Getting the Most Out of Your Reach as a Photographer?

by Skip Cohen

I've shared the illustration to the right several times over the years, but today it's all about your reach as a photographer and business owner. You have so many different paths to reach your target audience, and their effectiveness changes regularly.

At the same time, as your ability to reach more people has grown, so has the individual consumer's. I want to talk about negative reach first...
 
I'm defining negative reach as the impact of an angry customer on your business. I went off to Google in search of some statistics and hit the "mother lode" in an article by Abby McCain at zippia.com. Click here to read the entire article.

• 61% of customers have switched to a competitor after a bad customer service experience.
• Customers will tell an average of 9 people about a positive customer service experience but will tell 16 people about a negative experience.
• 52% of Americans are willing to pay more for good customer service.
• 93% of customers are likely to repeat purchasing from a company after experiencing excellent customer service.
• 91% of customers are willing to switch companies after one bad customer service experience.

​Those are scary numbers, but they also represent an opportunity for growing your business and staying proactive. We'll do a more in-depth post on solving customer problems on another day, but each bullet above represents another segment of your target audience who you have the potential to reach.

From your blog to all the platforms in social media, direct mail, and community involvement, your reach is growing daily.

• Use Your Blog: Your website is about what you sell, but your blog is about what's in your heart. Share content that's built on a foundation of capturing memories. Share gift ideas with photographs, reminders on updating family portraits, stories about legacy services...and the list goes on and on.
• Joint Promotions and Direct Mail: Design a snail mail postcard with 1-2 partners hitting the same target audience. From email blasts to oversized postcards - you don't need to fly solo. By doing things with partners, you expand your reach to each business entity's mailing list.
• Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram: While there are endless arguments over the decline of some venues and the growth of others, that doesn't change each platform's effectiveness if done right. But everything starts with you understanding the demographics of your target audience! Then, pay attention to where they "hang out."
• Be Active in Your Community: Remember, reach isn't just about how many people you can reach with social media or direct mail. This is about you building a community that knows your skills and believes in your support. Being active in your community shows your commitment and makes you more than just another retailer. Look for activities that demonstrate your willingness to give back!
• Teach a Community Class: Whether it's kids, parents, or just individual adults - you've got the ability to do a cleanup campaign in your community. What are you cleaning up? Bad photographs...and it doesn't matter if they're captured with iPhones or DSLRs - most of you have the ability to teach a class on photography and storytelling.

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But none of the above are effective if you're not consistent!  With your blog, post at least 2-3 times a week. On the other platforms like Twitter and Facebook for example, post regularly and be involved in some of the forums related to photography that are more consumer targeted. You're looking for places your target audience is visiting, not professional photographers.

Most important of all, with everything you post, just be helpful! It's so easy and just being nice will help you build momentum, readership and obviously reach!

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