Email Marketing for Photographers: Getting Out Of The Spam Folder

A few weeks ago, another photographer reached out to me in a mild panic. She had mini sessions coming up and was ready to promote them… but there was a problem. Her emails weren’t landing in inboxes. Not even promotions. Straight to spam. So I thought it was about time I created some content around the more technical elements of email marketing for photographers.

She told me, “Everyone said to talk to you,” which was flattering, but also very telling when it comes to email marketing for photographers. This is not a one-off issue. It’s becoming common to the point of being predictable.

It’s worth understanding what’s actually happening behind the scenes. That’s what this post is about.

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But before we dive in—Hi! I’m Melissa—an SEO expert helping portrait photographers get found by dream clients on Google, without the tech overwhelm. Whether you want done-for-you services, coaching, or blogging strategies, I’ve got you covered. Ready to stop being the best-kept secret in your market?

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Want the full conversation? Listen to the podcast episode with Alison & me. Prefer to skim? This post breaks it all down step-by-step so you can start implementing right away.

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Getting Your Email Verified

The first thing I asked her had nothing to do with subject lines or content. It was simple: Is your email properly verified?

I’m not talking about your gmail settings. This is one of the first things you need to set up when it comes to email marketing for photographers. Your actual email service provider, whether that’s Flodesk, Mailchimp, or another platform, has to be set up correctly at the DNS level. DKIM, SPF, authentication keys: the unsexy technical stuff most people used to skip or half-finish because the setup feels intimidating. But we can’t ignore if anymore.

Email providers like Google no longer let you “borrow” reputation from your platform. Every sender now has to earn trust on their own. Think of it like getting kicked off your parents’ car insurance. You start from zero, and no one assumes you’re reliable until you prove it.

Landing in the spam folder vs. promo folder

The next thing you need to figure out is where your emails are actually landing. Spam and promotions are not the same thing (especially when it comes to email marketing for photographers). Promotions isn’t ideal, we all want to be in the inbox, but it’s also not as catastrophic as people make it out to be. Many clients don’t even have a promotions tab. They’re using personal email accounts, not business inboxes, and everything just shows up in one place. We think about email like business owners, but our clients don’t operate that way.

If your emails are landing in the promotions folder, technically, that’s where they belong (even though no one likes to hear that). We are promoting ourselves. That’s exactly what’s happening. Promotions isn’t ideal, but it’s not the end of the world.

Getting Your Emails Out Of Spam

Spam, on the other hand, is a real problem in the world of email marketing for photographers. That’s where inquiries go to die. If an email lands in spam, it’s usually never seen, and that’s when launches quietly fail without you ever knowing why.

If you’re not sure where your emails are landing, the first thing I recommend is sending a test email to your list. And if your list is small, add a few people you trust, friends, colleagues, or even yourself. Definitely add yourself. You need to actually see where your emails are showing up, because no one else is going to tell you, “Hey, your message went to my spam folder.”

If your emails are going to spam, next I want you to focus on your most engaged subscribers. For the photographer I mentioned earlier, she was using Flodesk, so I’ll use that as the example, but you can do this with any email provider (you just might have to Google where to find your most engaged subscribers).

Send an Email To A Batch Of Your Most Engaged Subscribers

Basically, you want to identify the people who consistently open your emails, click your links, and actually interact with what you send. These are your best people. Your super fans. The ones who like you, trust you, and engage every time. These are gold when it comes to email marketing for photographers.

From there, you create a small segment, maybe 30 or 40 people, to start with. Whether that’s a segment or a tag depends on your provider, but the goal is the same: you need to be able to send emails to only that group.

If your email list is small, this is where you get creative. Reach out to family, siblings, parents, friends—even your own personal email addresses. Ask for permission, explain that you need help with something for your business, and let them know you’ll remove them later if needed. Just get them added.

Flodesk actually shared a story about this on another podcast I was on with them. At one point, they had to change their domain and rebuild their sender authority. And they’re a big company. They said they added everyone who worked there, spouses, basically anyone they could, just to get engagement going again. That story cracked me up, but it also made the point really clear: if a large email platform has to do this, you absolutely can too.

So I had my client do the same thing. Add as many trusted people as possible. Send an email with a clear reason for replying and clicking. She added me, and I gave her every email address I had. She even sent me a form link and I signed up all my emails myself to make it easy.

When that email landed, one of my addresses received it in spam. Not great… but useful information. I marked it as “not spam,” dragged it into the inbox, clicked the links, and replied. That reply matters more than people realize. Replies, especially, are strong positive signals to Google. They’re like little gold stars that say, “This sender is legit. People want this.”

I had her repeat this process a couple of times. Send an email, wait two or three days, then send another. Timing depended on when her mini sessions were launching. After the first round, we added another 20 engaged subscribers. Then a few more. We slowly started building it up. Her list was only about 200 people total, so we were careful not to rush it.

And even when you’re sending to clients, you can be transparent. You can say something like, “Hey, I just want to make sure you got this, my mini sessions are coming out next week and I didn’t want anyone to miss it.” Most people are happy to help, especially when they understand why you’re asking.

This isn’t glamorous, but it works. And when your emails start landing where they’re supposed to, it makes everything else easier.

How Often Should You Send Emails For Good Email Marketing for Photographers?

Another mistake you might be making when starting email marketing for photographers, is only emailing when you have mini sessions or a launch. You can’t disappear for months and then expect inbox placement to magically work.

As photographers, you should be emailing at least once a month year-round. Bare minimum. Ideally, twice a month. And as you get closer to a launch or busy season, that frequency should increase.

This all ties back to your annual marketing plan. These emails should already be on your calendar. You should know when launches are coming, when you’ll ramp up communication, and when things are quieter. This shouldn’t be a reactive, last-minute scramble.

Sit down, batch it out, and schedule it. You can plan months of emails in one session. Once the technical setup is done, your DNS records, your verification, your list cleanup, what keeps you out of spam is consistency. Frequency, engagement, clicks, opens, and replies. That’s what matters long-term.

If you liked this post, we think you’ll love these:

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