Small local photography business looking for advice

[connersz]

Hi, first a quick introduction, I'm Jamie and have used the forum before but only just registered. I found good advice here when looking to setup a VOIP phone and I'm hoping you can help with the current issues I am facing with marketing etc.

I am a local family photographer covering the area of Oxfordshire and I have no future bookings in my diary which is worrying. I am currently looking for new ways or advice on how I can market myself and get some new bookings over what is the quiet season.

I have tried a bunch of different marketing methods previously and I have listed them below, first is the ones I am currently using:

Website, I am only getting about two or less visits a day despite me ranking quite well. I am using Yoast in Wordpress which has increased my SE presence but I still don't have enough visits. I was previous using Adwords to promote my site (discussed below).

Facebook, I am using paid advertising (via boosts) to advertise my photos, my guarantees and offers on FB and it gets a good amount of attention, but not enough bookings. They always feature a call-to-action but these aren't previous clients, they're paid likes which I achieved through Facebook site promotional advertising.

Door-to-door sales letters, I was advised to use these by a photographer marketing specialist, they feature no flashy branding or photos, they just talk about how I can get great photos for your family with exceptional customer service and a money back guarantee. I appreciate that's rather vague but that's the concept.

Referral offers, I offer an M&S gift card to anyone who refers me to a friend or family. This has never worked which may lead you to think that people don't like my service. I have 5 star reviews and constant great feedback and I have never had to refund a customer.

I have previously used Adwords using targeted keywords but didn't have a single enquiry from it.

I have a problem in my local area where photographers are charging <£25 for a photoshoot in the hope that they will receive extra orders for prints and wall art but my pricing is based on packages using a bronze, silver and gold system that include varying amounts of digital files and prints. The problem is that I always lose out to the bargain photographers even though their average spend following the shoot works out more expensive than my packages anyway.

I know a lot of photographers don't publish prices at all, in the hope of getting them on the phone asking but I don't personally believe in hidden costs or bait and switch methods and don't think I would ever be converted.

If you have any suggestions I would appreciate it, as with most things I expect I am just doing something wrong but having tried so many different forms of advertising without many results I am finding it a tad frustrating.

 

[MOIC]

Visit your local wedding venues, registration offices etc etc and see if you can advertise your services with them.

Local advertising, newspapers,

Local schools, nurseries.

Prepare a professional document, include testimonials and offer a discount if booked by . . . . . . .

Best of luck.

 

[ethical PR]

Hi OP

Who do you see as your key target audiences ie families with young children - but what type - what do their parents do, where do their children go to school, what activities do they do as a family?

You need to understand your audience and what motivates them in order to understand how to engage them.

It seems that all the marketing/advertising you are doing is arms length, rather than getting out and engaging with potential customers.

Do some more customer research, identify their consumer and communications channels and habits and use those to build up a marketing plan to position yourself as the go to photographer in your area. Don't position yourself on price, look at what you do differently or better than sets you apart from your competitors (in a crowded market place).

Five ideas off the top of my head

1. Run a competition to win a free family photoshoot and pictures in an upmarket local monthly glossy
2. Hire space at local festivals and take photos of families having fun to sell onto the families and provide a display space for your work
3. Visit your local leisure centres and see about becoming their resident photographer
4. Do some research and identify local school fairs you can target. Offer to provide free on the day photographs (which families have to download from your site and give you their email address) to help build awareness and a mailing list. Run a stand at the fair offering family's the opportunity to dress up in costume and be photographed with say £5 per shot going to the school fund.
5. Link up with parent and toddler groups and arrange to visit to take mother and baby shots and offer at a fixed price

 

[HamSandwich]

In terms of your website, you say you're ranking well but which keywords have you targeted? I'd be interested to see if you're ranking for high-traffic keywords.

I'd recommend looking into a Google My Business listing (formerly Google Places, Google Local) and having someone who knows what they're doing optimise the website, your listing and a few online citations to get your site ranking for local keywords.

If you need any help with this, feel free to DM me. We have a really good value package for local businesses with a one-off fee, which works well for businesses who don't want to pay a monthly retainer.

 

[Uzair Kharawala]

Hi OP,

If you don't make money during Oct / Nov, then forget about making any money during the rest of the year. Christmas is the busiest time and you need to cash in 'right now'.

I say this because we've been running a photography business for the past 12 years. You can get all the 'Likes' on FB, click-through visitors from Adwords / Bing / Social Media, however, if you don't have a 'hook' or a sales funnel sorted, you will be wasting a lot of money & time.

I presume you are shooting on-location and targeting only the lifestyle family portraits, however, these are mainly for the weekend when parents & kids are free for their photoshoot. So what are you doing during the week to pump up business? Have you considered shooting Business Headshots? Everyone needs one now for their LinkedIn profiles, forums, social media, etc. Selfies with a smart phone won't cut it anymore and you need to target those people / businesses. You can generate your cashflow pretty quickly and get started.

I've mentored & helped many photographers during the last 7 years or so. Have been an 'Evangelist' for Nikon, presented seminars/workshops for Bowens, Apple Store, Calumet, SWPP, MPA, etc. I can certainly help you. Just get in touch and we can have a chat. It is tough & hard out there, but don't give up and keep trying. You'll succeed

My website links are as below.

Best of luck.
Oz

 

[Textlocal]

Hi Jamie
Are you making the most of your previous customers for repeat photo shoots? As you are a family photographer how about capturing details of your subject's birthdays and a mobile number so that you can text them with special offers for birthdays around the same time each year. This can work for Xmas etc too...
Good customer service and quality photos will inevitably lead to repeat custom and advocacy if you nurture the relationship enough.
How about your recommend a friend scheme with money off the next shoot - I know you offer M&S vouchers, but surely your own service is worth promoting instead? Your clients can recommend quickly and effectively via SMS
You could also use SMS attachments to send over photos for approval by your clients, allowing you the opportunity to capture contact details of each and every customer (SMS is extremely convenient and accessible for busy families).
Give me a call and I can help you with a free trial of mobile messaging to get you started, PAYG service and free account management to help you get the most of the opportunity before you...

Many Thanks
Jemma

 

[Annoying Donkey]

The quickest way to get business is almost always to contact your existing customers with an offer...

 

[connersz]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I have been here reading them even if I haven't replied for a few days.

Some of them I have tried in the past and some others, I am in the process of planning so I can see how they turn out.

I have another question regarding referral offers. I was thinking of running another referral offer for previous clients with the offer of something like 10 digital images from their set (my packages include a set number of images to choose) for one referral and a free photo shoot for a second referral. I think that way they would be persuaded to push for a second referral I would have gained two new clients. I won't lose much money from the free one (about the same as the gift card really+ time) but perhaps you could tell me if there are any other possible problems?

 

[Annoying Donkey]

Do people often buy extra images? You want to offer something that they want. You could test offers by offering a choice two or three alternative rewards.

 

[connersz]

They don't often buy extra images. It can be very difficult to know exactly what they want.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Can you do shots out of the box, by that i mean take the family outdoors and have some action shots of say two kids jumping into the air with arms outstretched and so on like fashion shots, inside photo's with just a backdrop are generally very boring to say the least

Is you marketing images showing how clever and good they are compared to the cheaper ones

Can you do weddings and also commercial shots, are there any firms around your area who make things who would like images of their products or site shots

Do you sell shots to the local newspaper they are always willing to buy action shots and you could be on the scene well before the duty newshound gets there

 

[connersz]

Can you do shots out of the box, by that i mean take the family outdoors and have some action shots of say two kids jumping into the air with arms outstretched and so on like fashion shots, inside photo's with just a backdrop are generally very boring to say the least

Is you marketing images showing how clever and good they are compared to the cheaper ones

Can you do weddings and also commercial shots, are there any firms around your area who make things who would like images of their products or site shots

Do you sell shots to the local newspaper they are always willing to buy action shots and you could be on the scene well before the duty newshound gets there

Ok, just to touch on a few of those points. I do three packages, an outdoor shoot, a studio shoot and a mobile studio shoot (own home). You say the backdrop photos are boring but it's subjective and they're very popular, I personally prefer the outdoor photos but it's not my decision.

In my experience a lot of people can't tell a good photo from a great one, that's not to say that my images aren't good, I use a colour management workflow that most people don't use yet (don't worry, I promote that also). I have never had anyone comment on the image quality comparisons.

I don't do weddings or commercial shots. I used to do some commercial stuff but I have decided to specialise in family photography.

In my area the newspapers refuse to buy images at all lengths. They allow you to send them in but they will never pay for them. Yes it shows on the websites but that's their policy and furthermore it doesn't fit into family photography.

I know you are just trying to suggest ways of keeping the calendar full but I have chosen to do only family/portrait work and to be honest I don't do photos full time, they're only at weekends at the moment but I am keen to build up my workload.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Ok People do not need bribes to refer people to you they need a good service with smart images that they can show or send to their friends

Facebook and the likes are not seen very often by people looking to buy but more likely to be seen as a outside interest like you get waylaid searching on Google, so probably not worth any money advertising just some beautiful pages showing what you can do instead

Church Magazines are really cheap for a single page ours is about £50 per year with 12 issues and gets to quite a lot of people who have time to read and not lost in other adds

Local paper is obvious

Google if you do it right and concentrate on local then no need for Adwords

Maybe your time period, limits you in advertising as others can offer whats seen as a more professional service; being available 7 days a week and able to offer more services

 

[Textlocal]

They don't often buy extra images. It can be very difficult to know exactly what they want.

Hi Jamie
I can offer you a surveys and forms tool with SMS so that you can find out exactly what your customers would like as an incentive. You could perhaps send this survey message to them before they receive their images.

Give me a call if you'd like to discuss further.

Thanks
Jemma

 

[connersz]

Ok People do not need bribes to refer people to you they need a good service with smart images that they can show or send to their friends

Facebook and the likes are not seen very often by people looking to buy but more likely to be seen as a outside interest like you get waylaid searching on Google, so probably not worth any money advertising just some beautiful pages showing what you can do instead

Church Magazines are really cheap for a single page ours is about £50 per year with 12 issues and gets to quite a lot of people who have time to read and not lost in other adds

Local paper is obvious

Google if you do it right and concentrate on local then no need for Adwords

Maybe your time period, limits you in advertising as others can offer whats seen as a more professional service; being available 7 days a week and able to offer more services

People don't just go around 6 months after a photo shoot telling everyone they know about a photographer. They usually only mention it when a friend happens to mention "I'm looking to get some family pics done soon". By offering an incentive you are pushing them to actually mention it or at least that's the reasoning behind it.

You talk about others looking for a more professional service like being available 7 days a week and having more services. I don't list anywhere that I am not available 7 days a week, so they would first need to contact me first to find that out and I don't think I have ever been asked anyway. I don't know any other family photographers in the area offering business pictures but they still manage to keep their diaries full without them, then again, they have been doing it longer.

 

[connersz]

Hi Jamie
I can offer you a surveys and forms tool with SMS so that you can find out exactly what your customers would like as an incentive. You could perhaps send this survey message to them before they receive their images.

Give me a call if you'd like to discuss further.

Thanks
Jemma

Thanks Jemma, I'm not looking to send out surveys or anything else by text at the moment but thanks, for the suggestion.

 

[beasty]

Connerz I sent you a PM, not sure if you get them yet.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

People don't just go around 6 months after a photo shoot telling everyone they know about a photographer. They usually only mention it when a friend happens to mention "I'm looking to get some family pics done soon". By offering an incentive you are pushing them to actually mention it or at least that's the reasoning behind it.

You talk about others looking for a more professional service like being available 7 days a week and having more services. I don't list anywhere that I am not available 7 days a week, so they would first need to contact me first to find that out and I don't think I have ever been asked anyway. I don't know any other family photographers in the area offering business pictures but they still manage to keep their diaries full without them, then again, they have been doing it longer.

I think you are missing the point friends & Visitors go into a house and say that's a nice picture or get sent one as a relative or see it on a Christmas card, few go around saying I am going to get a family photo who do you recommend, or at least that's my impression, so no need to try and motivate them with a small goody

The other Photographers probably offer their services as a Professional Photographer for Family, Commercial and weddings, Also in Great Yarmouth there are three shops used as studio's and I would guess many people would be against going to a private house as it implies a non professional Amateur

Do you belong to any local camera clubs where you can build a name that would slowly get around, many have well attended shows at local libraries etc where the public can view them

 

[kate1]

I think its an incredibly competitive business, what with mobile phones and all the photoshop programmes going on, wish you luck though OP, I think your going to have to find a unique way to promote yourself

 

[Annoying Donkey]

They don't often buy extra images. It can be very difficult to know exactly what they want.

Thought that might be the case. An incentive must motivate or it's worthless...

But this could be your marketing. Put yourself in the position of the customer. Why would they want extra images? In the days of film, extra images were useful to send to friends and family, but in the digital age, it's easy to copy and email.

However, a framed print sent to grandma can have a far greater impact than an emailed image. It stands there on the mantelpiece, a subject of conversation. Rather than being hidden away and forgotten on a computer... It's up to you to paint this picture in the mind of your customer.

You're not selling images, you're selling memories. It's up to you to convey that to your audience.

Ok People do not need bribes to refer people to you they need a good service with smart images that they can show or send to their friends

Good service and a great experience is a pre requisite to referrals, however to assume that people will automatically give a referral is a mistake. You must be proactive, just as you are proactive when you advertise.

I'd try and come up with a "reason why" people should give you a referral. This is almost always more powerful than offering a gift. Offering a gift is basically buying their referral. A genuine referral is more highly regarded. Of course, the unexpected thank you after you've received a referral can generate many more referrals.

 

[MBE1]

I would suggest setting up a photo shoot in an area with very high footfall, such as a shopping centre or market, offer a fantastic rate, start generating leads for more personal follow ups. As another poster mentioned earlier, you seem worried about face to face marketing, preferring at arms length methods.

Also, if your competitors undercut your packages, but then sell more later for higher income, why not copy their formulae? No point in re-inventing the wheel. You need to offer what the client wants, not what you want them to have.

 

[Adwords_Guru]

Here are some of my proven quick tips:

Add your business to google maps

Add your business to as many local and national directories as possible.

Promote your portfolio and artistic projects on Twitter, Facebook, linked in, pintrest, instagram.

Set up a google adwords campaign targeted to your local area (I have lots of £75 vouchers I can give you)

Think 'inbound marketing'. Establish yourself as the go to guy with content marketing.

Put different types of photography on different pages on your site.

Hope this helps

 

[connersz]

I would suggest setting up a photo shoot in an area with very high footfall, such as a shopping centre or market, offer a fantastic rate, start generating leads for more personal follow ups. As another poster mentioned earlier, you seem worried about face to face marketing, preferring at arms length methods.

Also, if your competitors undercut your packages, but then sell more later for higher income, why not copy their formulae? No point in re-inventing the wheel. You need to offer what the client wants, not what you want them to have.

I have done loads of these things, I haven't got a problem with face-to-face marketing, I've been out and about with my trade stand all summer.

The reason customers give in and buy the photos following their shoot is that they are either pressured into it or when they see the heart warming pictures they suddenly realise the complimentary 7x5 print isn't enough. The issue though is that they weren't expecting to spend more so it leaves them with a sour taste that they have gone in expecting to pay £25 and instead spend £500.

 

[Adwords_Guru]

Hi Connersz,

Your face to face marketing idea sounded promising, shame it didn't work out in practice.

Without wanting to plug my own services too much, it might be time to consider marketing directly to your potential clients who are searching on Google.

Our adwords consultants can help you set up a campaign that runs in your area, targeted to your potential customer base for £195

Plus we have a bunch of free £75 vouchers to get you started.

 

[MBE1]

I have done loads of these things, I haven't got a problem with face-to-face marketing, I've been out and about with my trade stand all summer.

The reason customers give in and buy the photos following their shoot is that they are either pressured into it or when they see the heart warming pictures they suddenly realise the complimentary 7x5 print isn't enough. The issue though is that they weren't expecting to spend more so it leaves them with a sour taste that they have gone in expecting to pay £25 and instead spend £500.

Not my market so all I would suggest is whether what you say is 100% correct, or maybe it is from your perspective. Few people are truly buying down to pressure, what they really mean is they were given an offer and took it, everyone is capable of saying NO.

From a business perspective, how would your profit look using the same model and receiving some of those £500 orders?

I sell gas boilers, the same model can sell from anywhere between £1500 to £4500 depending on who you use, each company has it's place in the market. Those clients at the lower end of the market might believe the top end price is a rip off, yet the top price is often seen as the best quality with the best back up, and appeals to that sort of buyer who is after that kind of company and will dismiss a low quote as being a rubbish job.

Once a client sees the value in an offering that suits themselves they will buy, very few can be pressurised into something against their will.

 

[connersz]

Not my market so all I would suggest is whether what you say is 100% correct, or maybe it is from your perspective. Few people are truly buying down to pressure, what they really mean is they were given an offer and took it, everyone is capable of saying NO.

From a business perspective, how would your profit look using the same model and receiving some of those £500 orders?

I sell gas boilers, the same model can sell from anywhere between £1500 to £4500 depending on who you use, each company has it's place in the market. Those clients at the lower end of the market might believe the top end price is a rip off, yet the top price is often seen as the best quality with the best back up, and appeals to that sort of buyer who is after that kind of company and will dismiss a low quote as being a rubbish job.

Once a client sees the value in an offering that suits themselves they will buy, very few can be pressurised into something against their will.

I'm struggling to understand that point, you start by suggesting I lower my price and then tell me that they all have a place in the market.

It's true I could do shoots for £25 to appeal to people with less money or a lower budget but they're not all going to spend enough after to recover my costs.

Just to re-iterate, I am just looking for tips on how to increase sales over the quiet season. I was almost fully booked over the summer in my best year ever and they all spent more than £25. In fact, not a single person has ever bought my cheapest package so I'm definitely not looking to completely change my business model just to bring in footfall during the winter.

Edit: the reason I know the bait and switch method being used doesn't work. Is because the best well known local studio doing it has just gone bust and most of the previous clients are now terrified of photographers ripping them off. Sure I would love the big sales like they sometimes take but it would hurt my reputation.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Edit: the reason I know the bait and switch method being used doesn't work. Is because the best well known local studio doing it has just gone bust

Do you really know all the facts to make this statement of are you guessing that's the reason, there are thousands of ways to go bust and cash-flow is the most popular reason

 

[MBE1]

Not trying to argue, I never advised cutting your rates, I simply suggested if the competitors marketing was working you could adapt some of their methods, if you feel they are failing then use your own.

"the reason I know the bait and switch method being used doesn't work. Is because the best well known local studio doing it has just gone bust and most of the previous clients are now terrified of photographers ripping them off. Sure I would love the big sales like they sometimes take but it would hurt my reputation."

Once again, this doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't work, it just means they didn't make it work. The only time your reputation would be hurt was if your clients felt they were not receiving value for money, finding that level and deciding if it is profitable is the hard part.

I normally work the other direction, starting with what appears a high price and then offering reductions, justifying them obviously to a rate where my clients feel they are getting exceptional value for money. Done well and they want to buy, gaining an order and leaving people felt ripped off is obviously not going to gain a good reputation or repeat orders. Sales is a hard subject at the best of times, just as marketing is.

Best of luck anyway.