Focus on Success: Special Promotions

by Skip Cohen
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It's Marketing Monday, and spring seasonality is just a few weeks away. It's the perfect time to hit on one more ingredient in the Focus on Success series for 2026.  Sadly, there are still too many of you who continue to procrastinate and ponder the year ahead. It's a you-snooze-you-lose scenario, but there's still time to kick off new projects and promotions!

No matter how frustrated you are, worrying about the economy and the political mess the country is in, the craziness in life can't stop seasonality. Spring is the second busiest time of year, with prom season, Mother's Day, graduation and Father's Day. But if you're sitting back and waiting for your ship to come in, you'll miss the opportunity to do more business entirely. Or, as I once heard a comedian say, "The day my ship came in, I was at the airport!"

You need to create a little excitement in your community. Great promotions don't happen by themselves - they need great execution too! Here are some tried and true tips to consider:

• Whatever you offer, it has to have perceived value. And if you're stuck for ideas, pick up the phone and call your lab and ask, "What's new?" Your lab works with thousands of photographers all year long, and whoever you're talking with has some great experience to share.
• Keep your promotions simple and easy to understand. You don’t need to give away everything; just have the right ingredient to get Mom’s attention. Why Mom? Women make 98% of the decisions to hire a professional photographer in the portrait/social categories.
• Cross-promote with other vendors. With Mother's Day especially, florists and restaurants offering a Mother's Day Brunch are terrific partners. Stuck for ideas on who to partner with? Check out last week's post on partnerships.
• Share great images on your website and blog. Photography is about emotion, and there’s that old line about a picture being worth a thousand words. Save the words and show your audience what you’re capable of producing. Here’s where you want images that pull at people's heartstrings.
• Once you put the offer out there, be ready to close the sale with the first phone call. Respond quickly with a great attitude. Have all the facts about the promotion ready so you can answer any and all questions. If you’re lucky enough to have staff answering the phone or email, make sure they know what they’re talking about.​
• Use a few people at the core of your network as sounding boards. Years ago at Hasselblad, whenever we put a promotion together, we had one great retailer we'd call and just say, “Okay, John, what’s wrong with this idea?” He’d either love it or shred it, and we’d go back and make it better. When you’re putting together promotional ideas, don’t plan them in a vacuum. Bounce them off a friend or two. Test them on some people with the same demographics as the target you’re about to go after. Role-play with an associate or family member, so you’re really prepared.
• Direct mail is back with a vengeance! Think about how much you delete in email without ever reading the contents. But when people do read what you're sending out, make sure it makes sense. A few times over the years, I've gotten promotional offers from photographers who simply can't write! Read whatever you're sending out loud. Then have a friend or associate read it and make sure it makes sense. If consumers can't understand your promotional offer, the only thing that will make it unique is how fast it gets trashed!

Last but not least, photography is about the relationship between you and the client. I've written volumes about relationship-building being your best marketing tool. If you aren’t ready to greet each new customer with the biggest smile in person, on Skype, FaceTime, or Zoom, in your voice, or in your email, then don’t launch the concept. You can tell when somebody isn't smiling, even over the phone.

You have to believe and sell one basic concept: “Nobody can photograph your family as I can!”