Marketing to grandparents?

[staceylking]

I have a school gig coming up in two weeks, portraits for Grandparents Day at my daughter's school. I've done this particular gig before, but this is the first time I'll do it as a 'pro.' I'm on the PTA Board, so I can't legally make any money from it--only cover my expenses (and I'm fine with that), so I'd like to use it as an opportunity to get my information into the hands of every adult that walks through the door.

So I'm trying to brainstorm inexpensive and unobtrusive ways to tempt those grandparents.

I'm working on re-assessing my pricing (I'm just starting out, so it's REALLY low, and after reading another thread here, I think I'm WAY undervaluing what I do), so I'm thinking perhaps a coupon for some percentage off?

What do you think? Any ideas are welcome and appreciated.

[Outlaw]

I'm assuming you'll be doing portraits for the kiddos with their grandparents? Sounds like a fun get together! And grandparents don't blink at buying prints, sight unseen, I've learned.

I think the single best promotion, to the grandparents themselves, may be to push gift certificates for family photography - which they may be interested in purchasing for their sons'/daughters' families. Especially with Christmas coming, maybe a greeting card package.

Black and white copies with the gift certificate promotion information set in front of a display showing your family photography work I think would get picked up - or of course you could hand them out to anyone you shoot.

Perhaps include as part of the promotion an 8x10 to be provided to the grandparent from the family's shoot.

I'm big on limiting expenses on promotions and marketing, and I'm not big on discounts or coupons. I think if you give folks an idea that connects the dots for them (hey, Christmas is coming soon, and I would love to have new photos of the kids+grandkids to hang on the wall...), that will get more business than just a generic discount.

The idea is worth more in value to clients than the discounts, I believe.

And don't stress about pricing. Looking at your web site, your portraiture is lovely. All you need to do is get it in front of the right potential clients. When you're booked as solid as you want to be with clients you like (you may already be there), raise those prices - double them if you want. If your marketing is solid, you'll keep/gain enough clients to keep yourself booked solid.

Good luck with your shoot and let us know how it turns out! I'm interested in hearing what you chose to do and how you feel it turned out for you. :-)

[staceylking]

Thank you James. I appreciate your response :)

I was initially thinking gift certificates, too, simply because in general I dislike the idea of limited-time discounts. People might wait for a cheaper promotion, like I wait to go to Hobby Lobby or Michael's until I have a 40% off coupon. :) However, I'd like to get some extra Christmas money coming my way, so if a promotion is needed to do that...

I'll definitely update this thread to let you know how it works out.

[toverman]

Consider the general demographics of your intended mini-market. Some groups respond to discounts and bonus items, others to emotional tugs. If it were me, I'd tailor the promo to suggest getting a group portrait of the entire family leading up to the holidays. You can also take shots of the separate groups and individuals comprising the family (which boosts your chance of selling more prints).

Effective marketing is something that gets noticed, but it doesn't have to be offensive. If you have time, having some nice promotional postcards printed up with a bonus offer of some kind (and an expiration date, which is a call to action) could work. Especially if you personally hand it to everyone you come in contact with and very pleasantly mention the bonus "Just in time for the holidays!"