Should I Be Making Content That’s Specifically LGBTQ? | Dear Devlin

Dear Devlin.

I’m creating an engagement shoot reel and I’m wondering whether to separate the opposite/same-sex images into two reels. I have this a lot in my business. Part of me questions whether to separately market for same-sex couples or whether this is conforming to a narrative of separating the majority/minority. I am gay myself and sometimes question why gay couples are often clumped into a category. Like it totally defines us. And using myself as an example (as I am planning our Scottish elopement right now) I haven’t found myself googling same-sex wedding photos – I’m more interested in finding the right photographer (and often you see a few examples of same-sex images anyway). I know this wouldn’t be the stance of others who perhaps do want to see/imagine themselves in photos so might want to see a whole reel dedicated to same-sex images. So I end up going round in circles. Any thoughts?

Baring Up in Brighton

Hello Baring Up In Brighton and thank you for raising this topic. It is potentially a complex one and you must be seeing it from all sides right now as both a supplier and a client.

Before overthinking this too much, I would get some clarity on what you are trying to achieve with your marketing. What’s the end goal? Who are you trying to reach? My guess is that it’s more about their type of wedding rather than their type in a dating app.

When we define our ideal client, we often end up with a version of ourselves simply because we tend to project our own personalities onto whom we wish to work with. ‘Me but richer!’ is how I often think of it. If this is true, then figuring out what would appeal to you or grab your attention is where you should go with this.

It sounds to me that you like to see a mixture of couples represented in other wedding businesses. So I suggest leading with that but also this doesn’t have to be the only content that you put out. Maybe a fully LGBTQ reel also goes out just because that’s also representing your work.

There are certain marketing places where you only have enough space to say one thing – like your Insta bio, your site’s meta description, or the header on your website. But most other places have space for saying multiple things. This is our blogs, our full sites, and our social media including those reels. Make as many as you like!

I want to leave you with this thought, communities such as ours at Photography Farm are in the more open-minded, and non-traditional sphere. It’s easy to feel like they are what it’s like in most places. In reality, The Daily Mail is still the UK’s biggest-selling newspaper and most people think of weddings as Brides and Grooms marrying in churches. As long as it’s like this then any work that we can do to tip the scales the other way in an industry still dominated by heteronormative content is good if you want my opinion.