NPR

[Rhys]

Has anybody tried advertising on NPR?

I've tried internet advertising and it just doesn't work for me. I get the majority of contact when I'm out and about at fetes, galas, fairs and so on. I'm trying to get even more so I'm toying with the idea of NPR as it seems so much cheaper than magazines.

 

[*Mike*]

Who is your target market? If you can answer that then...

Ask the radio station for their demographics. Age, gender, income level, etc. They should be able to bury you with data - and they'll frame it all so that it looks like they are the best possible place to advertise. You have to take that info and look at it through the lens of your business.

Do you listen to the station? How many of their advertisers are long-term? How many seem to walk away after a few months? Do the companies that are advertising with them already match your intended market?

My initial reaction is that NPR probably draws a more mature crowd than more intended market. Around here, most brides are 20-24. I'm guessing NPR's listeners are a bit older - so for me, I'd pass. But, I'm also in a conservative college town with unusually young brides.

 

[Rhys]

My thought is that the parents of the couple have a degree of influence with photographers. Plus I'm not doing solely wedding photography.

 

[PhilGarber]

Who is your target market? If you can answer that then...

Ask the radio station for their demographics. Age, gender, income level, etc. They should be able to bury you with data - and they'll frame it all so that it looks like they are the best possible place to advertise. You have to take that info and look at it through the lens of your business.

Do you listen to the station? How many of their advertisers are long-term? How many seem to walk away after a few months? Do the companies that are advertising with them already match your intended market?

My initial reaction is that NPR probably draws a more mature crowd than more intended market. Around here, most brides are 20-24. I'm guessing NPR's listeners are a bit older - so for me, I'd pass. But, I'm also in a conservative college town with unusually young brides.

13 yr. Old listener here!

Anyway.. I was always under the impression the advertising on NPR was like super-expensive. I've never heard a photographer advertise on NPR. As said, maybe it's not a good target market?

 

[*Mike*]

I'd suggest sitting down and developing a marketing plan - something comprehensive, rather than building ad hoc.

For example, I take a percentage of projected gross each year and allocate it to marketing. That gives me a budget. Then, using that number I look at ways to develop a comprehensive strategy. I want to maximize the number of impressions I'm making on likely clients, minimize the money spent on unlikely prospects, and reinforce (or develop) my brand.

So, first I'd look at possible avenues... TV, radio, bridal fairs, exhibitions, mailings, billboards, cross-promotions, phone book, adwords, e-mail, etc. Anything you can think of. Then start to prioritize based on how those avenues will reach your market. You want to build general awareness, and push people to act. Not everything accomplishes both, nor do you need everything you do to be both... You just have to plan with intentionality.

Throwing money into marketing without a plan is often the same as throwing it down a big hole.

Oh, you'll also want to have a way to track response rates so that you know where people are coming from and what's being the most effective. Without some means of quantifying effectiveness, you can end up continuing to pay out on something that doesn't work - or cut something that really was.

 

[Rhys]

I'm doing it largely via trial and error. I found internet advertising was a waste of time. I know newspaper advertising is a waste of time from things I have done in the past. I was hoping a few adverts on NPR might yield results. If they don't then no biggie as it's $50 an advert.

 

[*Mike*]

That's what I mean about throwing money down a hole, though. Often, it takes more than a single campaign, or a short term campaign, or single avenue of advertising in order to make a difference.

Trial and error is a very expensive way to go. And, you may be trying some good things, but not doing them effectively...

Consider talking to a marketing firm. Or contact the SBDA, or similar for some free insight.

 

[Big Mike]

What kind of internet advertising have you tried? I've heard from a few photographers who have had great results from Facebook or Google advertising and some who haven't.

What about Search Engine Optimization? If you can get your site to the top of the list for your key words, that can make a big difference.

 

[Rhys]

Search Engine Optimisation is one area that I have a great deal of problems. Feel free to make comments: www.sagephotoworld.com is the most unfindable site ever - despite all I've done.

 

[SpeedTrap]

I had a look at your source code,
You need to improve your meta data, right now you are all over the map. Focus on the most important thing to you and expand on it.
Go to the search engine sites and submit your site. That will add you to the list to be crawled. It takes time to optimize, try a few thing wait a week or two and then adjust if you need.

 

[Rhys]

My meta tags are:
photography, photographer, photo, 29210, columbia, south carolina, commercial, wedding, family, business, legal, occasional, event, photo, photos, servicemen, conflicts, sc, 803 477 5145, rhys, sage

My Meta description is:
Photography for all occasions in Columbia South Carolina. Licensed, insured photographer specializing in commercial, wedding, family, event, business, social and legal photography.

How do you suggest I improve on that?

 

[*Mike*]

Have you considered narrowing in on a more specific area? Or, at the very least, splitting off your website(s) for different areas?

No lawyer is calling a wedding photog for evidentiary photography. No bride is calling a commercial photographer. No event planner is calling a pet photographer. And so on...

Maybe you're able to do all phenomenally well... you'll still encounter resistance if it's all under one banner. Have an incredible wedding site - maybe even wedding and portraiture. Then have a separate site for commercial and business work. It lets people take you a lot more seriously. I come across a site devoted entirely to commercial work, I know it's not a wedding photog that's dabbling for extra cash. It also lets search engines peg you a lot more effectively...

 

[RyanLilly]

Depending on the money you have to spend, you can have a company continually optimize your website. I know someone who spends several hundred a month, but is guaranteed to be in the top five or seven(i forget which) google hits.