Marketing your photography business successfully can take time.
Its this messy roller coaster of a journey often more downs than ups.
However, there are a gazillion photographers who have been on that Journey before
you so why not learn from their mistakes so that you can get there quicker.
So in this video, I am going to outline the 12 marketing mistakes photographers make
and how to avoid them.
First though have you signed up to my free campaign class yet?
It's free training for photographers who want to learn how to
absolutely ace their next marketing campaign.
You're going to learn how to build a buzz around your business with Kick-Ass campaigns
that increase your visibility build your trust in authority
and bring in multiple bookings at once.
It's absolutely free and the link is in the description
or if you're watching on Instagram the link In the bio.
Okay. The first mistake is relying on platforms that you cannot control.
Yes. Social media can be powerful especially
when you take advantage of paid ads inside of Facebook or Instagram or LinkedIn.
However, these platforms are also constantly changing
and recent history has only proven just how fragile businesses can be if they
put all their eggs into one of these baskets,
of course make use of them,
but make sure you're building your own Empire with your website put the
effort into making it a fabulous user experience
and fill it with content that gets you found at the top of your
ideal clients search results that's longevity
and it would be hard for anyone to take that away from you.
Number two is being unaware of important numbers.
Most photographers have no concept of just how many eyes they need on their work.
In order to get just one inquiry,
for example, the average photographer will need around 50 unique visitors to their
website before even one will get in touch on social media.
It's a whole lot more than that.
You need to get a grip of these three numbers the percentage of
your website visitors who end up getting in
touch the percentage of inquiries you tend to convert into bookings
and your average sale when you know,
just these three numbers, you know,
how many website visitors you need in order to make exactly what you need to make each month.
It's maths marketing is a numbers game
when you know your numbers you can yourself up becomes mathematical now,
the third mistake is not focusing on repeat custom and referrals.
It costs five times as much to win a new client that it does to keep an existing client.
So okay if you Weddings and you only shoot weddings,
then it isn't quite as applicable to you,
but we can apply very similar thinking to referrals you should be putting a ton
of effort into delighting your existing clients with an extraordinary client
experience collecting their gorgeous stories
and making sure it's a no-brainer to recommend you to others and to work with you again,
so make sure you are staying in regular contact with past clients in a very genuine way.
Don't forget to send them VIP offers
and vouchers and give them some
for their friends to the fourth is refusing to consider special offers.
This one it drives me round the bend a bit.
So let's say a photographer tells me they hardly have any inquiries coming in
and the ask me for advice and help so I see right.
Let's come up with an exciting marketing campaign.
Attach it to a special offer only for the photographer to reply with all I don't do special offers.
I don't want to devalue my business.
You mean your business that has no leads coming in at all.
How much value does that have exactly a special offer does not have to be
something that devalues your business the very opposite.
In fact, look once you grow an Engaged audience
and your well-established as a go to photographer in your area with your ideal client,
you have plenty of leads and bookings coming in you won't need special offers
until then they will give you a great boost
and they can absolutely complement the business that you're trying to build number
five is doubting that email marketing Works email Remains the
favorite and the most lucrative marking tool across the
world and across Industries
because it works a tiny percentage of your social media
followers will engage with your posts less
than 1% these Days whilst 20 to 30 percent of your email list will
open your emails more if you're good at it your
audience need multiple touch points with you before they will get
in touch relying on social media to give them
those touch points means you will have to
settle and for a very long haul
when you understand how to land in the inbox of your ideal
client with great emails that educate entertain
and of course sell.
You're going to grow your business faster than you can imagine the return on investment inside that
email marketing system of yours is huge all you need to do in
order to start is to stop doubting that it
works number six is wanting to receive before they give
so for example if you want more engagement on social media make
sure you're engaging with others on social
media give them your support by commenting meaningfully on their content
and sharing it the law of reciprocity is real
when someone does something nice
for you you will have this deep rooted urge to do something nice in return
so if you would love to collaborate with a thriving local business
before you're thriving yourself don't just approach
them and ask if you can work together offer to do something
for them first Number 7 is not playing the long game.
Thinking only about next month's
leads and bookings is totally normal
when you're frantically trying to grow your photography business.
Of course, you need those short-term marketing campaigns in order to fill your diary.
however, if you're not thinking about next year's
leads and bookings and the year after that at the same time,
you are reducing the chances of still being in business
when those years come along We all have a limited amount of hustle inside of us.
So make sure you're giving plenty of focus to the long-term strategies
that create a forever business namely building lasting
and meaningful relationships with your clients
and other business owners
and working towards having a website full of content that talks
those Google search results do those two things
and you will eventually find that you can take your foot off the gas
and you can enjoy plenty of organic leads and bookings on Tap Play The Long game.
8 is forgetting to collect
and share stories your clients bring with them fresh stories that you can use
in your business human everyday Stories the ones we
love and relate to most so forget the generic overviews of shoots
and weddings look for the story
and all the little moments
so that you can share them on social media
or via email or in your website content the same
goes for your testimonials listen to your clients before during
and after working with them
and you're going to see very clearly
what you should be asking them for a testimonial about get specific.
These stories are the fuel for your business growth.
So don't ignore them. Number 9 is not creating fresh meaningful content.
Your potential clients have
so many barriers in front of them that are preventing them from getting in touch with you
even though they might want to they have doubts concerns
and questions not to mention lots of choice when it comes to photographers.
If you're not creating content that helps to break down those barriers
and also helps them to get to know like and trust you then you are going to lose.
that potential client to another photographer who has
bothered to create that content 10th is avoiding
anything remotely salesy very few people enjoy the idea of self-promotion
but when you see you don't want to be salesy you're actually making it
all about you it makes you feel uncomfortable
because of your fear you can help your potential client beautifully with something they need
and want not making it Crystal Clear how you can
help and how they can work with you is very per service on your part
make sure a quarter of your Social posts
and emails are explicitly letting your audience know how you can help
and how they can take action 11 is waiting
for Perfection it's highly likely that your First website will be a mess.
Your first marketing emails will be very ropy.
Your first few months on social media will be all over the place
your first Facebook ad will probably flop your
first lead generator will be a bit crap marketing is just like photography.
Your early attempts are always an embarrassment.
So you may as well embrace. It just get them out of the way quickly done is better.
Better than perfect almost always
and lastly not showing who they truly are photography is not like
most purchases more often than not it's a very
personal service your clients are putting their fragile egos in your capable hands
and they need to like and trust you.
They also have a huge selection of other photographers to
choose from letting them see who you really are
is what The difference between them choosing
you or one of your competitors
and that is regardless of price your personality your character
and your values are your only true differentiators.
Let them shine through across your marketing
and enjoy more inquiries and bookings from like-minded people that you actually love working with.
So those are the twelve marketing mistakes to
avoid and one way of avoiding them is definitely signing up to my latest.
Retraining learn how to absolutely Ace your photography marketing campaigns and book yourself out.
It's 60 Minutes of pure gold.
You are going to find the link in the description or if you're watching on Instagram.
The link is in the bio.