The Eyes of Portland Monk :: Official Blog of Award-Winning Commercial Advertising Photographer Benjamin Reed

Contact management firm, ADBASE, recently announced its Art Buyer Lounge Series, a series of podcasts and interviews on how photographers can market themselves to the people who give them work. It’s a great marketing strategy for the company as it repeatedly invites you to join the service but the information is also worth the while to listen to.

For those of you just starting out or short on time, here’s a quick synopsis of how to effectively market yourself using email campaigns.

• Your subject line should be short and specific – state your name and what you are promoting in less than 35 characters. Example: New Nike Ad from Benjamin Reed. Why? So they can archive it and come back a few months later.
• Choose strong images in your emails. No Brainer. The work is what sells you.
• Attachments are lame, clog inboxes and turn buyers off. If they see anything over-sized…later. Keep your size below 500kb as a general rule of thumb.
• Include pertinent info: name, contact info and of course a link to your site.
• spel Chek. Spell Check.
• Buyers really do want to see new work…but only if it relates to the product they need promoted. Do your research on what accounts they have and why you would be a good fit. Don’t give yourself a bad name sending the wrong images to the wrong people. You’re no different than a porn spammer with that strategy.
• Test your email with people who are honest and critical. They must be absolutely ruthless. Make sure links work, words are concise, etc.
• Send your email to a targeted group of buyers for the highest response rates.
• Instead of sharing that you know a buyer has seen your site, send a direct mail piece or another email. In other words, don’t be a stalker.

These points are must haves. If you think about it, buyers have over 100 emails from artists each day. Most come in and delete the lot of crap before they get to their actual company mail. They don’t have time so don’t give them a reason to delete your promos. You worked hard and spent money to put your campaign together. Do yourself a favor and be professional.

Is It Worth Your Time?

I’ve never been a fan of unsolicited promotional materials to potential clients due to the expense and maintenance of lists. ADBASE’s own online survey shows email promos don’t work very well.

• 39% of people surveyed had a 1-2% open rate.
• 25% had a 3-4% rate.
• 21% had 5-9% rate.
• 8% had a 10-15%
• 6% had a 15% rate.

That means despite spending hundreds or thousands on buyer lists and email campaigns the majority of photographers and illustrators don’t convince busy ad buyers and art directors to even open their emails, let alone, click on their sites. I’ve heard the argument that one job alone pays for the service. But when similar lists are available in publications like Photographer’s Market and online sources, it’s hard to justify spending the money for the access but it can save you time.

The benefit is having a digital database constantly updated with the latest contacts and the ability to create targeted lists. Agency Access offers a similar services which contain lists outside of the U.S. These services charge for access to a list which, as mentioned, is very expensive - around $1,000 for a full year of unlimited access. If you want to send emails through them or direct mail services…more $$$.

If you decide you really need the list, the most cost effective way to market yourself would be to make your own email promos with HTML or use a service like Constant Contact or Ennect although these services want you to agree that you won’t send unsolicted (spam) mail to lists or risk being black listed. You have to decide if it’s worth your time and money to use these services. I’ve personally found them unjustifiable given the expense.

Recommendation

Unsolicited marketing has one of the worst records in terms of generating new business, but I understand the appeal for a quick and easy way to find contacts. But remember, we’re talking low percentage (1-5 %) responses with high out of pocket costs. For someone starting out or trying to expand their client base go for a more cost effective and higher response strategy.

You’ve heard it before - it’s networking and non-media marketing that works best. Here are some ideas:

• Join associations like APA and ASMP to network with other photographers and attend meetings where you get direct access to buyers and directors.
• Send business to other photographers you meet there and they’ll respond with referrals as well.
• Meet face to face with buyers and directors to show your portfolios. Your response rate is higher and you get to meet your maker. While many argue they hate cold calls, the odds are in your favor they will agree to hold a quick meeting to review your work. It happens every day in the major ad cities like New York and Los Angeles. Another benefit is you have your work critiqued right there. To increase your chances, and this is very important, give a time-line of your availability. In fact, Lisa Oropallo at Digitas says she is more likely to sit down with someone who calls and says, “I’m only in town for a week…or I’m in from Europe.”
• Get listed in the sourcebooks online. Times have changed. The world is faster and needs everything now! Workbook, PDN’s Photoserve, Communication Arts’ Creative Hot List are all services that buyers check when they need talent. While expensive, there’s a reason. It usually keeps out the crap and buyers can search directly what they need. Why go through a box of promos if you can search online for exactly what you want?
• Get a rep to partner with you and market yourself. If you’re new to the advertising world, this is a great way to add legitimacy to your work. In all honesty, the chances of you being picked up when nobody knows who you are, are small. Prodigies excluded. First, accept that email and direct promos aren’t going to get you there. They might, but again the cost benefit is extremely lop-sided towards cost. So what can a rep do? It gives your maker a warranty. When you buy a car and you don’t know much about the brand, what get’s you to buy it? 100,000 mile warranties, free tune-ups, etc. A rep is your warranty to a buyer. They need to know you can produce a shoot…that you’re a good person to work with and you are consistent. Photographers have a terrible reputation for being cocky and difficult to work with.
• NSS. Never Stop Shooting. I’ve heard it so many times before. “How can I get more work? Why don’t they call me back? I can’t improve my portfolio if I don’t get work.” It might be because you’re sitting on your ass waiting around. Get out there and shoot! You don’t need money for that. You have friends and they have friends and those friends know people. Shoot them. People love to be photographed. You can practice producing your shoots and put the images on a stock site and in your portfolio. There’s no downside to NSS. You’re improving your style and there’s a financial upside. And guess what? The people you NSS will tell their friends you’re a photographer…one of them will know someone who will call you up to photograph something that pays you. It’s another form of marketing and it’s more powerful than your e-mail campaign would’ve been.

We work in a strange business where the typical rules to marketing don’t apply. Every shooter forges her own path to success. The one thing that’s hard to argue against, however, is the power of non-media marketing.

The Monk