Email marketing is one of the most commonly used tools when trying to find a new job. However, knowing what to write, to whom, and how to track can make or break your campaign. In this article, we’ll look at some do’s and don’ts when it comes to email marketing.
My first email campaign was a disaster. Not only did I send the wrong item, but I also sent the wrong item to the wrong person making me look like a clown. Imagine, I’m emailing the creative director of Air France’s in-flight magazine, having just shot two shots. Suffice it to say they didn’t come back to me. I’ve come a long way since that disaster, and in the process, I’ve found some tips and tricks for running an effective email campaign.
What to write?
Let’s start all over again. Assuming you have a portfolio of work that you want to show people, you’re ready to launch your first campaign. However, you cannot email a PDF without any text and expect a reply. What to write is a very specific question, but it has to get to the point. No one cares about your life story. Your introductory email should talk about who you are, what you do, and why you’re good at it. My personal favorite pattern is this:
Dear X
My name is X, I am a commercial “genre” photographer based in “city”. I recently shot for X, X and X among other clients. My pictures are delivered succinctly, on time and within budget.
Attached is a copy of my portfolio in PDF. If there are any potential projects that I might be a good fit for, I would be happy to schedule a time to meet you.
Best regards,
X
email |
Web |
Phone |
This is a short and flexible template that gets your message across quickly. Furthermore, you can write longer emails, but keep the introduction short. As with any good advertisement, the quicker the audience gets the message, the better.
Write a letter to whom?
This depends on the job you are trying to land. The examples I have are from the commercial and editorial worlds, as this is where I primarily market.
If you want an advertising job, it’s best to contact the creative director, art director or buyer of the artwork. The work of all three is different, however, in smaller advertising agencies it can be combined into one person. If an agent has art buyers, prioritize them and contact them first. This is because the art buyer is essentially the one doing all the hiring, including the photographer. Another good person to approach is the manufacturer, as they are handling the logistics of each production run.
If you want more editorial work, perhaps to add them to your portfolio, try contacting people such as photo editors or image editors. They are people who work with anything that has nothing to do with text. If the magazine is smaller than that, an art director is also a good choice.
However, not every brand works with an advertising agency. Some do marketing in their homes. In these cases, their marketing team may have someone called a marketing communications director, or it may be someone with the words “photographer” or “producer” in their job title.
Success rate
The success rate of email campaigns improves over time. This is true for most genres of photography. Don’t expect any response from your first campaign. It sounds nihilistic, but it probably will be. As your work improves, you may start to receive non-generic answers, then non-personalized answers, and finally, finally yes. The success rate of your email campaigns depends solely on how consistent you are with them and how well your work improves.
Of course, another factor that affects the success rate is if you’re emailing the right people. For example, if I’m trying to run a campaign for Dior, emailing their retail manager won’t help me at all. However, if I send an ad to an agency that already works with them as a client, I may see more success.
Use what service?
Typically, email marketing is done through a mailing list service or through manual delivery. Depending on the type of campaign you’re running, you can use one or the other. Currently, I prefer to send personalized emails, just because my marketing is less about creating a wide net but more about sending a few personalized emails consistently. However, if you want to create a wide network, use such services.
MailChimp by far the most popular. It has a free forever email marketing plan which is suitable for email marketing beginners. Although they are very popular, it is said that they lack a lot of the advanced features that other services have. That said, there is enough for most photographers who just want to send out a fairly simple email campaign. Even the free version has a drag and drop email builder, as well as the ability to send 12,000 emails to up to 2,000 recipients. This is more than enough to create an extensive network in most photography markets. Even if your campaign success rate is only 1%, you still get 20 customers, some of which will come back.
If you are after a more advanced email delivery system, give it a try Keep contact usually. Their paid plan offers unlimited emails, easy tracking tools, image galleries, and online customer support. If you want more data from email campaigns, advanced templates, and unlimited emails, this is for you. Pricing starts at just 9.99/month, but you can try it out with a 60-day free trial.
Stop thinking
Email marketing is my second most effective tool, after word of mouth. The key to a good campaign is consistency. If you really want to build a solid marketing infrastructure, you can’t submit your work when you’re in a non-working period. It will not be nearly as efficient and instead of sending a notification that you are free, it will send a notification that you need to work as soon as possible.
