We all know that this industry has undergone dramatic change in recent years. Our business models, our distribution channels, even the medium we use are radically different from 10 or even 5 years ago, and there's no end in sight. If we want to earn a living from photography, we have to change as well.
As we reinvent ourselves and our businesses, it's important to recognize that today's market demands far more from photographers than just skillful image making. This poses challenges for sure, but also offers unprecedented opportunities.
Why Marketing?
Savvy photographers who recognize that their real skills don't lie in their knowledge of f-stops and shutter speeds but rather in their understanding of visual communication, storytelling, creative problem solving and collaborating with others are already taking control of their careers by developing products and services that exploit new communication platforms to reach new and familiar demographics in unique and exciting ways.
Expanding your repertoire of visual communication skills is vital but it's not enough. A keen understanding of marketing and its role in your business is another key component of successful reinvention.
At some recent workshops, I've asked participants to help me list all the reasons we market our businesses. People immediately shout things like "increase name recognition," "disseminate contact information," "showcase our work," "grow our network," "remind clients we exist" or "drive people to our website." Eventually, someone will say "to help make sales." They get the prize.
Marketing supports sales. And all those other reasons we listed? They represent the activities that fulfill the goal of supporting sales through marketing.
What’s Unique About You?
Now, a few things have to happen for marketing to work. First, in a saturated market where prospects have seemingly endless options, you have to offer something they really want or need. Your offerings must also be unique–if your client can get the same thing from lots of other sources, it's going to be much harder to make them pick you for any reason other than convenience or price. By identifying and fulfilling unmet needs, we make our businesses more viable.
Next, you have to know who has that unmet need. Just as you can't sell ice to Eskimos, you're going to have a hard time selling lifestyle imagery to a client who needs product shots or traditional imagery to someone who needs something eye-poppingly trendy. Make sure you’re identifying the right prospects for your business before you spend money reaching them.
Now that you know what you're selling and whom you're selling it to, spend some time on your messaging. Identify your differentiators. Having a unique and compelling vision is a cost of entry these days, so that doesn't count. Maybe you have additional skills that complement your photography offerings. Maybe you're gifted at pulling creative teams together to produce something far greater than anyone can do alone. Maybe you can charm anyone you meet into helping you get the job done. Maybe you serve the best lunches or make the best cup of coffee in town. If you can't come up with a list of at least 10 differentiators, not including your imagery, create some new ones.
Communicate
Finally, we get to the communication phase. Here, we're going to make a list of all the tools available for marketing–obvious ones like business cards, websites, blogs, email promos and direct mail, and the ones we don't tend to think about so much like word of mouth, referrals, press releases, joint promotions with other businesses, testimonials, thank-you cards, elevator speeches, logo items, gimmicks, games and more.
Now, take your list of activities that support the goal of growing sales and your list of tools and match them up. How can your business cards do more than just disseminate contact information? Who can you do a joint promotion with that will add credibility, showcase your work to a larger audience and drive people to your website?
As you build these tools, make sure they all communicate a consistent and cohesive message that clearly articulates what you're selling and why it's valuable. Use as many marketing tools as you can afford and pack as many activities into each tool as you reasonably can without diminishing the visual integrity and functionality of that tool.
Bottom line: Build an array of services that create real value for your prospects and distinguish you from your competition. Then, make it easy for your prospects to understand that you're the go-to person to get those services from
Don’t miss Judy Herrmann at the American Society of Media Photographers’ Strictly Business 3 Conference series.
Proudly supported by ADBASE, SB3 is designed to help photographers build business and enhance professionalism. ASMP is holding the conferences in Los Angeles (Jan. 21-23), Philadelphia (Feb. 25-27) and Chicago (April 1-3).
Customize your conference experience by choosing from a wide selection of workshops, roundtables and presentations. Click here for further information and to register.