Creating a marketing project plan will increase the productivity of your marketing time and dollars. The following are some ideas and steps for establishing a marketing project plan. While my experience is in doing this for photographers, the principles can apply to other businesses as well.
1. Build up a list of marketing Ideas. Brainstorm Ideas. Research what the competition is doing. This is not a time to organize or prioritize the ideas. Just get all marketing ideas down on paper or in your computer. There are a number or photography organizations and websites available which you may find to be helpful. Don’t be afraid to ask other photographers in your area what they are doing to get business. Yes you are in competition with one another; however, my experience has been that photographers are more than willing to share their ideas.
2. Decide which of the 20 ideas will have the most impact for a reasonable cost.
3. Look at a Calendar to determine which of the ideas will conflict with one another and your workflow. For example – one idea you might be to offer to take pictures at the local dog show that takes place in the first of February each year. Another idea might be to run Valentines day special. It is very possible that by running the two at the same time, you will not be able to keep up with the work flow generated by both events. One of the marketing ideas may need to be cut.
4. After removing conflicts and looking at your workflow, you will likely only be able to implement 6-10 of your marketing ideas in a given year (depending on the size and resources of your studio – adjust the numbers accordingly). Make a list of all of the tasks that you foresee will need to be done in each project.
5. Organize these tasks in a project plan. Computers have provided a number of good ways of doing this. There is generic project management software available that is robust and can be shared by a team of people. There is also graphic project plan software available, which allows you to drag and drop tasks into their proper position. Whichever method you choose, make sure it is one that will remind you when particular tasks are due. Photography businesses have a lot of loose ends and your marketing project will be lost in the cracks if your system doesn’t remind you when tasks need to be completed.
Marketing, not just having artistic talent, is needed to succeed in the competitive photography business. You can improve your marketing efforts by building a marketing plan.
By: Vanessa Honda
About the Author:
Vanessa and Stephen Honda are Laguna Beach Photography business owners who specializes in weddings and portraits.
