After realizing the importance of having Digital Marketing Strategy for your Small Business, now it is time to narrow it down to your specialty. It is true that ground rules are same but knowing how to apply those tips to a certain type of business can be quite helpful. As a photographer, you are probably struggling to stand out from your local competitors and reach the potential clients. The following is a masterplan for attracting qualified visitors to your website and converting them into customers:
1. Focus on a Niche Market
Lot’s of people seem to think that being a good photographer means being good at every style of photography there is, when in reality, that’s exactly what’s holding you back.
Don’t be a Jack of all trades, master of none. Find your photography niche, and conquer it. Beside the professional view, defining your niche can be really helpful for marketing for your business. Niche marketing (also known as targeted marketing or micromarketing) is the smarter way for a small business like yours to get a measurable return on investment for your marketing efforts. This means means focusing all your marketing efforts on a tightly defined niche.
Focusing on a niche market allows you to gain a thorough understanding of your consumers’ wants and needs, as well as how to effectively engage with them. It also helps you to use laser focus in your marketing campaigns, which allows to keep costs under control. Furthermore, because of their specialised skills and fewer competitors, businesses that focus on a niche market can often charge more.
2. Have Online Presence
Create A Professional Photography Website! The first and foremost requirement for digital marketing as far as artists are concern is to put in place a remarkable online portfolio. Your website should make potential clients feel comfortable and show that you have the expertise they need in order to book a photography session. They’d like to know what kind of artwork you create and what style you prefer.
Here are five marketing ideas for getting more referrals from your website:
- Make your photography website look professional because it serves as a virtual storefront for your business.
- Create a product or services page to showcase your specialties and what you have to offer.
- Make a stunning presentation of your best work to demonstrate your expertise.
- To assist prospective clients in contacting you, have contact details such as an address, phone number, or a contact form.
Being a photographer in today’s world is much more comfortable than it was at any other time in history. Sharing photos online has become a breeze thanks to the Internet. Share your photos in relevant platforms. Using sites like Flickr to find new clients has proven to be successful for many photographers. Some photographers have their photographs used on book covers or in marketing materials for major corporations. The following is a list of the best photo sharing sites for your photography business:
3. Know and Reach Your Target Audience
The first question you should always ask is who your customers are. Knowing who you’re trying to engage and why is the only way to build solid marketing strategies and campaign plans.
This is why, in marketing, we create Customer Avatars. It allows to interact with potential clients and serve them in a way that is true to their personalities. The way you design your website, write your blog and website copy, and build ads can now all be filtered through your Ideal Client Avatar. The following elements can help you know who your ideal client is:
- Age
- Gender
- Sexual Preference
- Faith/Spiritual Practices
- Location
- Occupation
- Income
- Education
- Marital Status
- Children
- What attributes do they possess?
- What are their passions?
- What are their favorite brands?
- What shops or websites do they purchase from?
- Where do they like to spend most of their time?
- Where do they spend their time online?
- Who and what do they spend the most money on?
- What is a need, problem or worry that they have in their life and what is a solution you offer?
- What attracts them to your service specifically?
- What is their biggest concern as it relates to booking your services?
- What type of people are you currently attracting to your business?
- If there is a disconnect, how can you begin to attract more ideal clients?
4. Social Media Is a Powerful Tool
Choosing the best combination of marketing channels for your photography business is extremely individual and will vary depending on your type of business, where your potential customers hang out, your budget, and how much time you have to devote to it.
Today’s most powerful marketing tool for photographers is social media. With the click of a button, you can connect with thousands of potential clients. As a visual creator, you need to have presence on visual based social medias such as Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.
Social platforms like Instagram and Facebook have made publishing content almost effortless, however it is getting increasingly difficult to get seen organically on these platforms and you are at the whim of their algorithms and editorial guidelines. So, it is highly recommended to consider having promoted ads and contents on these medias.
5. Create Quality, Relevant and Consistent Content
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Content is King!”. Well, it is! Content marketing is a powerful lead and is necessary for every single business. Creating valuable, relevant and consistent content that resonates with your niche market and doesn’t feel like a sales pitch is how to earn the awareness, respect and trust of your target audience.
Writing an informative and useful article on how to dress for a portrait session, along with examples of images from previous sessions, will be a perfect way to draw organic search leads. Depends on your niche, you can find interesting topics to write about. Also Frequently asked questions might give you very good topic ideas which generate more leads.
6. Optimize Local SEO and Google My Business
When it comes to finding answers to questions, most people turn to Google. Your Google My Business (GMB) listing is like your digital business card because it is where you can talk about your work, speak to your target audience, and build your brand.
You can use Local SEO tactics to drive more business to your site, and you can also use Google My Business as a powerful way to build your brand in your local community and market. Here are four quick GMB marketing tips that you can use to reach your ideal client:
- List your business on Google My Business to boost your online presence. Remember to fully fill out your profile in order to pass Google’s verification process.
- Post to your Google My Business page at least twice a week.
- Build local search citations to improve your local rankings and get valuable credit for your business
- Connect with other social media platforms to reach out to your target audience and engage with them.
7. Build Your Email List
Once you’ve attracted traffic to your website, getting their email address should be your first priority. Email is still used more than social media, despite the fact that it is a 40-year-old tool. According to ExactTarget, 71% of people check their email first thing in the morning.
People are getting ‘banner blind’ to ads and promoted posts on social media, whereas someone who has opted in to your email list has requested you send them interesting content and offers on a regular basis. It stands to reason they’ll pay more attention to your email than the relentless barrage of unsolicited ads in their news feed.
Personalized emails generate six times higher transaction rates (Source: Experian) and with modern email marketing software, personalizing the message for each individual subscriber is now better than ever.
8. Measure Your Result and Analyze Outcomes
Effectiveness of a strategy never shows itself without analyzing the outcomes. Compare pageviews, sessions, guests, and new visitors for every date range to see how the key indicators change. Spot negative trends so you can react quickly and turn things around and positive trends so you can see the results of your efforts.
In conclusion
It’s tough to build a photography business, but you can create a marketing strategy to ease the way to success. Your digital marketing strategy will significantly influence your success in the business field. Always remember to change things up if they aren’t working out. Consider which strategies should be updated and and when they need to be dealt with. Your marketing should be a fluid process with lots of experimentation. Experiment with various marketing strategies to see which would work well for the business.
Written by: Raziyeh Akrami who is a photographer and visual content creator at Rosiegraph and a Content Market Analyst at the International Institute of Digital Marketing ™