Hi there, Hannah here!
When you are creating a marketing plan for your photography business you need to know who you are talking to. Its a good idea to create a bio of your ideal client.
What do I mean by ideal client?
This is the one client we all hope calls us in the studio and says “I have seen your work, looked at your website and cannot wait to get a photo shoot booked in with you, when is your next free date?”
Here are my top tips for creating your Ideal Client Bio.
- Give them a name.
This helps to identify the client in your marketing. (Mine was called Margaret) You won’t actually say Hi Margaret, I am a wonderful photographer, but it will get you in the right mind set when you think, lets write a blog post that speaks to Margaret today. - Look into their home life.
Write down their lifestyle choices. Heres a list to help you get started:- Where do they live?
- Do they stable their horse at home?
- Do they have children?
- Do they have a disposable income?
- Do they work?
- What type of car do they drive?
- What do they do with their horse?
- Do they buy art?
- Where do they socialise?
- What interests are they likely to have?
- What do they spend their money on?
- How can you connect with them?
Now that we have a good bio on our ideal client we can start to think about how to get in front of them. Have a think about where your best customer will hang out in their spare time. Do they go out to dinner? Do they attend horse shows? Do they have children in the Pony Club. Once you have created this list, this is the start of your marketing plan. You now have a good idea of where you need to aim your advertising and offers. - Write an offer that will appeal to this customer.
For example: You have decided that your ‘Margaret’ has a cottage in the south and her horse is her life. She stables her horse at a livery yard with 20 other horse owners and works part time. This type of customer will want to invest in an experience for herself alongside receiving stunning images of her horse. She may not have a huge disposable income, but values your work and time. Therefore you need to target livery yards and could come up with an offer to get 2 or more owners at the yard to have their shoot on the same day, therefore reducing their session fee, allowing them to spend more money on purchasing the shots and products they really want. TIP: When one owner on the yard experiences a photo shoot with you, the others will want one too! - Think of your platforms for connecting with your potential clients.
We have so many oppotunities to grab our customers attention. We have social media, your website, a blog, newsletters, networking, advertising in yards and tack shops, trade stand at shows/events, collaborations the list goes on and on. Come up with an offer for ‘Margaret’ and plan how you will showcase this offer on your platforms.
If you follow the above tips you will create a strong marketing plan to move your business forward and up! I would love to hear your ideal clients name and bio, post on our Training Barn Facebook page.