

Yeah Well, I think I personally don't like to follow like, if I'm trying to approach you as a client, I don't like to do the same styles as everybody else. I'm not trying to follow the same trends that you would see online. My thing is trying to, number one give you a great experience, right? You know? Contacting you, giving you preparation tips, tips, questionnaires, getting you prepared for the day and then, when the day approaches, walking you through things without being overbearing, helping you get through the day without being too much um. And then afterwards you know, after delivery too um, you know, still stay in contact. How did you like things? Um, you know. Checking in a year from now, you know how things going? Um, but I think he's still married. That's a touchy one, right?

Speaker 3: 6:01

it happens all the time, yeah yeah, exactly, yeah.

Speaker 2: 6:06

So yeah, just kind of like having that approach and then I really tell clients to like I'm not trying to. I mean, of course we're going to get the stuff that's staged on a wedding day you know that we're going to capture that part, but trying to give more light to the things that are behind the scenes or that are not so much staged you know, the candid moments, the stuff that people would notice, the details. I personally put a lot of stock in that. So that's a photographer and videographer approach specifically, I guess. But I mean, I'm sure planners and, you know, other vendors can get that approach as well.

Speaker 1: 6:40

My dog, Louie, totally agrees with you.

Speaker 3: 6:45

Welcome to the professionalism here. We've got Louie in the background giving his opinion as well, so I'm going to I kind of go off script all the time. I'm a little bit rogue Jack's the one that keeps everything going and I'm the one that goes rogue all the time. So I kind of want to ask you, from a marketing sense we know that being authentically yourself and being authentically who you are is an advantage and is the way we need to market ourselves. But how do you market yourself and how do you stand out in such a crowded market that we currently have going on now? I mean, I know up here on the Sunshine Coast there's 4,000 photographers between Noosa and sort of the south side of Brisbane. I'm not sure what it's like down where you are, but that's a lot, and in order to stand out you've got to do something different. So how do you stand out?

Speaker 2: 7:40

For me particularly, it's going to be through my experience and kind of word of mouth and what people are saying about me. So I think reviews are really important. For me, how I approach clients is really important that experience that you give to clients. I've seen so many photographers and videographers that just completely missed the mark on giving a good experience. They're great photographers but they just don't know how to talk to people. So I think that's really where I think I excel at something like that. Plus, I try to make sure my work is great too. Obviously, you have to be good at what you do to be successful. So I think those two things have really helped me.

Speaker 2: 8:14

And then, of course, just marketing the right way for me in my area has helped a lot. I'm a part of certain marketing strategies in my specific area that have helped me quite a bit. For example, I don't know if you're familiar with, like the Knot or Wedding Wire. Those are really good marketing strategies for me, but using Google to my advantage. Wire, those are really good marketing strategies for me, but, you know, using Google to my advantage. Marketing through Google, facebook, instagram, you know, there I mean we could do a whole nother podcast. You know 30 minutes on how to market effectively in your area, but I think, just in a nutshell, finding the right style and ethos to your brand and how that's going to fit in with your customers is going to be really important on how you become successful. And then you just build your marketing around that.

Speaker 3: 8:55

Yep.

Speaker 1: 8:58

So how do you sorry, how do you from say advertising and marketing? Is there any other ways that you sort of find that you're consistently attracting your ideal clients?

Speaker 2: 9:11

I think I think, through vendor relationships honestly, if I had to really kind of give you one right off the bat, just building great vendor relationships has been a great way to attract the clients that I want to attract. You know, building a great you know friend zone around you with people that refer you is going to be a great way to just get the clients that you're looking to get. Because if you, if you are referring vendors that also refer you, that have that same approach and same way you want to attack a wedding day and how you want to approach it and how you want to give that great experience, I think is going to be extremely helpful for you to to get those clients that you want. So referring back and forth between vendors to clients I think is a great way to do that yep, yep, mate.

Speaker 3: 9:54

When it comes to photography, all of us photographers preach storytelling. Can you share with us a bit how if storytelling is involved in your marketing and your brand and, if so, you know how it's involved and how you view storytelling to build your brand?

Speaker 2: 10:15

Yeah, I mean, of course, storytelling is huge for photography and videography. I mean, it's almost everything that we do most of the time. So, yeah, storytelling is huge for me. So, again, I try to approach this by capturing those candid moments, those behind the scenes moments. I try to focus more on that. Of course, you know you got to put the light on the stuff that's, you know, staged, that's going to be planned, but those unplanned moments, those things that happen that not a lot of people notice, I think, is what weddings are really remembered by, is those things that aren't planned. That's what makes a wedding memorable. So that's the way we tell the story for clients is approach getting those moments, getting the regular moments that we need to, and then just building a great story for them to look back on. It's especially helpful with videography. I do both. Videography, of course, is a lot easier to tell a story, but, yeah, it's really cool to do photo and video and kind of give a client something to look back on 10, 20 years from now. Yep.

Speaker 3: 11:19

Yep, I'm. I'm curious when it comes to photo and video, are you managing both? Have you using two separate people? How do you play that?

Speaker 2: 11:29

So I have a rig where I have five cameras set up and I capture everything. I'm just kidding, I don't have that, but no, I have a team that helps me. We do we do photo video at the same time together as a unit. So it's yeah, it's a lot easier to to have a team that helps me. We do we do photo video at the same time together as a unit. So it's um, yeah, it's a lot easier to to have a good team around you and people that have the same values as you do. So, yeah, we, we attack weddings all together at the same time. So yeah.

Speaker 3: 11:53

So there's a. There's a massive and we you just touched on a little bit before there's a massive trend of all the behind the scenes and and a lot of wedding brides and grooms want to see behind the scenes and people in general want to see behind the scenes, I guess, of what we do. So do you pander to that behind the scenes, like, is that something that you do? And, if so, how do you manage all that behind the scenes stuff in terms of shooting it and putting it all together and all that sort of stuff? Do you have a social media team that does that or do you do that yourself?

Speaker 2: 12:24

Oh, no, no. So what I mean by behind the scenes, I think, is more of like, not the actual behind the scenes, but like the stuff that's unscripted on a wedding day is what we try to capture like little emotions or details or you know funny things that happen that aren't planned. And that's really what we mean by behind the scenes stuff, like if someone actually wants behind the scenes footage or photos or stuff like that, we can do that. But um, but for us, what we do right now is we focus more on the unscripted moments and capturing that and then also, of course, you know, getting the stuff that is planned. But yeah, behind the scenes stuff is becoming really popular here. We just haven't really approached that yet yeah, yeah, that's.

Speaker 3: 13:03

It is something that's becoming bigger and bigger on social media. I'm sure you've seen that as well. Jack with the the wedding planning side of things and all that sort of stuff as well oh, definitely I, and I remember we had um, who was that angela brush?

Speaker 1: 13:19

how did bruce yeah, she was talking about how a previous guest that we had on, who was also a wedding photographer, talked about the stuff that went viral for her on TikTok. Was those, you know, things that went wrong, or funny moments that were unscripted? Yeah, it seems to be really what takes off from the social platforms, isn't it?

Speaker 3: 13:42

Despite our amazing work that we do. Craig, it's the crazy behind the scenes.

Speaker 2: 13:50

The great photos don't mean nothing. It's just the behind the scenes moments. That's what gets people.

Speaker 3: 13:54

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 13:55

Actually, I did get one of those. I got one of those meta glasses I don't know if you've seen those and it can capture you can capture behind the scenes, you know, you know pretty efficiently, so it's pretty cool.

Speaker 1: 14:04

Sorry, I know with darling don't panic my wedding planning business that we had for years and years. We had the typical hero shot on the website. That was, you know, the best wedding that we'd done recently and whatever. And then I I came across this photo one day that was totally between my official moments and there was so much going on like this person was looking at this one and this one was chatting to this one and I was like that's actually my favorite photo right now. So if you ever go to that website, um, you could see, but it's, it's certainly not a, you know, the bridesmaids lined up and everyone's perfect. It's just reality of what goes on on a wedding day, kind of encapsulated. So I love it.

Speaker 3: 14:51

The madness that goes on.

Speaker 1: 14:53

Yeah, yeah. So I guess I'd like to know sort of stepping away from the taking photos and video side of it, how do you kind of stay on top of all the different platforms and being there online and you know managing that side of the business?

Speaker 2: 15:11

Oh, my God, You're making me just kind of want to throw my phone through the window just hearing that. But yeah, it's tough, you know you just, I work really hard, I get up early, I stay up late and I work really hard and I have to stay on top of it. It's just something you have to do if you want to be marketable and build a brand. You have to stay on top of the social media platform. You have to post, you just have to do it. There's not really any way of getting around it. You could hire somebody to help you with it, of course, but I don't. I don't really feel like doing that.

Speaker 2: 15:41

So, yeah, you just have to do it every day, and that's one of the things I try to do is do at least a story every day. You know something like that. You don't have to post every day, but I think it's important for me to to find a good medium, like not just posting just a post, but posting quality content. So trying to figure out that in between is really tough. Yeah, just trying to. You know, work as hard as you can to juggle those and keep posting. You have to. You have to, you have to stay relevant.

Speaker 1: 16:09

And what? What kind of posts do you think are the best performing ones for you at the moment, like, would you say, a reel or a story or any particular platform?

Speaker 2: 16:25

story or any particular platform. Lately it's been a real, um. A real has been been my best posting, but I do notice a good. A good post sometimes is like a mix between photos and a real, like you put them together into one post. That seems to perform really well for me. So the algorithms are ever changing on instagram and facebook, so it's kind of tough to figure out what they're actually going to show. You know more likely to show, but yeah, just for me right now it's just a reel that's doing really well.

Speaker 3: 16:53

Which, on Instagram, tends to be the thing that is kind of doing well at the moment. So while you were just talking, I've just jumped on Instagram and stalked your Instagram page and 53 or nearly 54,000. That's a huge bill. Yeah, thank you. That kind of brings me to my next question, with social media being so important for us as photographers and pretty much everyone. Now, what what's been some of the challenges that you've faced in building your brand when it comes to like all the way from the start, obviously you started quite a while ago and and you've built up on a massive social media presence. So what are some of the challenges that you've faced in in building that and building your brand?

Speaker 2: 17:40

just, I guess, just figure out what works. That was really kind of tough for me in the beginning. It's just like what should I post? How often should I post? What would work here? What do people want to see?

Speaker 2: 17:52

I think I've kind of just gotten away from that. I used to post based on what I think people wanted to see and now I'm kind of posting more on like what I think is great. You know personally. So I think just kind of sticking to what you like and how you value your work and how you value your brand is important when you post and not just trying to pander to people, because it does get pretty old to see the same things over and over, like if I see, I see this all the time, like the moment versus the shot reels, and it just drives me nuts because everybody's doing it. It's like come on, like can someone do something different? And I think that's really important for other people to just kind of understand is you don't have to do everything everybody else is doing. Try something different, don't be afraid to branch out and do something else. So I mean, just try to stick true to who you are and your brand. So I think that's really important for me.

Speaker 3: 20:07

What do you think, jack? You've got some questions there. That was a nice little drop punt over to you, wasn't it Jack?

Speaker 1: 20:17

I'm keen to know how you know after a wedding and you get that sort of testimonial or the stories from the clients. How do you weave those in and repurpose those?

Speaker 2: 20:31

So I usually will post a story about it every so often, like you know, a review with the person's name. I think those are really cool. It just kind of gives your followers like, hey, you know, look how great he's doing or look how good of an experience it would be, the really good ones I like to put up on my website. I think that's a great place to post your reviews as well, just kind of giving your clients more of a good I can't think of the word for it but kind of solidifying your brand and how good of experience that you offer.

Speaker 1: 21:03

Yeah, love it.

Speaker 3: 21:06

Can I jump in on that? This is so weird because normally it's the other way around and I'm like come on, ben, go on come on, jack, it's all right, you're good, you're good, all right, all right. So, craig, I want to ask you about trends. There is in the industry so many trends good, bad, ugly, you name it. What's your stance on those trends that are happening and how do you stay authentic, despite the public pressure or the pressure on social media to pander to those trends?

Speaker 2: 21:45

I mean, some of those trends are so cringy. I mean, come on.

Speaker 3: 21:48

You know, every time I go on Instagram like my God.

Speaker 2: 21:51

But yeah, I think I think it's. If it's important to your clients, I think it should be important to you. It has to be your, your, your client-based business. So I think what you find like that is you could work into your business, maybe sprinkle it in a little bit. You don't have to fully go into it, but maybe sprinkle some of this stuff here and there. I mean, listen, you know, you got to kind of figure out what what you like versus what is trendy and kind of try to blend those two together for your clients. So for me I just try to sprinkle in things here and there, like the blurry photos. For me as a photographer, I find them kind of cringy sometimes, but of course I do sprinkle in some here and there because clients love it. So yeah, I think it's finding a good medium is really good to do for your clients for sure.

Speaker 3: 22:34

So, as a photographer, then this is a very photography-based question. As a photographer, if there's a trend that goes against the aesthetics of good photography and goes against the rules of quality photography, will you engage. Photography and it goes against the rules of quality photography will you engage. Let me give you an example the direct flash on the camera straight at the clients they look like a deer in the headlights, as opposed to beautiful bounce flash where you've got a short side of the face and that sort of thing.

Speaker 2: 23:09

It's got to be the right situation. You can't do that all the time. It has to be the right situation. So if it's really again, if it's really important to my clients, yes, I will try it, because my main goal in my brand is making sure that there's 100% satisfaction and they love everything about their experience with me. I'm willing to do that for clients, but it has to be the right situation. If it doesn't seem right, I'm going to tell the client like hey, this is not going to work, like a direct flash is not going to work in this situation. Are you sure you want to do it? So I think it's just being honest and open is really important for things. You know photography specific.

Speaker 3: 23:44

So Yep, that would. That would go as well, Jack, wouldn't it? With? With the planning, the decorating, the everything side of things, you know how the day is going to work, you know how everything is going to work and you've got a couple that want to go rogue.

Speaker 1: 24:00

Being a wedding planner you kind of become an expert of, yeah, thinking on the fly and things changing and you know rolling with them and you know it's probably the biggest part of the day for us is managing those things and you know, rolling with them and you know it's it's probably the biggest part of the day for us is managing those things and you know, making them, hiding them from the couple and dealing with them or you know, whatever it is.

Speaker 1: 24:20

But yeah yeah, it's sort of sort of a bit different on our side. But, craig, I'd like to know like, from a perspective, you're this far along now, what kind of branding advice do you wish that you had in the beginning, that you've learned now?

Speaker 2: 24:38

Well, there's two things I'd say. Number one, specific for weddings, really is the day isn't about you, it's about your clients. So making sure that you give them what they want is paramount. You can't approach it like I want to do these things this way, it's their day. You have to approach it like it's their day. So I think that's probably one of the big things for me.

Speaker 2: 25:02

But another thing too is just figuring out who you are and what you like and how you want to approach it. You can't just shotgun into the wedding industry and just figure it out on the fly. I think it's really important to figure out who you are and what you want from the start. It's really going to advance you quicker than just trying to figure it out in the midst of doing it. So I know that's really hard to kind of figure out in the beginning is how exactly you want to do it. But at least having like a good idea and a good plan on what you want to do and just working your way back from that point and building it that way. So those would be my two things that I wish I had known sooner for sure.

Speaker 3: 25:45

Speaking of ideas and planning, is there any risks that you've taken with the brand that have really paid off for you planning? Is there any risks?

Speaker 2: 25:51

that you've taken with the brand that are really paid off for you. Well, I mean, I guess you could say raising prices is a risk. That's always a risk. You know, that's something I do every year usually and I and I scare it every time. I do it, cause like, am I going to get clients if I raise my prices? But I think it's always paid off because you, if you gain experience, you have to raise your, your prices. If you're getting booked and you have too many weddings to handle, you have to raise your prices. So for me, that is something that's been a risk that's paid off ben, have you got your famous question ready to go?

Speaker 3: 26:26

it's not not a famous question, but so is it. So is um so craig. There's a. There's a question I ask all of our guests at the end of our podcast, and that question is if you walked outside today and ran into an 18-year-old version of yourself, what would you tell yourself about life and success, knowing what you know now?

Speaker 2: 26:50

Stop buying gear. No, I would just say save your money, number one. You know that's one thing I have trouble with. But just taking your time, be patient. You know, don't rush into things. I think that's always something that's been consistently a problem for me. But yeah, just being true to yourself, taking your time and saving money and stop buying gear, for christ's sake.

Speaker 1: 27:13

you got enough already I'm not even a photographer but I, but I I kind of sympathize. How many lights and cameras and shit do I?

Speaker 3: 27:23

I'm surprised that nothing's arrived for you while we've been on the stream, jack I forgot to even turn them on. I thought you just had a great tan.

Speaker 1: 27:33

I did get online shopping today. I got new car mats for my Audi.

Speaker 3: 27:39

Speaking of buying gear and buying things, Jack is world champion, oh yeah.

Speaker 2: 27:45

Amazon every day type of person.

Speaker 1: 27:48

We won't tell Greg, my husband, this, though. Okay, it's between us three anyway, craig, it's been a pleasure having you on the podcast and getting to know you. Um, I hope you know business continues to boom and we'll get you back soon and talk about maybe, maybe the marketing and the and the and you know the social media side of things and how, how you're doing that, but it's been an absolute pleasure. If you'd like to check out craig's work, you can find his website is peterman photo video. He's also, of course, on instagram and facebook and I'll pop those links into the show notes. But thank you so much, craig thank you guys again.

Speaker 2: 28:31

It's been a pleasure. I loved it. I love being every part of this podcast thanks, craig.

Speaker 3: 28:35

It's been awesome to meet you, mate. Thank you.