Enlightened AIDA Marketing for Photographers
By Chuck Groot
AIDA = tried but true, the famous formula that makes your ads, your advertising literature, your marketing work.
Attention – you must get your reader or listeners attention. We forget that we are not dealing with a captive audience; people are allowing us in to their heads. So in order to get them to pay attention to what we have to say, we need to get their attention. The best way to do this is with a snappy, hard-hitting, headline. One way I work on getting headlines is by writing at least twenty down on a piece of paper. After the first five or six it gets really hard but eventually, the cream will rise to the top and by the twentieth I have a winner.
Are you walls picture poor?
Is your house crying out to be made a home?
Pictures so crisp you can smell the bacon
Art directors will never forget your face
Interest – once the prospective client has been enticed by the bait so to speak, we need to keep their interest. Tell a story about your product, you should mention every benefit, every detail that sets you apart, everything that would entice you to buy from you. Often you have only one chance with this particular customer.
“The house may not have been crying but Mrs. Schmidt certainly was. Her one and only son just got married and now that he had moved with his beautiful bride to his new posting she spends hours gazing at the pictures we took.
A month after the wedding she wrote us and said that every time she looks at the beautiful portraits we created it’s as if she relives the entire wedding day all over again.
Dear Mr. Groot,
Thank you, thank you, and thank you. The portraits of Wolfgang and Sarah are of such high quality and so real, that I feel the warmth of the hugs, I can taste the food, I can hear the music, I can see the couple walking down the garden path, and the emotion of the love caught in each picture carries me back to my own wedding.
And I must say that the album itself is so beautiful I have never ever seen anything like it. But I must say that I am most impressed with you and your staff and how you conducted yourselves on the day of the wedding. I couldn’t believe how professional you looked, how efficient you performed, and how each and every shot you created was like a mini love story.
Also the level of service before, during, and after the wedding was far beyond that of any company that I had ever dealt with. I love my parent’s album and would highly recommend Old Masters Studio to anyone.
Sincerely,
Hildegard Schmidt”
Desire – Make it irresistible for a customer to patronize you by offering such risk free trial propositions – along with such generous guarantees and bonuses – that the customer has nothing to lose and everything to gain. Give the trial propositions as an inducement as well as a free “gift” for their trouble.
” We are only as good as our last portrait session. Each and every wedding that we photograph gets our total undivided care and attention, to that end we only photograph 40 weddings a year and usually get booked up to two years in advance. Your wedding is important to us, so in order for us to deserve your friendship we would like to offer you an:
Engagement Portrait Session valued at $ 100.00 absolutely free.
Just to try us out and see if you like working with us. We will spend an hour taking a variety of beautiful portraits of you and your loved one, capturing the love that flows between you.
And as a special gift we would like to give you our signature…
Old Master 8×10 portrait valued at $ 49.95
At that time we will be glad to present to you, at no cost or obligation, our array of wedding services. We have prices and payment plans to fit every budget. With a guarantee that if you are not 100% happy with your photographs we will give you all of your money back – 100% – no hassles, no questions. “
Action – Lead your customer to action. People are silently begging to be led. Tell them exactly how to buy.
” Call 592-7707 right now to book your first consultation. If you wait, your wedding date might be booked. Can you afford to take that chance with the single most important day of your life? Why wait, you have nothing to lose?
Call 595-7707
Old Masters Studio
1234 Your Drive
Weddingsville, BC, V8V 2S2
250 595-7707
http://www.oldmastersstudio.com“
P.S.
Bring this note with you when you come and you will receive a special bonus gift.
Easy to do marketing activity; create a letter like the one above and bring it to five (5) complimentary businesses (florist, jeweler, hotel, church etc) and ask them to hand it out to the next couple that comes to them to talk about their wedding. Make sure that when you printout the letters somewhere on the bottom of the page in little letters or a code you identify where the letter came from. (i.e. St. Josephs Parish might be 10-18-04-1 the date you brought the letter and St. Joes is number one on your business tracking guide) and explain that for each customer that comes to you with this letter you will give them $50 to do whatever they wish with it. (This is important if you go to a church, because the clergy may have a problem taking the money for them selves but will gladly give out the letter and use the money for the poor box).
Marketing does work. You must market yourself everyday by way of an ad in the newspaper, a magazine, a direct mail piece, your website, your email list, your telephone directory, or your business card etc. You must have your name, address, phone number, and web address on every piece of literature you hand out.
If you have any questions email Chuck at [email protected]