Extending Seasonality and Sales Beyond the Main Event

by Skip Cohen
  
At this point, most of you think it's too late for any ideas to have an impact on sales this holiday season. What if you're wrong?  Hear me out - because it's NOT a lost cause. Yes, it's late for maximum impact, but here's an old idea with a slightly different spin on the presentation and plenty of potential.

The Backstory: Going back to my Polaroid days, when the Spectra was introduced, the buzz words were continuity marketing. The Spectra was the first Polaroid to be introduced with a complete line of accessories. And just as the gear you own today has enhanced your loyalty and feelings toward the brand you chose, each piece of equipment you've added over the years has strengthened your loyalty even more.

Here's an idea to build continuity marketing into your business - an 8x10 print box.

It's been over 25 years since Bambi Cantrell first introduced the concept of an image box, later becoming an Art Leather product. She'd use it to enhance a wedding album by taking blank mattes with her and having select members of the bride and groom's families and friends write something on them. She'd add the photographs later, making the collection more special. 

Today, the idea has even more reach. Remember, the hierarchy of why people hire a professional photographer - brides, babies, and pets are the top three. For example, a wedding kicks off the potential for continuity marketing as the couple starts their journey together and a new family,

From Google AI: Parenthood: The average age for a woman to have her first child is 27.4, according to federal data. Starting a family: Since the median age for marriage is higher than the median age for first birth, many couples start their families shortly after or around the time of marriage. At the same time, some may have children after marriage, while others may choose not to have them.

Ongoing potential into the new year and well beyond all comes with the addition of blank mattes in each box...

• Previously Captured Images: We're down to the wire on the concept for this holiday season. Still, there's time to put together an image box of recent portraits you might have captured for a client, and then include a few blank mattes, each with a certificate to fill in the open space with a photograph.
• Brides and Grooms: As the data shows, most brides and grooms within a particular age group will start a family within 2-3 years of their wedding. Include the same blank mattes I mentioned above in the box, along with some of their images. Each matte is a certificate for something different: an anniversary sitting, maternity portraits, the arrival of the first baby, a new home, etc. Be creative and think about those special moments in a couple's new life together, and create exciting offers to bring them back in front of your camera.
• Children's Photography: It's ideal for a print box marketing program. Parents of a new baby are perfect for their images together with a few additional blank mattes, again for all of the extraordinary firsts in a baby's life. Younger children could be included in a "first day of school" portrait, Halloween portraits, holiday sittings, etc. 
• Pet Photography: Remember the hierarchy of why people hire a photographer...brides, babies, and pets. Well, just like babies, puppies grow up and have a story that's perfect for documenting. It's ideal for a series of certificates in an image box that tells the story of a family pet and its interactions with the family.
• Third-Party Gifts: I've shared this idea many times since my buddy Doug Box first introduced it to me years ago. For example, third-party promoting involves the photographer giving a real estate agent a print box that could be given to select clients for a portrait sitting, along with other special events in their new home. The brilliance of a program like this is that the photographer is insulated from appearing to be discounting their work, since the box is being given by another business entity. The box would be filled with blank mats and promotions for various images for milestone events in the buyer's new home and life.

Here's my point: Stop thinking the only potential for sales is in the single portrait session or the event itself. Nobody can tell the story better than you, and you already have credibility with the family, your target audience. But it's up to you to remind them that babies, pets, and family members all grow up.

​Every day brings new milestones and memories that deserve to be captured!