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Story Marketing

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A lot of folks are either having a good laugh or scratching their head over the $500 bridal selfie stick that was shown at a New York fashion show.

The boutique clothing designer said the selfie stick wasn’t just a fashion runway prop but that it’s a real product. She even claimed the product was already out of stock. (Out of stock even before it was in stores?!)

A bride could easily buy a cheaper selfie stick and decorate it themselves but they won’t have a “designer” selfie stick. Of course, no one should have a selfie stick or even a pair of selfie shoes ;-) but that’s another post.

Who would buy a $500 selfie stick? Someone who thinks it’s worth $500.
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You can trust me on this

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Photographers are often told to sell value rather than just pictures. But when it comes to value, there can be a disconnect between photographer and customer.

A photographer generally tries to sell future value: how the photos might be used and enjoyed in the future.

But a customer often sees only the immediate value: the cost of the photography today.

If cost is greater than perceived worth then the customer won’t buy.

It’s difficult for any business to sell the future because we only see the present and we only know how we feel today.

A solution is that you have to realize that it’s not about cost, high or low. It’s really about worth or the lack thereof. If a customer sees little perceived worth today then your only option may be to lower your price and even that may not be enough.

Having to discount your prices is proof that your current marketing has failed.

Once you understand that worth is related to trust, then perhaps you’ll change your marketing to build trust rather than to promote low prices.

Customers can, and want to, feel trust today.

 

Photo Saturation

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There are nine take-out pizza stores within a one-kilometre radius of my home. How did they know I like pizza so much? More importantly, how much pizza do I and my neighbours have to eat to keep all those stores in business?

If you were the only photographer in town, you’d probably be quite busy with work. If a second photographer arrived in town, would the total number of photography customers double or would the existing number of customers be somehow split between you and the other photographer?

What if the number of photographers in your town went up by a factor of ten, fifty, a hundred or more? How would that affect your business?

It’s said that competition is good for business (and good for customers). More competition can increase customer awareness of your products and services which then might increase demand for your business.
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Experience or just service?

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With many other photographers in your area, all using the same equipment as you and perhaps offering the same photography as you, how do you set yourself apart? After a few clicks of their mouse, a potential customer may think that all photographers are the same.

What can you do about it? Get a fancier web site? Offer more price discounts? Buy some gimmicky photo background or trendy lighting accessory?

None of those are long term solutions.

Instead, you have to know the customer more. Know what they’re really looking for when they search for a photographer, know their concerns and business constraints when they hire a photographer, know what they want when they work with a photographer, know how they can best use the delivered pictures. None of these have anything to do with shutter speeds, pixel counts or focal lengths.

This isn’t about customer service but rather it’s customer experience (link to PDF) and the two are different.

The short explanation is that customer experience is what a customer takes away from a business transaction. For a photographer, that transaction usually starts when the customer first visits the photographer’s web site. Customer service, which can be part of the customer experience, is what a business does to or for the customer.

Improving your customer experience by more thoroughly understanding the customer’s business can make you the photographer of choice more than any new equipment you might buy or any price discount you might offer.

 

The Job of Photographer

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France’s Ministry of Culture and Communication released a survey titled, “Le métier de photographe” (The job of photographer). The study (il est en français) is based upon a December 2014 questionnaire completed by 3,000 photographers in France.

While the results may not be surprising to photographers, it can help to have some numbers. Here are a few examples from this French survey:

• The number of people who called themselves a “professional photographer”:
1995 – 15,400
2000 – 14,100
2005 – 18,000
2014 – 25,000 (estimated)
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A few quick thoughts

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While I was shooting an event last week, the client, who was looking over my shoulder, said, “That should be a good picture. Can you upload it to our Twitter account right now?”

I replied that it wasn’t possible with my camera but I could transfer the photo to my nearby laptop and then e-mail it to him. He said not to bother. He held out his cell phone, snapped a picture and uploaded it to his Twitter account. He seemed quite pleased with himself.

I was shooting at ISO 6400 with a 500mm f4 lens. He was using an iPhone 5. You can probably guess how his picture looked.
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Anybody for nothing

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The 1969 American cult film Putney Swope, a satire about the advertising world, corporate corruption, politics and more, has horrible acting and lots of great quotes. It also has this scene which has been posted on many photography sites:

I can get anybody for nothing.

The running gag in the film is that the commercial photographer appears at inopportune times always showing his portfolio but not getting any work.

A satire is something that pokes fun at a vice, foolishness or human folly. Feel free to interpret what the photographer represents.

 

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