Marketing Monday for Photographers: Creating Seasonality

I shared a good portion of this post in 2014, but the concept is timeless. And, NOW is the most critical time for you to create excitement in your market.
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We might be an industry with limited seasonality, but that doesn't mean you have to wait for a major holiday to capture business.  With Father's Day over, we're now in that stretch of the year where it's more important for YOU to be creating the excitement in the market. The next big rush, will come in the fourth quarter with the November/December holidays.

It's summer time and you're working to book more weddings, children's portraits, family sittings, business portraits and boudoir sessions as part of your regular business. What are you going to do to create a little excitement in your own market?

You don't have to wait until the next publicly recognized holiday.  You've got a chance to show you're better than Hallmark and create a few events of your own.  Vicki Taufer, the Queen of Promotional Events, has over the years created more programs for her clients than Hallmark ever thought possible. That's her promotional calendar going back at least 14-15 years ago on the left.

Vicki gave me permission to share it years ago in my marketing program and from time to time I still use it. Great promotions have no date stamp - there is no spoilage. A promotion that connects with your community can, if you do it right, be timeless. (Vicki's got a lot of her marketing material on line. It's worth checking out, including her videos.)
 
Just in case you're stumped for ideas, here are a few to consider:

• Look for themes that make sense in your community. What's NOT being done? Are there community events with themes you could piggy-back with? County Fairs, fund-raising events, walkathons, special summer programs, concerts, rodeos, baseball tournaments, summer sports, recreational events, etc.?

• You've got to make it fun! Use a few adjectives to describe the event. It's sad I have to remind people to put a little spice into their vocabulary, but it will help so much. Give it a fun name. Work to create appeal. Make you and your program habit-forming.

• Look for partners. Vicki's original "Dog Days of Summer" done many years ago, became a classic in the industry and launched her business as a pet photographer. It was the perfect promotion with multiple partners and focused on one of the top three reasons people hire a professional photographer, pets!
• When designing your material choose an image or images that will draw people to the event. The image Vicki used below was a classic. Picture this promotional piece plastered all over her community. The result was 120 sessions and 40 people on the waiting list! The program was so well received Vicki had to extend the program and shot over a couple of days.

I wrote earlier that great promotions are timeless. Vicki could use this same mailer below and it would still draw people in. 

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Regardless of your specialty, you're the only one who can create the excitement around photography in your community. Make yourself a leader and remember, nobody knows if a program is a success or failure except you. You learn something with every project.

For example, the first Hasselblad University programs we did many years ago were a complete failure. So bad, that even after a major investment in print advertising, we were forced to cancel them, but the logo and the concept won awards.  It became the foundation for an entire education resource for the company and the reason Tony Corbell came to work at Hasselblad. He was the first "Dean" of Hasselblad University.  Not every program you do will be a record breaker, but think of them as building blocks for something bigger.

And, if you're stuck for ideas or just don't know if you're on the right track, email me (skip@mei500.com), include a phone number to get back to you and I'll try to help...I've made the offer before - so here it is again. 

                                                       Images and material copyright Vicki Taufer and V Gallery.