Email Marketing For Photographers {Part 1 of 4} Do you need one?

What if you woke up tomorrow morning and all your social media accounts were lost? You lost all your Facebook followers, you couldn't log into your Instagram or your Facebook group disappeared.

What would you do if tomorrow morning you woke up and your social media vanished? Don't think for one second it can't happen because it happened to me just last year.

Although it may feel a bit unnerving, we have to address this: Would your business survive if you could no longer use social media to promote or market your photography?

If you're like most photographers, the answer is likely no. And that's OK. That's one of the reasons I decided to do this 4 part series all on Email Marketing for Photographers.

The #1 most important number in your business is not how many people you have in your Facebook group or how many followers you have on Instagram or how many views your last reel got.

I'm not saying those numbers aren't important, they are, but the size of your email list matters more.

Think about it: Your email list is the only thing you own. Your website is on rented territory. So is Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. If you're old enough like me to remember MySpace, you understand that these social media platforms can become irrelevant without warning.

And even if these media giants stick around for the long haul, their algorithms change constantly! How many of you have:

• Spent countless hours learning the ropes, posting three times a day, awkwardly dancing in reels, desperately trying to increase engagement? 

• Or how many of you are frustrated or discouraged because you are barely any getting traction or engagement on your posts?

• And even if you do get a few likes or comments, you have yet to figure out how to turn your follower into a paying photography client!

There is a better way!

I’ve been finessing my email list building efforts for the last 6 years and it has made all the difference in the growth of my business!

And it's not just me. The benefits of email marketing are backed up by statistics too. For example, did you know that less than 6% of your followers actually see your posts?

Did you know that a promotional message is 5x more likely to be seen in email rather than on Facebook?

Or did you know that 72% of people prefer to receive promotional content through email and 66% of consumers BUY something directly from email rather than a social media post?

Or how about this interesting statistic: The email marketing world believes that 1 subscriber on your list equals $1 a month of revenue in your business. This point actually rings pretty accurate for my business.

So what's the point in me saying all of this?

People, your target market, regardless of what you photograph, check email constantly. This means that if you get in the habit of building an email list and sending out regular emails, you can stay more connected with your subscribers, get more bookings and drastically increase the profits of your business.

In other words, as your email list size increases, so does your business profits.

Let me give you a personal example of how beneficial and powerful setting up an automated email funnel can be for your business.

A few years ago, I traveled from Virginia to Florida for a business conference. Unfortunately, while en route, I got food poisoning and spent the first half of the trip hooked up to an IV in Urgent Care. Thankfully, when I recovered, I was able to enjoy the last half of the conference.

I say this because that entire week, I didn’t work. I couldn't. I was so sick I could barely sit up. Then I was in a morning till night conference, which didn’t leave me any time to respond to emails or to market my business on social media. Plus, I didn't have the energy or mental capacity to create new content and posts.

However, I did have an automated email funnel set up working in the background of my business. When I returned home from that trip, I had two pre-qualified consultations scheduled on my calendar for the following week. One of those leads immediately booked me on our call and paid $6000 to work with me without blinking an eye. She had been through my automated email funnel, which allowed her to get to know me while I was off doing other things.

Do you see how powerful email marketing is? Your email list size is directly correlated to how much profit you are making in your business.

I believe that email marketing is the #1 underused, but one of the most powerful marketing tools photographers and creatives like us can use to make more money without hustling more hours on social media.

In fact, growing the size of your email list should be one of the top priorities in your business. The number on your email list is more important than how many Instagram followers you have, it’s more important than how many likes your Facebook posts and photos get. Your email list number is the most important number in your business. 

Email is more powerful than both Facebook and Instagram combined. So if you want to grow a profitable and fully booked photography business, without the constant pressure of having to show up on social media every day, focus on building your email list.

Now I'd love to hear from you! Let me know in the comments below: If your business would survive if your social media vanished. Do you have an email list already?

This is just this first blog in our four part series all about email marketing for photographers. Be sure to tune back in next week for Part Two!