A marketing plan is a critical tool for your business. It gives you a goal to work towards, and when done correctly, it can take the pressure off of your marketing activities. Planning can be time-consuming on the front end, but it will save you a lot of time in the long run, and you will be glad you did it. After completing your plan, all you have to do is set it in motion and follow the schedule.

To understand the importance of a plan, let’s imagine your marketing strategy without one. Every day, you’re figuring out how to get new customers, planning your latest posts, and starting and stopping different campaigns. It’s a little chaotic, and chances are you spend more time on the marketing side of things than running your actual business. In other words, it’s not a very effective way to operate.

Look at The Big Picture

What kind of issues should you address when working on a marketing plan? Start with the big picture, and ask yourself questions like:

• When are you available to work
• When are you planning to take a little time off?
• What kind of clients are you looking to attract?
• What are your clients' needs?

The better you know your target market, the more you are able to speak to them. Try to draw up a very clear picture of your ideal customer; give them a name, age, occupation, family, and interests. This will help you hone in on your target audience as you begin your marketing campaign. Click here to learn how to use buyer personas to reach more potential clients.

Be realistic with your budget, too. Decide whether it would be better to spread it out evenly throughout the year or plan for the off-season and the busy times. For example, if you’re a wedding photographer, you know when most of the weddings in your area take place. Why not save up to market heavily in the weeks leading up to the wedding season?

Next, you should look at the various platforms available to you and how they match up with the kind of photographer you want to be. Which social networks are working for you? Where do you feel like you’re wasting your money? Are there some high-profile events that you could associate with that would raise your profile? For example, you might discover you have the highest engagement on Facebook or Pinterest, and you can then begin to find ways to market your business using these social media platforms. 
 

A 6-Step Guide to a Marketing Plan That Works

You can start right now with an action plan that breaks down your marketing plan by using the following steps and questions:

• Analyze the situation: Where are you right now in your business plan? What resources do you have available, and where do you see yourself at this time next year?
• Set some objectives: What are you going to do? When are you going to do it? What results do you want to see?
• Formulate a strategy: How are you going to get there? What do you have to do to achieve your objectives? What is your competition doing?
• Develop an action program: What actions will you take (starting today and every week from here on out)?
• Implement: Set your marketing plan in motion and stick to it.
• Control, review, and evaluate: Evaluate your plan every two weeks. Look for what’s working and what’s not. Adjust accordingly. Learn from your mistakes.

By approaching your plan methodically, you can focus on your marketing needs and gain confidence that your marketing plan will bring you the exposure you want. Recognize that there are busy seasons and off-seasons. You should scale back on your marketing spending during the off-season but maintain a strong marketing presence so people can book you early for the next busy season.

Be kind to yourself. After all, being a professional photographer is highly challenging in this day and age. Everyone with a smartphone and an Instagram account seems to believe they have what it takes to succeed. You need to think about how you market your services and develop a plan that will get your work noticed and help you succeed.

Having a plan is one thing; sticking to it is another. But if you can lay down a roadmap for how you’d like to proceed, then you can adjust to the reality of business as you go along and still know that you have a plan that you can go back to when you’re ready. For more marketing tips and advice for your photography business, read this article on the 3 M's of Marketing.