This marketing campaign is useful not only as a networking tool but also as a way to introduce your business to the local community.
You could try this at any time of year but I’ve found it works particularly well either when you first open your studio or in the run up to Christmas.
What you offer local businesses
- A group photo of the staff either taken at your studio or in their place of work.
- Put together a staff discount pack and including some of your Local Business Discount Cards we talked about in a previous article.
- Offer a complimentary print or even the digital file which they can use either to put on their wall or in a company newsletter.
If the staff want to order extra prints then it’s worth making this an option. At the very least this should cover the costs of your promotion.
It’s not a bad idea to post the group photo on Facebook and link to the company’s page. This will begin a social media relationship and cement those made in person.
Put all of the information about the promotion and the discount cards together in a package and personally take it into your local businesses and hand to the owner or manager. This will give you a chance to explain the offer as it very likely that it will end up in the bin.
Follow up a few days later either in person or with a phone call. Suggest a time when the studio is available and book them in. Obviously you’re going to have to do these sessions outside of business hours so this might involve a few early mornings or late nights.
Ask when the business has a full staff meeting as this is normally the best opportunity to schedule a shoot with everyone. If you shoot half the staff then you are in dander of having other staff members dropping by for a shoot and asking you to Photoshop them in. Believe me you don’t need that in the middle of November when you are at your busiest!
This campaign does offer quite a few other opportunities other than networking and potential b2b work. Booking sessions with staff is the most obvious but having the group shot displayed in another place of business works well to promote you.
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Michael has been working as a photographer for the last ten years. In that time he has shot over 100,000 peoples’ portraits and worked in four different continents. In 2001 Michael graduated with a degree in photography from Manchester Metropolitan University.