Email Marketing For Photographers {Part 3 of 4} The Email Breakdown

Welcome back to this mini series all about email marketing for photographers! We've already covered the importance of marketing with an email list in here and in part two, you learned the snag, serve and sell process of the automated onboarding series.

Now in this post, part three, I'm going to give you an overview of what to include in your emails so that more of your new subscribers will want to book their session or wedding with you!

If you've been following along in our series, you should now already have a general idea of what your Lead Magnet or Opt In ought to be. Remember, this is the thing that perks your ideal client's interest and encourages them to put in their name and email to get your free gift.

Once that person opts in they are automatically placed in your email marketing system and that system sends them a series of emails that continues to offer value and invites them to schedule a consultation with you. This series is known as the Onboarding Series and makes up approximately 7 emails that nurture your prospect.

Now before we talk about those emails, why even have them automated? What's the benefit?

Before someone is ready to buy from you, it takes multiple touch points. They need to see you, be reminded of you, learn from you, be encouraged by you before they are ready to purchase something from you. So effective marketing includes multiple touch points.

These automated emails also give you an opportunity to answer the frequently asked questions thereby saving you time.

Not to mention, you may feel like there is never enough time to do all the marketing to get the clients you want so once you have this process - an automated email series - set up running in the background, you can breath knowing that you are still marketing even while you are off at another photoshoot, enjoying your kid’s soccer game or a date night out with your hubby.

The bottom line that if you are doing everything manually in business, it's hurting your profits! This is a simple marketing strategy that can be automated so it would be wise to utilize these tools so you can make more but work less.

Hopefully I've convinced you to have this emails series automated. Now, let's chat more about what goes inside each email.

Though emails can get really fancy, we are going to keep things simple. Here is potential framework you can utilize in each of your 7 emails included in your Onboarding Series.

Email #1 : Thank your prospect for signing up and provide a way where they can access the Lead Magnet they wanted. This can be as simple as including a link to where they can download it. This email is sent immediately after they opt in.

Email #2 : Email #2 is sent the following day and asks them what they thought of the freebie they just received. This is also a great opportunity to include the download link again just in case the first email was sent to spam or got lost. You can also include a brief introduction of who you are, what you photograph and what makes you the best photographer for your particular niche.

Emails #3-5 : In this emails, we are going to do two things: Add a variety of value, testimonials and images of your best work. In addition, you can start incorporating soft call to actions such as following you on social media or clicking a link to schedule a time to talk with about booking a photography session. As far as the value is considered, I'll give you some ideas for additional value content in just a few moments so hang tight. Emails #3-5 are each sent 1-2 days after the previous email.

Emails #6 and 7 : The last two emails incorporate more direct calls to action to take the next step in the process. Personally for me, it's to schedule a consultation call about their photography needs. It's also important to include more testimonials and before and afters that provide social proof that you are indeed an awesome photographer. Like the emails prior, emails #6 and 7 are both sent 1-2 days after the previous email.

So that's a basic framework of what to include in your emails. You'll notice that there is a lot more opportunity to offer valuable content. There is no need to get overwhelmed here. I'm not suggesting you create this all from scratch. Chances are, you already have content on your blog or social media that we can simply direct more traffic to.

If you need some ideas, you can consider a replay of a video or reel you created, a live testimonial with a past client, what to wear tips, popular product suggestions, a how to posing video, best local places for your photoshoot etc. Again, what you choose here will be highly dependent upon the niche your photograph and your ideal client.

Statistically speaking, not every single subscriber will opt to book you in the first week or two of being on your list. That's ok. A percentage will, which is great, but what do you do for those who don't?

This is where you can employ an ongoing and consistent email marketing strategy. Every 1-2 weeks you can send out an email blast or broadcast showcasing a recent session, adding more value, or promoting an upcoming event like mini sessions.

The point is to keep your subscribe engaged so when they time comes that they are ready to hire a photographer, you are top of mind.

I hope this post gave you ideas for what to include in your automated email series. If this happens to be something you'd like more help on or if you want to see my exact email templates, or get personalized help creating your very own, we dive into these strategies inside The Mentorship. Email marketing is just one of the many marketing systems we teach to help photographers get 4-8 ideal bookings ever month and create a minimum of $1000 per portrait sales. If you'd like to learn more and apply for that opportunity, head on over here to apply!

Before you pop off, tell me in the comments what are some of the valuable pieces of content you are going to include in your emails?

We have one final video left in this series where I will give you a behind the scenes look at how to set this up to run automatically in ConvertKit! Stay tuned!