There’s been a lot of buzz lately about how to market to potential photo buyers. Most specifically to art directors and photo editors in the magazine business. Blogs and forums are jammed with photo editors complaining that they get too much email, too many postcards, too many phone calls etc. On the flip side, there’s an equal number of photographers bitching about the need to send out countless spam, the cost of printing cards and promos, the impossibility of getting a PE on the phone and the low, low response rate said efforts garner.
I think a lot of factors have come together over the past few years to create something of a perfect storm (sorry!) in photo marketing. First, bulk email is now cheaper and easier than ever. Tracking that campaign is simple, quick and instantly gratifying. As well, the number of people who sell lists, and the currency of those lists has grown exponentially in the last few years. Combined with the fact that you can find out the shoe size of a photo editor at some obscure trade magazine in Hong Kong in less than .002 seconds by googling them, means that reaching out and touching someone has never been easier.
All of this means, of course, that photographers are making more noise than ever in the marketplace. And getting noticed above the din is harder than ever. Which means you have to make even more noise to get noticed. And so on, and so on, and so on. As a result, there’s been a bit of backlash in the community in terms of “naming and shaming” photographers who email promos and links willy nilly. However, I don’t think it’ll end any time soon. The reality is, this type of marketing gets work. Most PE’s see sorting through promos and emails as part of the job of ferreting out good work, new blood or interesting viewpoints to illustrate pieces with. Most probably resent the never ending stream, I know I would, but, it’s part of the gig. Frankly, the only salespeople I ever wanna see on my doorstep are the Girl Guides, and only when they’re selling those chocolate mint cookies but, as a homeowner, with a front door and a doorbell, I have to put up with countless other peddlers to get the minty deliciousness.
One problem we all face of course, is the mixed message. Ask 100 photo buyers “what is the best way to market my work to you and get picked for a job” and you’ll get 103 different answers. “I love email”, “I hate email”, “send me a postcard”, “save the trees”, “phone calls only, no mail”, “NEVER call me” etc. etc. Faced with this, how are you supposed to know what’s the best way? You can’t! There is no best way. The best way is the way that works for you, gets you work and has a return on investment that means at the end of the year, your costs of marketing created more than enough new work to pay for itself. Magazines put 50 “please subscribe” cards in every magazine so that they’ll fall everywhere each and every time you pick it up, relentlessly showering you with paper until you give in, pick one up, fill it out and send it in. If it took 51 to get enough subscriptions to pay for the marketing and generate a profit, they’s put 51 in. If it took only 2, that’s all you’d see.
Heather Morton has some really great advice HERE about how to market to people like her. It’s a well rounded, considered suggestion and is probably as good a guide as you’ll ever get to marketing your work.
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As an art director I have a couple of notes. Not that Dan needs them but maybe it will help someone reading this. The thing about the noise of the crowd, of other photographers, is totally true but the one universal truth is that the good stuff surfaces. So I get a bunch of promo’s but the interesting ones with good photography still get saved. Now I am art director not an art buyer so I probably have a slightly different point of view but for me I want to have a good collection of photographers on hand. If I like a promo piece I hold onto it. I sometimes keep them because of the photography and I sometimes keep them because of the design but I do keep the good ones. As far as websites I also keep a list on del.icio.us of all the photographer portfolios I like. To make this list you have good work but your site can’t annoy me. I won’t add sites if they resize my window or blare music at me. I will usually overlook annoying menus but begrudgingly. An example of this is the Tom Feiler site linked to from the Heather Morton site above. His work seems good but his site is just to annoying to add to the list. It takes over my screen and I couldn’t figure the menu out [user error in the end but if it's not obvious...].
So that’s my 2 cents.
Josh,
Interesting comment. You’re right about the websites, some are great, some not so much. Like all art, design etc. what appeals to one many not work for next. In the end though, form follows function. I tried to build my site so that it’s simple but compelling . Some would say I succeeded, some wouldn’t but, just when I think I’ve got it right, I see someone else’s site and go “Damn!” I wish I’d thought of that.
As for the “good stuff surfacing” you’re right on point. That’s what it’s all about, you filter out what works for you in terms of approach, esthetic, needs etc. and discard the rest.
Cheers
As someone in a small remote market like Winnipeg, all these efforts have paid off. Direct Mail, Email, and my website have all resulted in responses. But I have the advantage of location for me, I can’t see how I would stand out if I was in TO, for example.
Ian,
Regarding your comment about bigger markets, it’s just like eating an elephant. Sure, it’s big but, you still get the job done one bite at a time. In a market like Toronto, I’d probably break my efforts down into geographic regions or parts of the region and treat each one as a separate market. You’re right in that a postcard won’t get noticed per se but, if you market to one small part of the city, then follow up with a phone call and repeat the cycle three times a year, tracking each region separately, you’ll eventually rise to top of mind for some clients.