by Skip Cohen

Marathon is a partner in the SCU project because they believe in education, especially when it comes to marketing and business. Their Marketing Advantage Program has set the standard for marketing support to professional photographers for years. 

I recently had a chance to interview Mark Weber from Marathon and talk exclusively about the Marketing Advantage Program. He shares some terrific insight into why every photographer involved has had a life-changing or, at the very least, "business-changing" experience.

There are some great testimonials stories from photographers who have been a part of the Marketing Advantage Program on Marathon's site. They're artists just like many of you, who simply wanted to grow their business more, but needed help and found it in MAP. Here are a couple I thought you would enjoy.

One last explanation of the program... 

The short video below, couldn't be much more basic, but it hits most of the key components with the exception of one major ingredient, passion! Nothing matches the passion of the staff at Marathon involved in the program. EAch MAP Facilitator is dedicated to keeping you on track. with your plan. 

MAP is about every aspect of your marketing efforts from logo design, to support material, to brochures, mailings, program analysis and everything in between.

Just click the link below to find out how you can draft Marathon to your own marketing team and take your business up a notch! This is a remarkable program and Marathon is ready to send you free samples demonstrating their ability to design high impact marketing pieces, together with the right plan to expand your reach into your community and target audience.

by Skip Cohen

I love the way Marathon not only develops products to help you be more effective in your marketing techniques, but they take you through each step of the way. Check out these three steps for a mailing campaign to seniors. It's taken right out of Marathon's Senior Marketing Center...

1. Create Awareness: Most seniors don’t commit to a studio after receiving their first mailing, so this one is designed to accomplish the first step in the promotional process...to create AWARENESS that it’s time to think about senior portraits. It attracts attention because it focuses on a status that seniors recognize - membership in the class of 2016 - an element they will see again when they receive the heavy guns of this three-part marketing campaign.
2. Shape Comprehension: A vital link between marketing and sales is COMPREHENSION; if seniors fail to comprehend that your photography style is worthy of their consideration, they won’t give your studio a second look. It takes more than social media to draw ideal clients to your website to view your images in depth. So the marketing style presented by these intriguing marketing pieces - contained in neat holders featuring die-cuts that reveal their vibrant designs - assures that our marketing message will be read and remembered!
3. Build Conviction: CONVICTION is what sells! Conviction is the final step in the promotional process, and this mailing is designed to convince seniors that your studio stands out from the rest. The design itself, following on the heels of the memorable second mailing, serves as a powerful reminder that your studio has the creativity they expect for their senior portrait experience.

There's even an option for an additional mailing. Even more helpful is Marathon's marketing staff is available to help you through the entire process, but here's something else I love...

Read through all three of those descriptions above one more time, substituting any other photographic client. The process for developing strong recall and commitment is the same for a bridal client, family or children's portrait client...even a commercial client. Marketing is marketing and certain aspects of your approach are universal. Marathon has developed an endless series of marketing tools to help you build a stronger business and better brand recognition, no matter what your specialty.

It might be 2015, but now is the time to be working on your strategy for seniors in 2016. Just click on any of the products below and you'll be on Marathon's Senior 2016 page and viewing more marketing tools for 2016. You'll find lots of ideas and support to take your next step into the senior market.

Headed to ShutterFest 2015? Come by Marathon's booth and meet some of the team. They're always available to help you make this year the best one yet!