Email Marketing For Photographers {Part 2 of 4} The Funnel Breakdown
Welcome back to our four part series on email marketing for photographers. This is the second blog in our series. In our first blog, we discussed the importance and benefits of an email list in general for photographers. I even shared how one of my funnels brought in a $6000 client in one week. If you missed that blog, check it out here.
Now in today's blog post, I want to share with your the three important parts of an amounted funnel and basically give you a birds eye view of the entire process.
There are three basic parts to an automated email funnel. They are:
SNAG
SERVE
SELL without feeling salesy
Let’s talk about each of these steps at these a little bit more closely.
The first part of this process is to SNAG, or capture, potential client’s name and email address.
How do you do this? Well my favorite way to encourage someone to sign up for my email list is to offer them some sort of a freebie. This is called an Opt In or Lead Magnet in the online marketing space. Lead Magnets can vary from photographer to photographer and niche to niche, but it's basically a short and sweet guide or checklist that offers something of value to your specific ideal client. It answers a question they have or solves a problem they've been facing.
Let me give you some examples:
If you are a new newborn photographer, your ideal client is likely a first time mom who may be feeling a tad overwhelmed with all the things she needs to purchase for her newborn and the nursery. You can offer a checklist of the the Top 10 Newborn Nursery Items to have and on that list you can subtly interject a beautiful portrait (that you photograph and provide) of that newborn. In order for that mom to get this checklist, she must provide her name and email and then you email it to her.
Back when I was photographing weddings, I provided a month-by-month wedding planning checklist to my brides. It would guide them in what to focus on each month leading up to their big day. Brides would type in their name and email to receive that checklist.
Again, the kind of freebie or Lead Magnet you provide must be relevant and desirable for your ideal photography client. If you're not sure what that is, ask yourself what is my ideal client asking or wondering about before they hire a photographer like me?
Let's move on to part two of the automated email funnel. Part two is SERVE.
When this is automated, the email address you just acquired from your Lead Magnet is this automatically subscribed to an Onboarding Sequence through your email provider. In part four of this series, I'll show you exactly how do create this on your own.
An Onboarding Series is a collection of 5-7 emails, that have been pre-written and are automatically emailed over the course of the next 1-2 weeks.
These onboarding emails continue to offer value to your potential clients, they share a bit about how you help the people you photograph, they includes testimonials, and various direct call to actions to follow you on social media, join your Facebook group and / or take the next step to book you.
The initial onboarding seres is a way for your new subscriber and potential client to get to know you better. As your subscriber gets to know you, they will feel more comfortable and are more likely to book you.
The third and final part in this process is to SELL.
It would be wise for you to create an online booking calendar where a potential client can either schedule a session with you and / or schedule a time to speak with you about their session or wedding.
Personally, I use an online calendar called Calendly. My potential client can select the best date/time to speak with me on the phone regarding my photography.
I'm not going into detail about what to do on that specific call because I already created an entire video which you can watch right here!
Because your Onboarding Series has already delivered a week's worth of valuable content first, your prospect feels like they know you and can trust you. You've already give them helpful information so it's way easier to book them in with that kind of history because the selling doesn't feel sleazy or slimy.
This process, the snag, serve and sell, is built ONCE, automated and can turn dozens or hundreds prospects and into paying photography clients.
What I love about this process is that it's set up and then works for you in the background. You can be off at another photography session while someone is automatically receiving your emails!
Let me know in the comments below: What ideas do you have for your Lead Magnet or Opt In? What do you feel would be the most valuable for your ideal clients?
If you haven't yet, be sure to come back next week so you can get part three. In Part Three of the Email Marketing for Photographers series, we are going to do an email breakdown. I'm going to tell you exactly what to put in each and every email so you know what to say to turn your subscribers into bookings!