To market yourself as a real estate photographer, here are some things that will get you some new clients:
- Word of mouth. The oldest, some would agree, still very effective.
- Use social media ads. This includes Google and Facebook ads.
- Networking. Another back to basic action to get your name out there
- Cold Emailing and Calling. Sounds “cold” but it works.
- Search engine & website optimization
Now that we got the TLDR portion out of the way, here’s how to break things down into small actionable steps that you and your business can apply.
What is your marketing goal?
Before going over the possible methods of marketing your business, we need to define your goal. Do you have a target number of new customers you want to reach in the next quarter, year, 2 years? Let’s begin here.
Oh wait, we should consider what is our bench market. What is yours? How many shoots do you average per week? How many shoots do you average per month? When we sit down to plan a marketing strategy, asking the right questions is even more important than the plans itself. Plans can change, but your direction should be concrete!
Just like in a soccer match, the goal does not move. However, there are many strategies that teams use to score A goal. Sometimes more than one goal but multiple goals.
Here are some questions we think you should consider when setting your goals:
- What is your average number of shoots per month?
- How many customers do you currently have?
- Among them, how many customers book the majority of your shoots?
- Do these frequent customers have something in common?
- How can you best identify your most frequent customers?
- How did you manage to find these ideal customers? Can you replicate that process to acquire customers similar to them?
My guess is YES. Hopefully, your answer is ABSOLUTELY!
Having broken things down this way, it is much easier to come up with tangible guidelines for your future self.
Let’s keep going with this thought process a bit more. How much business does one client bring to you? Regarding the growth of your photography business, how much business/shoots would you need to book to 2x your revenue?
From this number, break down the number of new ideal clients you would need to make this a reality. Simple enough? certainly , but it is for sure not EASY!
Let say only 2 of 10 new clients you work with will be your ideal client. This ratio is not too far off. This is actually the Pareto principle. It states that roughly 80% of consequences comes from 20% of the causes. Apply this to clients, 20% of your new clients will create 80% of your newly earned revenue.
Marketing is quite an abstract function in business, breaking things down into actionable metric is the best way to wrap your head around it. This is our opinion at least.
Your potential GOAL: Hypothetically
You need 10 Ideal clients to double your current operations. This is your main goal.
Define your ideal clients using good questions. (We have a post detailing who can be your ideal clients) Just like the one we started with you earlier. Build upon it. Make it fun. Ask your clients. Get some help from your colleagues, friends, and family.
To get these 10 clients. According to pareto principles, you need 50 new clients. Well, marketing isn’t so intimidating once things are broken down like this, is it? You are basing your efforts on statistically backed ideas.
You’ve got your GOAL.
Get 50 new clients.
Print it out. Hang it up. Put it on your phone, computer screens, refrigerator etc.! Make it your priority.
Here are some marketing methods/tool that will help you get there:
Word of mouth.
Time has not changed that much. Personal reference still does wonders to grow your business. All you need to do is ask. It doesn’t hurt. Try to find the right way to say it. If you get a no, it’s okay. If the clients say yes, great on you.
However, make sure your landing page, homepage and/or portfolio is on point. Your client can suggest you to their peers but it is still your content on the web that will do the convincing for you 24/7. Choose your best work and have them on display across all platforms.
Use Social Media Ads.
Social media ads are dominating the marketing trend in recent decades. There is value in a platform like Facebook that has 3 billion users for your business. Chances are if you can create the right ad campaign, you will be able to attract more leads to your business.
For example, if you are running a lead generation campaign using Facebook and Instagram ads, have your website and social media page optimized. People are more likely to see your ad on their smartphone. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly. You only have about 3 seconds to convince your potential client to learn more about your service.
Make sure to do your research to set up an effective ad on Facebook. If not it can eat up your marketing budget.
Prepare wisely.
Networking
Getting new clients and building relations with other businesses is hard for everyone. That’s why there are business meetings/events. Be on the lookout for some in your area and attend.
Chances are, your service will benefit someone there. Even if not directly, meeting someone in person can bring you a potential lead through referrals. People who attend these are also hoping to build a partnership, one that could help them scale their business.
Get the value of your services out there. By informing and helping others, your list of leads will grow. Opportunities are out there.
- Traditional Small Scale Marketing using Flyers and Brochures
Do you wonder why you still receive flyers and brochures? Because leaflet marketing still works. Visit open houses, talk to agents, and leave your printed materials on the tabletop.
We want to share a couple of stats with you. From dma.org about “door drops”:
60.5% read/looked/glanced at it
85% threw it away/recycled
16% put it aside to look at later
The next 2 tips could get you new clients within a few weeks. A lot of clients in fact. However, there are a lot of precautionary steps to email marketing. Make sure you do your research. Avoid going into the spam folder. 2020’s spam filters are more relentless and unforgiving than ever.
Consider paying for email marketing software. Do your potential client research meticulously. Personalize your emails as much as possible. Spend about 5-10 minutes per email.
Cold Emailing
Going door to door may seem intimidating. Well, you got to practice. The more you do it, the easier it will become. There are many books out there that can help. Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracy is a wonderful resource.
Go out and sell your service. If your service is valuable, you shouldn’t have problems with selling. However, if you do, time to upgrade your services. Bring in new people, gears, courses, and improve your overall process.
Hiring editors can help you free up your time to invest in your marketing.
Cold Calls
None of us like to be on the receiving end of a cold call. In most cases, we don’t want to be because we are just a number in a list. Whoever is calling doesn’t know for sure whether or not we need their service. However, on the slight chance that someone does do their research, the service introduced through the cold call conversation can serve us well. They respond to the demand that we have.
There is nothing bad about that. If you were to find a local realtor’s website that has unprofessional photos. Call them up and kindly let them know about their problem and your potential solutions to them.
The more you practice the better you will get at it. There are many helpful resources online that can teach you some fundamentals about cold calling. BUT, don’t forget your main reason why you started, to deliver value to your clients. Financial rewards shall follow.
Search Engine & Website Optimization
Try to optimize your service page to gain more clients. Your website is your 24/7 salesperson. Make sure the customer experience when they join your site is the best it could be.
A website has 5s to capture visitor attention. Make the most of it. Make sure that your website is secure. Stay ahead of your competitor with a fast loading website.
The mobile version of your website is getting more important. According to realtyna.com, 52.2% of all website traffic was generated through mobile phones. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly. This includes the iPad, iPhone, and other tablet displays. Make sure all the buttons are visible, work smoothly, and are visually pleasant.
SEO or search engine optimization is away to get your website more visible. There are millions of searches every day in your nice real estate media. Are you sure your service is ranking at the top of google’s search engine?
Conclusion
With these simple tools and step, we hope you can help even more clients in your local area. Marketing matters. Making sales matters. If you want your business to grow to the next level, make a checklist of the things mentioned and get your marketing on track.
Marketing is just a part of scaling your business. Explore our blog post about how you can scale your REP business.
Here’s is a breakdown on how much a real estate photographer can make annually.
