Advertising

There's probably no profession on earth that relies more on "word of mouth" advertising, but do any of you lean on other forms of promotion (print ads, television, radio, bridal shows, etc.)?

What about small gifts for guests/bridal party or anything like that? We've been blessed with work, but I've seen things turn sour in a hurry for some real sound photographers in the past. It never hurts to think ahead, and adapt/change to stay current?

Print ads are dead. I used to do them many years ago, but their effectiveness fell dramatically as the web became more and more popular.

Now, I hear people buying adwords and facebook ads. Not sure how effective they are (they never were too great for me) but all I know is that I wouldn't invest in print ads.

Yellow pages used to be the staple of photography advertising. And that's how brides booked. They would go through the yellow pages, call a whole bunch, and then visit each one and look at their work. You couldn't view their work until you were there sitting in their studios. Man, have times changed. For the better. Yellow pages were BRUTALLY expensive.

I'm currently using quite a different approach...

No print ads, no tv, no radio, no bridal shows, no gifts, no networking, no business cards (I haven't had any for nearly 3 years). I've used google ads in the past but found them to not offer a decent return and I stopped using Facebook ads a month ago. I'm also ceasing the online directories this year.

I have branding on my vehicles, a facebook page, good SEO and word of mouth. I'm moving to a zero marketing spend for the next few months.

I have a plan I'm putting in place over the next month or so which if it works will mean I can continue with a zero spend on marketing.

Think of the film "Hitch" with Will Smith. I'm moving towards something like that.

My previous business was similar to photography and print ads were a total waste (far too expensive). I probably spent $6000 in two years and never got a client out of it. Internet was starting to replace yellow pages then. I tried ads there, but got nothing out of it. I went to trade shows and got a couple of jobs indirectly but barely covered the costs of the show. I donated to every fundraising function under the sun, but got nothing there either. I would say the lions share of my business was from client's recommendations and a minimal amount from a sign hanging on a fence near my house.

I always assumed photography would be similar, but it never hurts to ask.

I'm only part-time and I get all the business (actually a bit more) than I can handle through word of mouth. Were I to be able to do photography full-time and could spread advertising costs over more shoots, I would do the following in order:

- Invest in SEO
- Place more sample framed prints and albums at select venues where I'd like to work more
- Bridal shows