Welcome to 2024! As we settle into our regular routines and put plans in place for the coming year, 2023 feels like it’s all wrapped up. But is it? At the start of the new year, it may seem like old business is completed and new clients are the income stream to strive for. However, there may be opportunities for photographers to uncover extra revenue from past clients.
Unfinished Business
Who missed out on professional wedding albums in 2023, or even 2022?
Of course, you’d love nothing more than for every happy client to purchase a custom photo album with their event. However, some customers may decide to walk away without. It may be their preference to DIY an album with a consumer album company, there may be budget concerns, or some clients just follow their peers when it comes to decision-making. If their friends and family didn’t get an album included with their wedding collection, why should they?
Let’s address all three of these “album op-out” excuses.
- The DIYer: There are a lot of consumer printing options out there. For customers, it might seem fun and creative to personally design their wedding album. It can also be overwhelming, a time-suck, and underwhelming product-wise.
- The Budget: Costs are a factor when planning a special event. However, when the dust settles and bills are paid, it might seem a little anti-climactic to just have dead flowers, an empty donut wall, and a thumb drive of images. Non-buyer’s remorse could set in.
- The Sheep: People get A LOT of advice when finalizing the details of a celebration. Well-meaning guidance can help facilitate planning, but in the long term, a finished product might be a desired option that no one is talking about. Not everyone has to miss out on a high-quality album.
What do all these no-album justifications have in common? They all provide an opportunity for you to reach out to these past clients to offer that elusive customized professional wedding album that they didn’t realize they needed until now!
Your communication with clients should offer a solution to their problems. Sending a simple email, along with a brochure from our S.M.A.R.T. Toolkit, could ignite some income. Keep reading for some “tried and true” ways to reconnect!
It’s Not too Late for a Professional Wedding Album
Reaching out to extend an offer after the final purchase may seem sales-y, but it’s more help-y than anything. Your offer to revisit their final product may be just the motivation customers need to take action.
Subject: IT’S NOT TOO LATE!
Hi,
Happy New Year! At ABC Photography we wish you a healthy and happy 2024!
We know that initially, you didn’t include an album in your collection. As a past wedding (or event) client we wanted to give you a special opportunity to revisit ordering a professional wedding album. That’s right, it’s not too late!
Attached is a brochure to help you get started selecting a custom wedding album that suits your style.
Let us know how we can help!
Incentives
If you feel you need to offer an incentive to move the client forward, consider something simple that doesn’t scream desperate discounting or fire sale. For instance, offer customers who choose to finalize their purchase by a certain date a “VIP” cover choice.
Enticing a couple to pull the trigger on a wedding album order could be as simple as offering last year’s pricing, an album design style upgrade, or a complimentary spread. You’re making a tiny investment, but it will pay off as a full order.
Subject: VIP Offer!
Hi,
Happy New Year! At ABC Photography we wish you a healthy and happy 2024!
We know that adding an album to your photography collection wasn’t part of your plan at the time, but we did want to share a special promotion with all our past VIP friends.
Here are the details: Finalize your album order by (insert expiration date here) and you will receive our VIP Client cover choice; full leather or a leather spine with a cover image.
Below is a link to your gallery and attached is a brochure with the options for customizing your album.
Story Time
People love hearing what other people are up to. Look no further than social media to see proof of that. Sharing a story of what other clients have done may build confidence in the decision-making. No one wants to miss out!
Subject: Did you miss out?
Hi,
Happy New Year! At ABC Photography we wish you a healthy and happy 2024!
I wanted to share this story with you. We just had a client reach out about getting an album from their 2022 wedding. Like you, they did not choose to order an album with their collection. But, after looking through other family photo albums they realized how important a professional printed wedding album would be in the future.
The couple was ecstatic that they could still order an album with us! It made me think about reaching out to you to be sure you got everything you deserved from your wedding photography service.
Would now be a good time to revisit that album?
Below is a link to your gallery and attached is a brochure with the options for customizing your album.
We’re here to help!
Relationships and Workflow
Reaching out to clients to remind them of what they might be missing out on is a good business practice. It is a great relationship builder for future referrals, and it can help generate additional income.
Having a workflow to get from shoot to album helps to guarantee a great client experience. Zookbinders has an image selection tool that can help these past clients choose their favorite images. After that, our album design service can take extra work off your plate so that you can focus on more important projects – like earning extra revenue from past clients!
