DOCUMENT YOUR CLIENTELE

The first step in launching a relationship marketing campaign is documenting your clientele in a database that includes more than just their contact information but also where they live, what they like, what types of services you’ve provided, and what kinds of opportunities you might have noticed during past interactions with them.

To get organized, you could use one of the many customer relationship management (CRM) systems designed for small businesses, including some that are built into studio management software. CRMs are helpful for organizing your client database and automating communications. You could even use a basic spreadsheet. “The important thing,” says Morin, “is to have access to organized information so that you have all the data at the ready.”

CREATE A FRAMEWORK

Establish a framework for your client communication, including a list of the types of media you’ll use (such as email, social media, printed documents, or good-old-fashioned phone calls). Your framework will include the type of reach-out, for example an email to all the clients you saw last month or a phone call to the family whose newborn images you made. Look at your calendar and determine throughout the upcoming weeks and months who you want to reach and how, and note these activities on the calendar itself. “You need to be systematic about it,” says Morin. “You can’t just fire off an email every once in a while and hope that you’re going to reap huge rewards. You have to be constant and present in your clients’ lives.”

BLOCK OUT THE TIME

“Scheduling [your communication with clients] and the intentionality behind scheduling is something that’s really important,” to build those solid relationships, says Capps. This could be as simple as blocking time on your calendar, like an hour the third Wednesday of every month, to reach out to some clients and invite them to coffee. “Setting aside time like this is a great way to make sure that a goal turns into an action item.”

MAKE IT PERSONAL

“In relationship marketing, the goal is to make your marketing communication indistinguishable from personal communication,” says Morin. Messages should be personalized and customized, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be automated. Let’s say you have an automated email that goes out on a client’s birthday or an outreach message on the anniversary of your last session. You can set those up to run automatically, but also customize them with dynamic content like links to their past galleries or the addition of a personal message.

APPROACH TO HELP

If you think about your interactions in terms of how you can help your clients, it changes your perspective. After all, you are the professional and your clients need your help. That perspective helps many photographers get past the anxiety of client outreach because, done correctly, you’re trying to build a relationship by helping to make clients’ lives better. For example, that newborn you photographed is having their first birthday. Your personal birthday message could remind the clients how much they would love to have a milestone portrait for their baby’s first year.

REMEMBER THAT PATIENCE PAYS

There is no doubt that building an authentic relationship with another human being who is also, hopefully, a long-term client, takes an investment of time and money. “But a lot of people get lost due to a preoccupation with getting more business,” explains Capps. “When this happens, the messages come across with a tone of desperation. So, it’s about getting out of the headspace about selling and turning it into a new frame of mind around connecting. If you can do that and demonstrate the patience to let the process play out, the business will come.” 

Jeff Kent is editor-at-large.