When a commercial or corporate photographer markets their photography services, they must remember that a business client is quite different than a retail customer. Even then, business clients are not all the same.
For a retail customer, someone who buys family portraits or wedding photography, the pictures themselves are the final product. But for a commercial customer, the pictures are a business tool, a means towards an end.
With a small business, where the photographer deals directly with the business owner, the customer’s primary need when buying photography services is to increase their sales. But with a large business, the customer’s needs change. Sure, a large company still wants to increase its sales but that’s not the primary motivator when hiring a commercial or corporate photographer.
With a large company, the photographer rarely deals with the owner, president or other high-level executive. Instead, a lower-level employee is tasked with hiring a photographer. Unlike a small business owner, this employee is not spending their own money but their employer’s money.
This means that, when hiring a photographer, this lower-level employee’s priorities are:
• Avoid risk (i.e. not waste company time, money or reputation).
• Avoid problems (e.g. make sure project runs smoothly, photographer is trustworthy).
• Do a good job in the eyes of their employer (i.e. if the project is a success, the employee will look good).
A photographer shouldn’t rely on a one-size-fits-all marketing message for all their business customers. The photographer’s message should be tailored for an individual fit.
The theory behind this is the Elaboration Likelihood Model (longer explanation here). A tailored message will be more persuasive (i.e. will increase the “elaboration likelihood”) to the business customer given their frame of mind while searching for a photographer.
For a small business, the marketing message should emphasize how the photography will help the small business increase public attention, enhance trust and, in turn, earn more customers.
For larger companies, the marketing message should stress the photographer’s proven ability to minimize risk, get the job done properly and on schedule.
