Wedding marketing tips?

[bndgrl]

So besides word of mouth (which we all know is the best) which has been your most effective marketing tool in making your wedding photography business successful?

I'd love to hear some out of the box ideas that worked well for you that I can steal...errr I mean borrow... ;)

[Mike30D]

I heard of one that I'm going to "borrow". It's called the "teaserPOD". One week after the wedding, you deliver an iPod Nano with about 10-20 images, a "teaser" of what's to come and they get to keep the iPOD. There was another one but I can't remember it at the moment...

[sneakerskilledme]

business cards are great,
especially for young photographers, shows alot of maturity in the business and presents you very well.

[samnz]

If you live near a military base, send a handful of brochures/cds/cards to the padre/chaplain. You will be amazed at how many calls you get. When servicemen and women start organising their wedding, the padre is usually the first person they visit...well he certainly was in our case.

Military weddings are so bloody well organised. Esp if the bridal party is military as well. They treat you with respect, do what you ask them to and their time management is great!

I've done 5 Army and 2 Airforce weddings this year. Believe me....they are a pleasure to do.

[angryhampster]

If you live near a military base, send a handful of brochures/cds/cards to the padre/chaplain. You will be amazed at how many calls you get. When servicemen and women start organising their wedding, the padre is usually the first person they visit...well he certainly was in our case.

Military weddings are so bloody well organised. Esp if the bridal party is military as well. They treat you with respect, do what you ask them to and their time management is great!

I've done 5 Army and 2 Airforce weddings this year. Believe me....they are a pleasure to do.

How would civilian churches/pastors feel about this?

[cdifoto]

I heard of one that I'm going to "borrow". It's called the "teaserPOD". One week after the wedding, you deliver an iPod Nano with about 10-20 images, a "teaser" of what's to come and they get to keep the iPOD. There was another one but I can't remember it at the moment...
Wow. Pricey. Charging quite a bit, eh? :)

[samnz]

How would civilian churches/pastors feel about this?

They'll get over it :)

[MarkAnthonyPhotography]

Networking is going to be your best bet. With the saturation of photogs since the digital breakthrough, wedding photographers are now a dime a dozen. I started my business 2 years ago. I had no experience and didn't know squat about DSLR's. I knew I loved photography and that I was a natural born salesperson. While teaching myself how to use and understand dslr's I ran across this in one of my marketing books. "To stand out in your market you have to do one of two things. Either be completely different or be completely cheap."
I think I can speak for most wedding photogs that the "cheap" route is not the way to go! To much time and work involved in quality wedding photography. I see so many photogs in my area that will do weddings for $400. Shoot and burn. Hard to compete with. So what I've done is gone that extra mile for potential clients. I come to them, I bend over back wards sometimes, what ever it takes is my motto. And you know what. It works! It's not for everyone, you definitely have to be customer oriented, but it does weed out the "pain in the butt" clients. You know, the ones that want it all for next to nothing!
I've been a bit of a "Fong Fan" since I've started. Not so much for all his "inventions", but for his marketing insight. He too started out as a complete novice with no experience in photography, but in his first year made over $60,000. And that was back in the late 70's early 80's. That was a ton of money then! He stresses about being different. We are in the "customer service" field. We provide a service for people. And with the title "professional" attached to us, they expect a very high standard of you.
Like I said, it may not be for everyone, but it has worked for me. I second shot for 2 years before starting up Mark Anthony Photography, mainly to get the on hand experience of a full wedding day. I still keep in touch with my "mentor" as I like to call her. She was a "shoot to burn" person. Yeah she does 15-25 wedding a year, but at the average price of $700. After costs and time she isn't making a whole lot and she's killing herself with the editing workload. So far on my own I've shot 15 weddings with absolutely no advertising costs. I work a full time day job and have two kids, so finding time to network is hard. I carry cards EVERYWHERE I go. Even at my day job. I deal with the public everyday. I see hundreds of people everyday, in a sales mindset that is 100 leads. And I always go that extra mile. I call, I meet, I follow up, I meet them for dinner/drinks to talk about our services and their vision, I follow up again. I go to EVERY rehearsal. That is a key contact!! The director or the planner. These people meet the brides BEFORE anyone else! So if they put your name in their hands FIRST, guess what, they will be more than likely to contact you. And the director/planner should be praising you up and down to them, because you were so professional and went that extra mile for their client. They just have to book you!!! And because your prices are "competitive", and not "cheap", it seals the deal.
Okay, I will get off my soap box now. lol. I do have a long term plan for my business. As should you all. One of my plans involve speaking about the market of wedding photography and how we get so involved with "mass marketing" and visual advertising, that we forget about the tried and tested method of genuine appreciation. To make your client feel as though they are your ONLY client.

[Fingertip]

Wow! I think MarkAnthony needs his own sticky. That is Grade-A, prime advice, thanks.

[razyl]

Don't count on word of mouth: I believe you should treat this as a bonus (and a given if you do good work).

One option to look at is google adwords. Such a great tool and very effective for price conscious shoppers (which a beginning photographer would likely target). A lot of people search on the web these days and if your website impresses you're probably halfwayto a sale.