One thing we’ve introduced to our services is helping photographers set up their email lists when they book us for a website makeover. If you are a photographer, you know how important having a solid online presence is. Your website is the face of your business. It’s essential to have a well-designed, user-friendly site that showcases your work. But there’s one critical element that many photographers overlook: building an email list.
In this blog post we’ll discuss why it’s crucial to build an email list as a photographer on your photography business website. Whilst having a stunning and high-converting website created by a professional can help promote your business, that doesn’t mean you’ll get bookings from every visitor. However, you can still engage with visitors who might not be ready to book your service yet. You can do this by encouraging them to take other actions. These actions include following you on social media or sign up to your newsletter allowing you to email them updates, discounts, and news. Here’s five reasons why you need to be Building an Email List as a Photographer.
Your leads need somewhere to go.
One of the most important things you learn about in strategic high-converting website design is to know your audience’s journey. Although the website aims to turn viewers into clients by encouraging them to reach out, only some people are there yet. In website design, you have to plan for the realism that only some are ready to inquire. Not everyone who comes to your website is ready to get in touch. Some people could be looking around at other photographers or doing research for future reference. They could be saving up to work with you. The possibilities are limitless.
So having a backup plan on your website for people who aren’t quite there yet is an incredibly beneficial part of building an email list as a photographer. You can take those leads and nurture them to work with you in the future. Many people that find your website through Google will go to your social media and follow you there (great!). But what if they found you through social media? We want them to take one more step in committing to creating a relationship with you, so yes, you guessed it, email list!
Become BFF’S with your audience.
One of the most significant benefits of building an email list as a photographer is establishing and nurturing strong relationships with your audience. By collecting email addresses from visitors to your site you can create a direct line of communication with people who are interested in your work. You can use this list to send regular newsletters, updates about your latest projects, and exclusive offers to your subscribers. You can even share more exclusive behind-the-scenes content. Then your email list feels like they are getting a behind-the-scenes sneak peek and getting to know you further. Email marketing is a powerful tool that can help you build trust with potential clients and keep your existing clients engaged with your work.
Ditch social media overwhelm and talk to your audience directly.
Another critical benefit of Building an Email List as a Photographer is reaching your audience directly. Unlike social media platforms, which are subject to ever-changing algorithms and can limit your reach, email allows you to communicate directly with your subscribers. When you send an email you can be sure that it will land in your subscriber’s inboxes. They’ll have the opportunity to read it at their leisure. This direct line of communication can be invaluable when promoting a new service or product or when you want to share important news with your clients. And likewise, your audience will appreciate knowing all your information updates directly in their inbox. They can stay in touch without having to search through endless bookmarks and trying to remember your social media handle.
Warm up your leads
When you have a list of interested subscribers, you can use it to promote your services and products directly. By crafting compelling email campaigns, you can drive traffic to your website, generate new leads, and ultimately increase your revenue. Email marketing is a cost-effective way to promote your business and an essential tool in any photographer’s marketing toolkit. Whether you’re emailing to share a recent session you loved, give a discount or tell them about your new upcoming mini sessions. Every time you email them, they can head back to your website. This then warms them up to working with you a little more each time.
You OWN your email list.
Maybe you decided to take your website down for some updates. Or maybe your website has had some errors and is down right now. The social media CEOS have decided to change the algorithm AGAIN (Don’t even get me started, eye-roll). There are so many things in running a business that you have absolutely no control over, but one thing you can own is your email list. Even if your email list provider decides to stop doing business tomorrow, you can export your email list and use a different provider. You can even save the list and manually send out an email. Your list is yours forever! You aren’t at the mercy of any other company; that opportunity CANNOT be missed.
Building an email list is crucial to any photographer’s online marketing strategy. By collecting email addresses from your site, visitors can establish strong relationships with your audience. You can reach them directly, and ultimately grow your business. If you’re not already building an email list, it’s time to start. You don’t even need to complicate it. In the next blog post we’ll be talking about HOW you can create your email list. We’ll even give you some templates to make the whole thing a bit less time-consuming!
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