Marketing Practices That A New Photography Business Should Follow To Be Successful
By Chi PritchardThe excitement of starting up your own photography business can be short lived if you don't have a marketing plan in place. You probably are asking yourself why do photographers need a marketing plan. Don't photographers just take pretty pictures and ask people to say cheese. Most photographers start their own business because they love what they do. The problem is they are great at taking pictures, but don't know the first thing about running a business. Let alone growing and creating a successful business. A successful photographer is one who can balance all the tasks need to keep a business running and most importantly profitable. The biggest issue with photography businesses that fail seems to be that the photographer didn't put the business side first.
You should first determine what type of photography you want to focus on. If you focus is too broad then you'll have a harder time marketing to your target audience. A wedding photographer for example isn't going to target hospitals and pediatricians like a newborn photographer would. A boudoir photographer isn't going to target the boys and girls club for family portraits.
Narrowing down your target audience is critical to being successful. This also allows you to put all of your marketing dollars in the area that are trying to target. A newborn photographer could be wasting marketing dollars if they were to put an ad in a wedding magazine. I know married couples have babies and like to have pictures of their newborns taken. However, you may only book a session or two after spending a few thousand dollars on an ad in a magazine. It would be best to target a newborn themed magazine in this case to get the best return on your investment.
Now that you've determined your target market it's time to figure out the best way to reach them. There are several ways you can deliver your product to the target market. There are methods that are free as well as those that are available for a price. It's best for a new business to use as much free marketing as possible. In most cases you have probably a considerable amount of money tied up in getting your business up and running. So, I've come up with a few free options that can help you get you in front of potential clients with little to no cost at all.
Facebook is a great way to promote your business for free. Starting up a business page is relatively easy process. The advantage to using Facebook is that you can connect to friends and share your work. Your friends can share your work with their friends. This is a great way to grow your client base and all you have to spend is your time and a little effort. There are a few photographers in the wedding industry that only market their business through Facebook. It's a very powerful and free tool to use.
Search engines are another great way to get your business in front of potential clients for free. Most people who use the internet today use search engines. The search engines allow people to search for specific information they are looking for. The popular search engines are Google, Bing, and Yahoo. There are many different ways to put your site together in a way to improve your rankings in search engines. Your ranking determines what page you show up when someone does a search through one of these search engines. This can be a very daunting task for some business owners who don't have the time or knowledge on how to do this. In cases where you don't have time or the knowledge you should consider paying someone to help improve your rankings. Make sure you use a company that is reputable and make sure you set a budget.
E-mail marketing isn't as popular as it was a few years ago. The main reason for the decline is the increased amount of spam e-mail that most people receive. It is however another tool you can use that won't cost that much. There are a few companies out there that allow you to send out mass e-mails for only a few pennies for a each e-mail. Putting together a list e-mail addresses for companies or organizations that you want to target will take some time. Once you put this together you can send out specials you may run from time to time. It's another great way to get your name and your product out in from of your potential clients.
Fliers are also not as popular these days in the electronic age, but could be use for coupon purposes and special deals. The problem with using fliers for a photography business is picture quality. If you want to have a real nice flier with glossy print it's going to be very expensive. This might not be the best way to get a good return on your investment.
Trade shows are a great way to meet other vendors in your industry. It's the perfect opportunity to network with wedding planners if you are a wedding photographer. If you are a newborn photographer going to a trade show you have the opportunity to show your work to a very large audience. The cost can be a draw back as there are fees for the space you rent. There are also costs for the material you print and any items you decide to hand out at the show. I do find these to provide a great return on investment.
The last type of marketing and the most expensive in terms of allocating your marketing dollars toward would be print advertising. You should always know the circulation of any print media you looking into placing an ad with. If their circulation numbers are low then you should never pay full list price on their ads. Find out how they distribute their material. They may not put their product in places that will help you expand your client base. Find out how many other photographers advertise. You may find that there are too many like photographers in your field that are using the same media to advertise This is where being selective will help you determine which print media will help you grow your business.
In the end it's best to use trial and error when determining your marketing plan. You may find that in some areas one marketing avenue works better than it does in other areas. Network with other photographers and ask questions and associate yourself with photographers that are willing to help. Share their knowledge with you instead of worrying if you are going to take their business. This is the best advice I was given when I started my business. It helped me shape the marketing plan that I have in place today. You may make a few expensive mistakes, but keep working on your marketing plan. Change in ways to meet your needs and budget to help your photography business become a success story.
Chi Photography is one of the top Charleston Newborn Photographers located in Charleston, South Carolina.
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