When it comes to shooting weddings, the last few months of the year could be slower. This is the time when holiday cards can be a great way to help you bring some additional income into your wedding photography business. With your holiday cards for business, you can promote your photography brand and also increase your overall profits. So, if you are wondering what the top ways to maximize holiday card sales for your photography business are, we’ve shared a quick guide to help you navigate the process. Check it out!
HOLIDAY CARDS FOR BUSINESS
1. CREATE A SPECIFIC PLAN & DEFINE YOUR GOAL
Just like you do with your wedding photography business plan, one of the first steps to take to maximize your holiday card sales is to define a goal. Some of the questions you should ask yourself to help define your goal are:
- Will you sell the cards to past and current clients with their wedding photos? If so, how many cards will you sell per client?
- Is your goal to focus on your dedicated clients and send love to them?
- Do you want to raise awareness for your photography brand and increase the number of prospective clients you will receive?
Once you get an answer to these questions, you’ll have clarity about the reason you want to sell holiday cards and what the design should be like so that they meet the purpose.
2. SET YOUR BUDGET
Even though it would be nice to send cards to all your clients, friends, and family, the cost and timeliness of this can quickly add up. That is why it is important to determine your budget for the campaign. Once you set your budget, be sure to think about how much it will cost you to print and ship the cards. A business holiday card campaign is meant to increase your profit, so your budget is an important part to focus on during this process.
Related Read: Tips To Manage Business Finance For Wedding Photographers
3. SET A DEADLINE
Depending on the plan you choose, there are a few deadlines for you to set. The first to set is your deadline for sending the holiday card templates to a printing company, such as Bay Photo Lab. Be sure to check the holiday deadlines on their website and plan accordingly. For example, you can note that you need to have all holiday card templates ready to send over by a certain date so that you can ensure they come back in time. The second deadline to set is one for clients to follow. When you set deadlines, you ensure you deliver on your promise and create a positive experience for your clients.
Related Read: Photography Marketing Tips: The Wedding Photographer's Guide
CREATE CUSTOM HOLIDAY CARDS
You can use either Photoshop or Photopea to create custom holiday cards from your free templates. You can add your unique customizations to the templates, add personalized text, and match the colors and style to your photography brand. The first cards you make can be used as samples to share with clients as you promote the cards. Once your cards are ready to go, you can make an order with a good photo lab to get them printed. Now that you have your holiday cards created, you can get started on maximizing sales for your wedding photography business.
PROMOTE HOLIDAY CARDS
One of the best ways to maximize sales with your holiday cards is to promote them. This is something you can do while your images are being edited by a photo editing company such as ShootDotEdit or after you send them to a photo lab for printing. For a reminder, from your initial planning, you’d need to have an idea of how many holiday cards you will make, who you will send them to, and whether this will be a holiday card campaign to attract new clients. A few ways to promote your holiday cards for business this year are:
1. SENDING AN EMAIL TO YOUR PAST AND CURRENT CLIENTS
Your past and current clients are perfect to start with since they know the quality of the work you produce and trust you. Send out an email and let them know that you are creating holiday cards and they are the first ones to know. Share some basic info, such as how long before they can order them, how many they can purchase, and how much the cards will cost.
2. CREATING A BLOG POST ABOUT HOLIDAY CARDS
Your photography blog, in addition to showcasing your past wedding images, is an ideal place to share about your business holiday cards. When you create the blog post, you can put a few examples of the cards you created previously as well as information about the cards and ordering instructions. Also, include a link if they need to go to a landing page to order the cards or provide the best email address for them to reach out to you if that is your process.
Related Read: How To Start A Photography Blog
3. POSTING ABOUT HOLIDAY CARDS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media allows you to reach past, current, and potential clients all at once. You can post on Facebook with a link back to your blog post or the dedicated landing page for the cards. On Instagram, create Stories and use the swipe-up feature to drive traffic to your holiday cards for business. Make sure to use the social platform that works best for you to share the most about your holiday card campaign.
Related Read: How To Build A Social Media Plan For Photographers
4. CONNECTING WITH VENDORS OR VENUES
Sharing images with vendors is one of the top ways to expand your reach and attract ideal clients. Just like you might leave a sample album at a venue, ask them if they would mind if you left a few of your holiday cards for their clients to view. As a good gesture and being a relationship builder, you can also create business holiday cards for your vendors or venues.
Further Read: Holiday Session Planning And Booking Tips For Wedding Photographers
Holiday sessions are another way to increase profit for your photography business during the last few months of the year. While you plan and book holiday sessions, you can promote cards to your clients. Not only will you provide your clients with a fun and quick holiday session, but you can also take care of their holiday cards for them. When you use holiday cards for business to maximize your sales, they will also help you add some more income to your business and increase the profit you make during the sluggish holiday season. We hope you find our tips on holiday card sales helpful. What other strategies do you use to maximize the sales of your business holiday cards? Let us know in the comments section below!
At ShootDotEdit, we are passionate about sharing tips and tricks that can help wedding photographers like you grow as professionals and business owners. One of the ways we do that is by providing professional photo editing services to free up your time - time that you can dedicate toward scaling your business. Check out our pricing plans to learn how we can help you.
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