Tell me you don’t get at least a little bit excited when you see your favourite clothing store having their once-a-year 20%-40% off sale. You just can’t help yourself and you click add to cart… to everything that you’d secretly been eyeing the past couple months.
The psychology of why you’re more willing to commit to a purchase during a sale is a powerful tool. One that you can incorporate into your own business marketing strategy to sell more albums and printed products to your clients. But instead of focusing on the psychology (which will probably bore you) we’re going to focus on how to take advantage of two types of sales to get your clients clicking that “add to cart” button when browsing your online store.
You’ll find that the conversion rate while you’re running a sale is significantly higher then when you aren’t.
SOMETIMES YOUR CLIENTS JUST NEED THAT LITTLE EXTRA INCENTIVE TO JUSTIFY A PRICEY PURCHASE.
Another great thing about running a sale is that it’s actually a really easy way to organically integrate albums and other printed products into your workflow. You’re able to show off your beautiful products to your client and give them an opportunity to get them at a discount.
There are two types of sales that you want to be implementing into your business as strategies to sell more albums:
1. SEASONAL SALES
The first type of seasonal sale is one that revolves around a holiday. Great holidays to run sales for are Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and the winter holidays. You may want to run a sale for a specific album you offer, maybe it’s a mini album that’s great for boudoir photos or maybe it’s an heirloom layflat album, perfect for some gorgeous family photos and the ultimate keepsake for your wedding clients who may not have had the initial budget to invest in a wedding album.
The intent is to have these ready as gifts that arrive in time for the holidays, so make sure you know the amount of lead time you need to both design the album and have it printed/delivered. (The last thing you want is to have gifts arriving late!) Even if you haven’t ordered any albums yet and don’t know how long that process may take, check your supplier for their production times, estimate how long it takes to design and approve an album, and if you have to ship the album off make sure that time is accounted for as well since major holidays tend to slow down deliveries. I always like to have a 2 week buffer in case I have to face an unexpected hurdle and give myself the peace of mind that everything will arrive well in advance so my clients don’t have that added stress during the process.
WHEN SHOULD YOU START YOUR SALE?
Figure out which holiday you're going to run your sale for and make sure you give yourself a 2-3 month window leading up to delivery time. For example, when I run a winter holiday sale I’ll start the process in October and have the sale run until the deadline for ordering albums to ensure they arrive before the December Holidays. I always reiterate the deadline so that my clients know the timeline and know they can't wait too long to place their orders.
People absolutely LOVE the idea of checking off gifts as early as possible leading up to the holidays so although you might feel that October & November are a bit early to start your marketing campaign you’re actually do yourself and your clients a big favour by making their holiday shopping that much easier!
Don’t forget, many times your clients will be sharing their galleries with friends and family so it even gives them the opportunity to order a few holiday prints or an album of their own during your seasonal sale.
2. TARGETED SALE
A targeted sale is going to be more specific to your individual clients. This type of sale will become available to your clients when they reach a certain point in your client experience workflow. For example, when you deliver your client galleries you can offer a 15% off sale for all albums that runs for 2 weeks as a “Thank You” for doing business with you. This type of sale could also be done for one year anniversaries (if you're a wedding photographer) or even gallery expiration sales.
WHEN SHOULD YOU START YOUR SALE?
The great part about a targeted sale is that you can add it into your workflow at any time. Having the system in place to run an automated sale can be implemented for your next client gallery delivery so you can get started on targeted sales right away.
You’ll want to prepare some promotional material to advertise the sale and start creating a buzz around your products. Wherever your clients hang out (facebook, instagram, or on their emails) is the channel you’ll want to use to promote the sale.
Maybe you read this and thought, “Ugh, that’s just too sales-y for me.” and I hear you. When I started out I never thought I could run a sale because that’s what “business people” do - not artists who are providing a service for their clients.
But what I’ve learned is that some people just need that little push to invest in an album or print. What’s made me realize this is the reactions that my clients have when I deliver their album to them - they are emotional, excited, and grateful. Never, has anyone regretted getting an album, not once. More often than not, they are sending me photos years later of their kids flipping through it, or of where they have it showcased in their living room and tell me it's a great talking piece with everyone who comes over. It goes to show that the value of albums and prints goes beyond just “business”, they aren’t just things, they are tangible memories for your clients to hold and share with their loved ones and it’s up to you to help create that everlasting experience for them to have.
If you still don’t feel a connection to offering albums, check out my other post “Why You Need To Be Offering Albums” where you can discover your WHY for selling albums and begin to understand the emotional value of including them in your business.
SO, HOW DO YOU RUN A SALE?
If you use Pic-Time you can use their Sales Automation Apps to run your sales. The apps are easily customizable and user friendly. Another great perk? You can set it up one time and then apply it to ALL your galleries going forward. It saves you a ton of time and creates a seamless experience for your clients.
If you don’t have Pic-Time, there are other alternatives to running sales. Using MailChimp to send out a customized email campaign is very straightforward, and they even have a free version if you’re just getting started. It’s not quite as easy to create in comparison to Pic-Time but it can be a great option if you are just starting out and can’t justify the investment (yet).
These two sales strategies are simple ways to create a buzz around your gorgeous products and the perfect way to advertise (and sell) your products without that uncomfortable sales-y feeling you might associate to that part of your business. You can sell albums confidently, in a GENUINE way that will make your clients feel the importance and value of your products.
That’s the great thing about albums, they often sell themselves, it’s just a matter of creating a philosophy for your brand surrounding the importance of printed products. If it's something you truly believe in as a photographer than that feeling will translate over to your clients and they’ll understand and appreciate the value of having such a beautiful keepsake of that moment in their lives.
- RH
