Social Media Email Marketing Photographers

These tips will keep your e-mail marketing from becoming a huge game of Whack-a-Mole. Image credit: TPapi (Flickr)

With social media taking the main stage these days, is it worth your time to focus your marketing efforts on email campaigns?

Absolutely.

Many photographers send out emails to their clients and fans on a regular basis. The benefits of doing so are great: it gives the photographer the opportunity to show off their recent work; can help generate buzz about upcoming projects and events; and provides the photographer a way to stay in the minds of their clients and fans (as I mentioned previously in Why You Should Have a Newsletter Connected to Your Website).

In other words, you need to mix in a lot more social media and stir well. Here are the top five social e-mail marketing tips you should consider to help your photography business grow.

Don’t Do It Unless You’re Ready!
If you’re not ready to address negative comments or if you simply do not have the time to respond to subscribers’ questions and comments, don’t mix e-mail campaigns with social media. Doing so will only reflect poorly on your business and will have your followers hitting the unsubscribe button like they’re playing a heated game of Whack-a-Mole.

Share and Share Alike
If you are considering adding a Share This button to your emails so subscribers can Digg, Stumble, Tweet, or update their Facebook status to include your latest news, make sure the content is worthy of sharing, otherwise you’re just wasting your time. Also, don’t mislead your followers or you’ll just make them angry. If your email subject line says “Free Portraits”, make sure you’re actually giving something away and not requiring your subscribers to jump through hoops and spend lots of money to get that “free” session (or whatever the swag may be).

Ask For Feedback
… and then take it into consideration. In your e-mail campaign, consider using surveys and polls to obtain reader feedback and opinions and then make sure you include the results in your next email to keep your readers engaged.

Interaction

The great thing about social email marketing is that you can interact with your subscribers on a public level by connecting with them on your social media accounts. Interacting with them will show you have an interest in what they think and encouraging them to interact with each other can help generate a larger audience and interest in your photography business. Don’t forget to make yourself approachable – nobody wants to talk to a meanie.

Flip It Around.
Don’t just use your email campaigns as a way to generate followers on your social media networks. Use Twitter, Facebook and the like to generate an interest in subscribing to your email newsletters. Update your Facebook status or tweet about an upcoming email of interest, directing your followers to a registration page, or telling them how they can subscribe. Use social media to tease, but don’t mislead.

What works for you?
Do you mix social media with your email marketing strategies? If so, what approach do you find works best for you? If you think integrating social media with email campaigns is a waste of time, comment below to share your opinion!