Marketing Strategy Tips for Photographers and their companies

The following tips are compiled with the intent of helping you with your marketing strategy regards you photography business. While these tips are focused on a photography business, the generalized information may be applied to all types of business.

You need to have an intriguing promotion speech. When you tell someone that you are a photographer what do you tell them?  Giving the person something that catches their attention and interest will cause them to want to look into you for more information. An example of this tacit is as follows; you tell someone “I am an event and wedding photographer!” This does not automatically warrant a need for more information. Rather you should day in more detail “I am an Event and wedding photographer that specializes in shooting in remote and unique settings such as: Hawaii the Rock Mountains and so on.”

Telling someone too much information is not always a bad thing. Peak their interest. Set yourself apart from the other 1.5 million photographers in the world. And lastly, be truthful. If you lie and set precedent that cannot be fulfilled you will not only lose their business, but the business they, may have referred to you.

Promise a glass of water and give the ocean. What I am trying to portray is that you need to promise your client very little and then wow them with a lot. Give the client more than they expected. By doing this, you will give the client a rewarding sensation that will cause the client to desire to give back. Make you clients experience with you and your company something extraordinary. Give them a reason to tell everyone they know about how amazing you are and why they should go only to you. If you do this and create a client for life, you will be doing yourself the biggest favor you can possibly imagine.

Anything you can do to get your name out; DO IT!!!!!!! Be it photo competitions, art shows, business cards, signs. ANYTHING WILL WORK. The key to a successful photography business is exposure. People cannot go if they do not know. Photo competitions, while being a great tool, are not the exclusive domain of fine art photographers. Commercial photographers can profit immensely just from their participation in these competitions. Showing you work in competitions can be a great way to get your art exposed and your name in people’s heads regardless of whether or not you win. Though winning will be a great tool as well.

Create a marketing habit and stick to it.  When it comes to marketing, in whatever form it takes, it will only improve the more you commit to it. Waiting until you have figured everything out is not the way to go. By the time you figure things out, it will be too late.  Just as with anything else in life, marketing is like trial and error; you will not know what work until you try.  Make a commitment to yourself to start marketing you work and services as much as possible. Make a plan as to what type of marketing you will be doing, stick to it, and log your results to review later. Remember, it takes time to learn things the right way. The people that do it over night, do not last a long time.

Do not be afraid to show yourself! Do not be shy about advertising for you work. You can do things like placing a sign on your car, creating small signs and flyers for distribution, rent bill board space! While any or all of these methods would work, I would recommend trying things and getting your name out there.  If you don’t get your name out into the public, you will never get business.

In the end, the success of the marketing methods chosen will be directly related to amount of time and effort you put into them. The key is to get your name in the mouths of as many people. Do this and you will be successful.