Want More Family Portraits? Target New Home Sales

Looking for a way to bring in more family portraits to your photography business? It may be as easy as knocking on the doors of brand new home owners.

While the economy has been down globally for a while now, things change all the time. Even where you currently live, I’m willing to bet there are people moving to new homes all the time. They make an excellent target for a new family portrait. Here’s why.

A recent survey published in Deliver Magazine showed that:

New homeowners purchase more products and service in the first 6 months after moving than an established resident spends in 2 years.

The average new homeowner spends more than $9,000 on purchases within the first few months of a move.

50 percent of new homeowners purchase home decorations and accents.

35 percent of families plan to or will move into a new home after having their first child.

And if you think about it, it makes sense. If you are doing well enough to make a move into a new home – and anymore it also means you’re doing well if you can get a new mortgage, as the requirements are higher than ever – you probably have discretionary income to spend.

Why not target them for a family portrait?

Specific campaigns will always work better than generic. If you send out thousands of postcards around the holidays advertising portraits, you’re basing it all on zip codes. You may be reaching singles, married, married with children, grandparents, families with newborns, different ethnic groups, etc. Whatever you showcase, its probably not an exact match to the majority of the population. They are busy. And the majority end up in the trash. [Read more…]

Are You Targeting The Average Client?

I just read an article titled, The End Of The Average American. It referred to the old mentality that marketers shared 25 years ago when they could easily target the “average” American, and be right on target almost all of the time.

Twenty five years ago, over two thirds of all households were married couples. The 2010 census shows that for the first time in history, married couples are a minority. And even in the married population, less than 21 percent of all households are married with children.

In our two largest states, California and Texas, no race or ethnicity is a majority. And the census itself shows how are population has changed – it now comes with instructions in 65 languages.

With this much diversity in the American population – and I would venture the same things are happening worldwide to some degree – can you really be targeting a clientele in the same ways as before?

Let me give you an example. How many portrait photographers send out a postcard or use a photograph like this in your marketing?

Yet now that we know very few people live “the normal lifestyle”, what if you used something like this?

It’s different. It’s unexpected. And it’s taking a new niche by storm, and possibly setting up your business to an entire niche that’s grateful to have you marketing to them.

Niches work well because you can target your client down to the detail.

Twenty five years ago, it may have worked to say “married couples with children under the age of ten”.

But today, going to the next level may help define you that much more: “gay and lesbian couples with kids under the age of ten”.

You are narrowing your niche even more. But you are also getting to the hearts and souls of the people you are targeting. And thanks to the Internet, your target market will be willing to drive a lot further, or even fly you out to them if you have what they want.