Week 4 Challenge: A Marketing Plan
Anna-Maria Pfab
Marketing can be challenging for photographers. A marketing plan is basically a plan for the success of your business, and there are two main points to think about: your objectives and your strategy.
For this week’s activity, we will create a marketing plan for your practice which covers the next 10 weeks. Think about what you want to achieve with your photography during that time, and how you will make it happen. Your plan should include your objectives and weekly actions. Below are a few points you might want to think about.
Your objectives
To raise your profile in the photography industry
To earn a certain amount of money from your photography
To develop your skills and knowledge
To arrange regular meetings with clients
To add a certain number of new contacts to your database each week
To increase hits on your website by a certain percentage
Your strategy
Think of this as a list of weekly actions, such as:
Editing your portfolio
Updating your website
Preparing a PDF portfolio presentation
Sending out a newsletter
Researching a new personal project
Spending 10 minutes a day on social media sharing posts on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter
Making three appointments to show your portfolio
You can discuss your plan within your tutorial this week but for now, share the draft with your coursemates below, and comment constructively on each other’s documents.
Week 4 Challenge: A Marketing Plan
My objectives
•To raise my profile in the photography community concerned with beach debris including plastics
•To seek advice about contacting a stock agency to earn a certain amount of money from my generic and MA project photography
•To develop my skills and knowledge in image taking (using my iPhone and DSLR) and making (printing, paper, mounting, framing, displaying)
•To attend meetings with a local photography group and gain experienced advice on technical and aesthetic aspects of my images
•To increase visits, followers, likes and comments on my WordPress, Squarespace and Instagram accounts by 5%. Set up since June, August and October 2017 respectively totals to date on 19-10-2017 are WordPress= 32 visitors 91 views; Squarespace= 7 visitors 13 visits; Instagram= 117 followers from 38 posts and my following 308 others
My strategy
Portfolio
- Preparing, Editing and Promoting my portfolio
- Twice a week review and edit images taken that week collating those of better quality into a folder ready to be considered for inclusion in the module portfolio
- From the portfolio folder select images taken since the previous module that best reflect my development and relate to the project and current module teaching.
- Prepare a panel of images to evaluate how they fit together aesthetically as well as telling a story about my learning and development. See how they would best be collated and presented on Squarespace
- Share my portfolio with the local photography group and with course colleagues and tutors online through Canvas in a pdf in a webinar and in a discussion.
- Make improvements to the selection and processing and chosen layout of images taking into account advice received from others and my personal preferences
- Upload to Squarespace
- Upload and submit Squarespace link to WordPress blog and to Canvas before the deadline of 15th December 2017.
- Prepare a paper version of the portfolio to share this and the online link to Squarespace with people and organisations who may be able to offer future assistant work experiences/invitations to events as a photographer/gallery space/display opportunities
Oral Presentation
- Prepare a story board and script
- Relate the content to my project and additional work since the previous module
- Relate the content to the current module teaching and readings and how the activities have impacted on my thinking about my work
- Relate the content to the additional activity and advice offered by course colleagues and tutors, the photography group I attend and the responses I have received through social media
- Decide whether to use Adobe Spark or Camtasia (with additional cost) or powerpoint with voice over
- Draft the slides both with text and images
- Add the voice over
- Refine the content, voice over and overall presentation style working within the time limit of 10 minutes
- Upload to the word press blog and link to Canvas to share with course colleagues and tutors as a draft.
- Refine according to comments and additional images taken since draft made
- Finalise references at the end (check these can go beyond 10 minutes of presentation as per fist module)
- Upload to WordPress and submit link to Canvas before 15th December 2017
Internet
- WordPress. Add to my WordPress blog at least twice a week, with a minimum of one entry relating to course content that week and one entry to project progress. When time permits add additional blogs describing additional research and events/activities that have occurred that week relating to my photography
- Spend time each week improving the presentation of the WordPress site including seeking technical advice and support from others who know how to do this
- Upload a link to share with course colleagues for their views and advice.
- Make final improvements to the site and the contents and upload link (which will include the links to Squarespace and the Oral presentation) to Canvas before 15th December 2017
Instagram.
- Spend 10 minutes a day learning about Instagram and sharing posts relating to my project on my account
- Consider setting up two more accounts on Instagram. One for a viral post (anonymous) and one for me to upload images not relating to my project but to test the reception of a new project
Squarespace
- Spend up to an hour a week learning about Squarespace and how to use the site to best advantage to display my images
- Consider uploading non course images in separate galleries
- Consider whether to set up a way os selling images from this site
Other social media sites
- Consider setting up a Facebook page and/or Twitter Account to promote my images
Having posted this on the course site I realise I have not specified time to take images and how, when, where and with what equipment to hand. I am still thinking about what to focus on as a specialisation so detailed planning and preparation is not uppermost in my thinking at the moment. However I did say in my Research Project Proposal that I would be keeping an open mind this term and not narrowing my focus too soon.
Sarah Newton Photography 