Let’s talk about mailing lists and why you need them for you photography business. Mailing lists are often overlooked by many new photographers and this is a costly mistake!
Many photographers rely HEAVILY on social media to launch, grow and market their businesses. Although popular and engaging, if you want sustainable and consistent marketing, a mailing list is hands-down the most effective and lucrative way to directly market your business.
3 Reasons Why You Need a Mailing List for Your Photography Business
#1 You do not own your list on social media.
If social media were to disappear tomorrow, how would you connect with your audience? Although it’s unlikely social media will disappear any time soon, the list of followers you have grown does not belong to you.
At any point Instagram or Facebook could disconnect your account (mistakenly) and if you rely primarily on social media, your marketing platform would be gone instantly.
This isn’t meant to scare you but enlighten you about how important it is to build and grow your own audience of emails that you have direct access to.
#2 Email is not controlled by algorithms!
Social Media may be massive but it is controlled entirely by algorithms. This means even if you have 1,000 followers, only a portion of them will see your posts.
Think about how much time you spend finding the right hashtags, researching the best times to post and curating the best images and captions to engage your audience — all so you can find a way to best the algorithm and get your content seen! Even the best of the best is only seen by a portion of your audience.
When you build a mailing list — aside from getting past the spam filter — you have a direct way to captive and engage with your audience. These are people that have entrusted you with their email and are interested in what you have to offer.
#3 Everyone has an email address. Not everyone is on social media.
Have you noticed the growing awareness with how time consuming social media is? More and more people are trying to limit their time on social media and detox from all the screen time. I don’t blame them at all. However, if you are relying on social media as your primary point of contact, you might be missing out.
You will find some of your best customers are anti-social altogether. To continue building a relationship with them, you need a way to continue to connect with them. A mailing list can be utilized for regular newsletters or important announcements about your business.
Do yourself a favor and begin collecting emails early in your business. Be sure to get permission so that you are compliant but collect, collect, collect!
If you are just starting out and portfolio building at the same time — offer a discount for anyone who joins your mailing list. This is a great way to both portfolio build and grow your email list. Although I didn’t have a consistent plan in place on how to utilize them at the moment, I knew how important it was to collect them.
Are you interested in learning more about how to use your mailing list to market your business? Leave a comment below in the suggestions box for free one-on-one advice and I’ll be in touch!
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