Mother’s Day and Father’s Day Are Back – You ready?

The obvious holidays waiting in the wings are Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Both are ideal for planting seeds for an updated family portrait. The challenge is that too many of you think these holidays are such a long way off, and you’re in your mañana mode. 

Someday you’ll start working on promoting ideas for the two holidays, but “someday” is NOT a day of the week!

Here are some suggestions to help you put together a Mother’s Day and Father’s Day promotion:

• What’s your plan? In scuba diving, there’s a great saying – plan your dive; dive your plan. You need to think through what it is you actually want to do to promote the holidays. Once you have the plan, complete with a timeline, stick to it!
• Call You Lab: It’s a simple question. Just ask, “So what’s new?” For example, Marathon is doing so much with the Bella line, and everything has outstanding client appeal.
• Social Media: One of your fastest ways to plant seeds of ideas with your target audience is through social media, especially if you have a Facebook page. Use your page to share ideas on family portraiture.
• Use Throwbacks: Throwback Thursday encourages moms to consider new family portraits. This approach is like the old SNL routine with “Subliminal Man.” It’s all softshell and your planting ideas.
• Direct Mail: Direct mail still works, especially with oversized postcards shared with a partner or two. With so many ignored emails we trash everyday, this stands out. 
• Direct Mail Personal Letter: I love a hand-signed letter to your client base. It’s a perfect time to wish them a great Spring and Summer ahead while letting them know you’re offering something new and exciting.
• Partnerships: A direct mail piece with costs shared among three businesses is the perfect way to expand reach and reduce costs. Stop thinking you have to do everything alone.
• Target Marketing and Advertising: Whatever your media of choice is, remember it works, but don’t be afraid to negotiate the cost. In addition, pay attention to the demographics of any website or publication you’re working with. They need to match the demographics of our target audience.
• Mother’s Day Events: Just about everywhere, there are restaurants promoting a Mother’s Day brunch. Here’s an opportunity to partner with a local restaurant and cross-promote each other’s products.
• Add-on Sales: Mother’s Day and Father’s Day promotions can include frames, canvas prints, along with novelty products and printing. Suggest add-ons, like McDonald’s when they take your order, “You want fries with that?”
• DON’T FORGET YOUR WEBSITE! It should really be first on your list, but so often photographers put everything together and forget to update their website. Remember, in the portrait/social categories, women make 98% of the decisions to hire a professional photographer. That means you need to make sure your website has an appealing look and is promotable to Mom.
• Legacy Portraits: I’ve written a lot over the years about the importance of capturing and telling the stories of seniors, not high school, the real seniors in every family. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are family-driven holidays. When you’re working with clients, don’t forget to ask about getting the grandparents into the portrait whenever possible.

Last but not least, whatever you’re about to publish, read it out loud, then read it again, and then have an associate or family member read it. I’ve seen so many promotional ideas that were so confusing that the reader simply gave up!

With business picking up, don’t let procrastination become a strategy. If you’re out of ideas, call Marathon for some guidance.