Most effective marketing?

What strategies have you found most consistent in earning profit via new customers?

A fundamental concept to 'marketing' one's product/services is

• get the word out to the TARGET audience
  
• ...and tell them how your product/service better meets THEIR NEEDS
  
• ...than the product/service offered by your competition
  

• ...WHAT you want to offer
  
• ...WHO your target audience is
  
• ...WHERE you/your customers are located
  

Portrait Photography
Individuals, couples and small families. My preference is seniors. I don't want to target weddings yet, for lack of experience and due to high risk (can't reshoot).
Rapid City, SD.

So, ask yourself ...

1. What are the means by which you can best get word out to SENIOR year students (if they are your target) in your community?
   
2. If you were to rank the various means of communication according to the largest number of seniors, which methods to use first?
   
3. Is there a subcommunity within senior year students who are NOT adequately communicated to (by anyone)? (e.g. Hindu, or Scientologist, or gay youth)
   
4. What preferences for style/location/other factors enter into the decision criteria for choosing a senior photographer in the various groups (that is, cater to each one specifically, not merely offer a general message 'one size fits all' advertising approach
   

Regarding your first two points - that's basically why I'm posting. I don't know the answers; I'm looking for good generalizations.

For me, it's about having a professional looking website. The website is basically your marketing page online. It's where you post your photography portfolio, your 'about me' page, your previous works, contact form, updates, work schedule, and other work details. Your customers will also be able to find you easily online.

If you are interested how I got my website, I managed to create one with the hPage website builder - https://hpage.com . It's good for beginners especially if you don't know any coding language or basic HTML. You will still be able to manage your webpages. I especially love their slideshow gallery feature and I only pay 4.99 euros a month for everything including a personalized email, custom domain, and upgraded business features. They also have SEO optimization on the website you make with them so people can easily find you online.

What kind of research have you done with the market in your area? Some communities already have a saturation of professional photographers, so that makes it harder to get a steady pool of clients. You're already targeting high school seniors: so the first thing you need is a portfolio. If you don't have a range of photos yet, then you may consider doing your first shots for free. I assume biggest events are sports and prom photos. I have web development experience, so I don't have to go through one of the many build your own sites. There are many good options for just basic portfolios (I use smugmug for sharing my photos)...and most the popular services are good about having quick load times (I notice older photography sites can be quite slow to load due to Flash).

icor1031 wrote in post #18722557
Regarding your first two points - that's basically why I'm posting. I don't know the answers; I'm looking for good generalizations.

The problem is that generalizations are 'universalize' statements, and teens are anything but 'one mind fits all' in their attitudes.
ASK juniors and seniors IN YOUR AREA what they prefer to seek when looking for a photographer. It might be a photographic style (very specific), it might be preference for candid vs. posed, it might be preference for on-location vs. in-studio...it is likely different in your part of the country (if you are rural) than what is popular among the coastal teens in big cities. From the 'interviews' you can decide how you need to seem 'more attractive' as a photographer who appeals to THEIR (currently popular) whim ('everybody does this...')