Marketing tools no photographer should be without

Finding the time to market effectively is always a challenge for photographers. There are so many demands on their time and resources that most find it difficult to give marketing the attention it deserves. But clients are the lifeblood of their business and marketing is the path to gaining new clients and cementing relationships with current and former ones.

Below is a list of 8 essential marketing tools that no photographer should be without:

1. Branding Elements
A brand is the sum total of how your business communicates with the rest of the world. Branding elements are the graphic representation of your brand. The most important branding elements for a photographer are the images themselves. But the other aspects are also important. All of your marketing material should make consistent use of carefully selected typefaces, colors, taglines and logos or logotypes. Standardizing on these elements will make all of your marketing material look more professional and be more memorable.

2. Email Campaign
Email blasts are the best way to keep in touch with previous clients and reach out to new ones. Every photographer should be using email as a marketing tool. At the very least, send emails regularly to current and previous clients as a way of keeping them informed about your latest work. And with the right type of list, email campaigns can be a great way to acquire new clients.

3. A Well Maintained Contact Database
This is the heart and soul of your entire marketing operation. No matter how good your pictures and your marketing collateral, you won’t be very successful unless it gets to the right people. Creating a database of contacts is easy. The challenge is to maintain it, keeping it up to date with useful information. Be sure to record how you acquired the contact, note the materials they received from you and enter a quick summary of any conversations you have with them. It’s time consuming and not what most people would consider fun. But it provides you with critical information about whom your marketing material is reaching and helps you identify your most promising prospects.

4. Business Cards
Unless you have a lot of experience with graphic design, hire a professional designer to create your business cards. Use high quality paper and printing. And like all your marketing collateral, be sure it makes consistent use of your branding elements. The most important thing about business cards? Always have them with you.

5. 4 x 6 Postcards
This size postcard is small enough to fit in a shirt or coat pocket. Think of it as a large-format business card that includes a picture. Like business cards, you should always carry these with you no matter where you go.

6. Large Size Postcards
If you do postcard mailings, this is the size to send. They also make great eye-catching leave-behinds. Use a different picture on this large card than the one on your smaller 4 x 6 card. Use two pictures on the larger card if they work well together.

7. Web Site
Virtually every photographer understands the importance of having a Web site. For most photographers, this is how the greatest number of people will see their work, making it the foundation of their marketing efforts. It’s unlikely in this day and age that a photographer will overlook having a Web site. The most important thing to keep in mind is to always keep your site focused and fresh. Don’t feel you need to show everything you do and don’t let the images on the site get stale.

8 Print Portfolio
Print portfolios are not as important as they used to be, having largely been supplanted by Web sites. But print portfolios give photographers a chance to display their work at a much higher level of quality than a Web site can. Simply put, a well-made print looks much better than an image on a computer screen. If you’re a commercial photographer, then prospective clients still expect a high-quality print portfolio. Spare no expense when if comes the quality of the prints, but don’t throw too much money at fancy covers or bindings. It should be professional looking but over-the-top portfolios waste precious marketing resources and can even be distracting for the viewer.

There are many more things that photographers can do to promote themselves and their work. But the items on the list above should be considered “must haves” for any photographer who’s serious about growing their business.

Quick Tip
Prepare Your Promos In Advance

Most photographers have unpredictable work schedules. Slow periods are (hopefully) followed by extremely busy periods. This makes it challenging to prepare marketing material that need to go out on a regular basis, such as email blasts, postcard mailings and print ads.

One solution is to prepare an entire year’s worth during a slow period. Ideally, over the course of the year you’ll revise the piece using newer images and messaging. If you have the time, before the marketing piece goes out take a look at it and decide if you have a fresher picture or message that you want send. But if you don’t have time, you still have a piece that was put together with thought and patience that that’s available for you to send. You’ll no longer need to skip a regular marketing deadline because you’re too busy.

Jon Hornstein is Principal of Creative Touchpoint, a marketing services firm for photographers, reps and stock agencies. You can learn about Creative Touchpoint here. You can send Jon email at jon@creativetouchpoint.com.

Copyright © 2008 Creative Touchpoint, LLC. All rights reserved.