Marketing is strategically connecting with a targeted audience, to lead them to your business to purchase some of the products that you have to offer, at a price that they are willing to pay. Marketing is an area in which you should spend a large part of your time. Your focus on generating new leads and getting more people to call you or walk through your doors, will be the difference between you succeeding and failing.
I have over 40 years of running a successful photography studio. I have walked your path, and my experience is drawn from not only photographing thousands of portraits, but also from doing thousands of portrait sales. The marketing strategies I talk about in this article I have implemented into my own business, and many photography businesses around the world, as my role now as an International Photography Business Coach.
Many photographers struggle in their photography business and this is the reason I have dedicated my life to Business Coaching, Marketing and Consulting. Since starting my company to provide direction for Photographers, I have been literally overwhelmed with the demand for marketing, structure, accountability and for the need to have Photographers surrounding themselves with someone that has the wealth of experience, to provide a real perspective and understanding of their challenges in getting clients to their business.
It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, what matters is that you grasp the heart of the principles, the underlying lessons and strategies, that can help grow any Photography business, and the best time to start is NOW, not tomorrow, not next week or next year.
The Importance of Knowing Your Target Market
Many Photographers can’t answer the question: Who is your target market? They have often made the fatal assumption that everyone will want to purchase their photography with the right marketing strategy.
A target market is simply the group of customers or clients who will purchase a specific product or service. This group of people all have something in common, often age, gender, hobbies, or location.
Your target market, then, are the people who will buy your offering. This includes both existing and potential customers, all of whom are motivated to do one of three things:
• Fulfill a need
• Solve a problem
• Satisfy a desire
To build, maintain, and grow your photography business, you need to know who your customers are, what they do, what they like, and why they would buy your product or service. Getting this wrong – or not taking the time to get it right – will cost you time, money, and potentially the success of your business.
Knowledge and understanding of your target market is the keystone in the arch of your business. Without it, your product or service positioning, pricing, marketing strategy, and eventually, your business may quickly fall apart.
If you don’t intimately know your target market, you run the risk of making mistakes when it comes to establishing pricing, photography products. Your marketing strategy will lack direction and produce mediocre results at best. Even if your marketing message and unique selling proposition (USP) are clear, and your brochure is perfectly designed, it means nothing unless it arrives in the hands (or ears) of the right people. Discovering your target market takes time and careful diligence. While it often starts with a best guess, assumptions cannot be relied on, and it is better to do some research. Remember that your target market is not always your ideal market. Once you build an understanding of who your target market is, you then must keep your market research up to date. Having your finger on the pulse of their motivations and drivers – which naturally change – will help you to anticipate needs or wants and evolve your business.
Need help to find more customers? Book in a FREE 45 minute Discovery session callwithbernie.com