The best types of marketing involve relationships.
So when I set out to build 3 girls photography we focused on word of mouth marketing, which is the best form of marketing that comes from the personal relationships that you develop with clients and potential clients. I have always believed 100% that the relationships you have with people are better than any form of advertising you can buy.
As such, we are always looking for ways to enhance those relationships and to stay ahead of the competition. Being in the high school senior portrait market means that it is vital to keep up with current trends and technology. High school seniors are very tech savvy and social, and offering a relevant product that is easily shareable and plays to their mobile habits is a must.
Remember how I said that word of mouth marketing is important? Well, encouraging client referrals can be tricky. We know our clients talk about us, but I wanted a way to facilitate word of mouth marketing that turns potential clients into actual clients, as well as create a system for booking more of them. And I wanted to keep a personal touch with everything I do, whether it’s social media, products, or marketing.
Mobile is very personal.
Our phones are with us all the time, and they hold so much of our lives on them. This provides an opportunity for businesses to create personal experiences that blend in well with our clients’ lives. You have to be careful, however, not to push market. Instead, mobile should simply be used as another tool for enhancing relationships we already have with our clients.
This is why we are CRAZY excited about StickyAlbums.
By delivering digital images in mobile app albums, we get the best of both worlds.
A branded mobile app lets us control how the images are presented, and this provides a very natural way to encourage referrals. Rather than interruption marketing, seniors are sharing their images and experiences in a way that integrates with their life. Mobile provides us with a personal platform where we control the images and branding. This allows our studio to provide a cool product for our client, and we connect with more potential clients (and book more clients!) without being pushy.
Brilliant! (if I do say so myself).
And if that wasn’t enough, now you can play with video too. Video is big part of both our product lines and marketing for the studio. Being able to add videos to a personalized mobile app is AWESOME, and we feel that it really adds to the experience we offer at 3 girls photography!
Best of all? StickyAlbums is simple to use. SUPER simple. Setting up an album is quick and easy – there are no technical skills needed to make it happen (which I LOVE). The fact that it is customizable makes it perfect for our studio – I can brand it to match our look and feel so we don’t look like everyone else.
Using StickyAlbums for marketing is great because you can have a click to call feature integrated into your app. You can never make things too simple for potential clients, and this app totally gets that. Sharing albums socially? Yep, easy as well. Seniors, parents, friends, family – EVERYONE can share their apps (even my mom could do it – I promise). Want to send people back to your blog? (The answer is yes, in case you were wondering – SEO peeps!) Easy. Use the link to send people there. Add in custom screens for each client and a custom icon for each app and you have the easiest relationship marketing tool out there.
In short, everything is going mobile (yep, everything – though I’m still trying to get my phone to walk my dog). We know that many of our senior clients own smart phones, and this is the ONE place they can reached consistently.
Want to see how cool it is right now?
Head on over to Seniors Ignite and download our FREE Sticky Album Lighting and Posing Guide with images from 11 top senior photographers. Just sign up on the Seniors Ignite site (yep! it’s totally free!) and download the app from there. Seriously. Right now. Do it. You’ll be glad you did. 🙂
Peace and popsicles 🙂
Jen