What Google’s Latest Article Means for Your Photography Business

Google has just released new insights into how people shop, book, and buy in 2025, and it’s a must read for newborn photographers.

The changes in consumer behaviour and their impact on photography are something we’ve addressed often in recent times, including in our free webinar The Photography Industry is Changing so this article comes at the perfect time.

Google’s research makes one thing very clear: today’s clients are cautious, deliberate, and deeply research-driven.

With consumers interacting with over 130 online touchpoints a day, buyers aren’t choosing the first photographer they see: they’re scrolling, streaming, searching, and comparing until they feel confident.

This has, of course, deep implications for your marketing and pricing, but we’ll focus on two:

Visibility matters more than ever.
If potential clients can’t consistently see you across the platforms they’re using (Google, Instagram, Facebook…) you’re excluded from their shortlist before you even get a chance to pitch your services. This also means advertising is more important than ever… and a critical tool to avoid total burnout.
Pricing shapes trust and conversions.
Google found that “right price” is the entry ticket into a buyer’s decision process. But here’s the catch: parents aren’t just looking for the cheapest option. They’re validating value. Your pricing needs to be clear, strategic, and structured: not only to attract the right clients, but also to maximise in-studio sales like albums and wall art when they come in.

So let’s look into these two aspects in more detail

1. Advertising Is No Longer Optional

Google’s data shows that consumers interact with over 130 online touchpoints a day before making a purchase decision. They’re scrolling Instagram, watching YouTube videos, comparing reviews on Google, and visiting multiple websites before they book.

If your business isn’t present and visible across these moments, you’re being silently filtered out.

And here’s the part many photographers miss: these constant touchpoints also explain why enquiries often go quiet.

While you might feel like you’ve been “ghosted,” the reality is different: your potential clients are being inundated with signals in their feeds. They’ve simply been distracted, and in many cases, forgotten they even reached out to you.

This is why advertising matters more than ever. Relying on organic reach alone isn’t enough anymore. Paid ads, especially on platforms like Meta, Google, and YouTube, put you in front of potential clients repeatedly while they’re actively researching photographers like you.

But visibility alone doesn’t book clients. That’s why, in our coaching, we teach photographers:

How to build ads that actually convert → so you’re not just spending money, you’re generating qualified enquiries.
How to create messaging that speaks to today’s cautious, research-driven clients → tapping into their need for proof, trust, and confidence.
How to track your results and optimise campaigns → so you know exactly what’s working and where to focus your budget.

When consumers are overwhelmed with choice, advertising keeps you visible, and your website, messaging, and pricing are what convert that visibility into bookings and profitable sales.

2. Pricing Is the Deciding Factor… But It’s About More Than Numbers

According to Google’s research, pricing is now the very first factor clients use to filter their choices. Before they look at all details you’ve sent, they make a quick judgment based on what they think they can afford.

But here’s the key: this doesn’t mean people want the cheapest photographer. Far from it.

Today’s buyers still care deeply about quality, but they’re also more cautious and deliberate with how they spend (aren’t we all?). They want to feel confident they’re getting the best value for their money.

Google’s research introduced the “New Value Equation”:

First, clients look at price to decide whether you’re even in the running.
Then, they validate their choice based on trust: reviews, testimonials, and confidence in your brand.
Finally, they want seamless booking: no friction, no confusion.

For photographers, this means your pricing structure has never been more important not just for profit, but for visibility in the client’s decision-making process.

Here’s the key shift: while your “bottom package” and session fee used to act as a filter for you, they now decide whether you get filtered out by clients.

When potential clients scan five photographers’ websites in one sitting, they’re not comparing who’s cheapest: they’re comparing perceived value. And if your entry-level pricing looks too high at a glance, many will skip past you before they’ve even seen the experience you offer.

Some of the most common mistakes we see:

Pricing the bottom package too high → you lose visibility before clients even explore what’s included.
Leaving too little gap between packages → pricing your bottom collection high, than having just £100 increases makes no sense: once people have chosen you, they will be happy to invest in your work.
Setting a session fee that’s too high → this alone can stop clients enquiring, especially when they don’t yet understand your value.

And here’s why this matters: your pricing strategy these days is critical. Creating a structure that helps you get people in the studio, then selling them more products and bigger packages is AS IMPORTANT as everything else you do with your marketing, social media, SEO, photography.

That’s why, in our coaching, we build bespoke pricing structures for photographers, designed to:

Position you competitively in your local market without undervaluing your work
Maximise your sales per session, creating packages that naturally guide clients toward higher-value options
Optimise for wall art and product sales while keeping clients excited and confident about the investment

We don’t believe in cookie-cutter price lists. Every market is different. Every photographer’s goals are different.

That’s why we design pricing structures that work for you, combining buyer psychology, profitability, and client experience to help you book more clients and increase your average sale.

Bringing It All Together

Google’s latest insights confirm what we’ve been saying for a while: the way clients book photographers has fundamentally changed.

Your future clients are:

Researching more than ever
Comparing multiple photographers at once
Looking for value, confidence, and convenience before committing

This creates both a challenge and an opportunity.

The challenge: if you rely on organic reach alone or use outdated pricing structures, you’ll get filtered out before you even get the chance to explain your value.

The opportunity: when you combine visibility with strategic pricing, you don’t just get more enquiries, you convert them into profitable, high-value bookings.

This, I am sure, comes hardly as a surprise: in 2025, being a talented photographer isn’t enough.

You need to be visible.

You need to communicate your value clearly.

And you need pricing that attracts the right clients and maximises sales when they’re in the studio.

And that’s the exact balance we focus on inside our Marketing Mastermind coaching. We help photographers:

Get seen → by teaching advertising strategies that put you in front of the right clients at the right time
Convert enquiries → by optimising your messaging, follow-up systems, and client experience
Maximise profit → with bespoke pricing structures designed for your studio, your market, and your goals

NEED HANDS-ON HELP WITH YOUR MARETING?

If you are still reading, thank you for choosing to spend your time in my company.

Hi, I am Giulia (weird, uh? It sounds like Julia – but it’s written with a “Gi”) and I am the founder of Grow Your Photography Studio.

I am known for my no-BS, hands-on approach to helping newborn photographers get more clients and grow a business they actually enjoy running. I believe marketing should not be a “necessary evil” and that taking action is the first and most fundamental step toward success.

Thinking about our Marketing Mentoring program? Read here

We don’t do sales calls, but if you feel we might be a good fit you can book a free discovery call to work with me for an hour and see how that feels.