Every photographer and videographer I meet likes to tell me that they’re unique. It’s their shooting or editing style. It’s their personality. It’s the quality of their work. But what if you had to tell a potential client why you’re different and you can’t say it’s your eye, your personality or your quality? You actually have to do that every day, right now.
You see, you can look at each other’s work and tell who shot it, who edited it, what equipment was used and more. Potential customers aren’t educated on the nuanced-differences between one great photo and the next, or one great video and the next. You’ll watch a wedding video and notice things about how it was shot and edited. A bride will look at the same video and proclaim “Did you see her hair?”
Don’t judge me
Like it or not, your potential clients are judging you on intangible criteria which they usually can’t articulate. They just know that they like one website over another or like one videographer better than another, even when the work appears to be comparable. They’re often paying more for their photographer or videographer because of these intangibles. Likewise, if they don’t perceive any difference between one photographer and the next, the cheaper price wins.
One of the things I do with my consulting clients is have them think about what they can say is unique about their business if they can’t say it’s their style, quality or personality. It’s a really tough question, but one that, once you can answer it, is a breakthrough for your marketing. What differentiates one photographer from the next isn’t beautiful images. What differentiates one videographer from another isn’t beautiful videos. None of you are putting bad images or videos on your sites, at least I hope not.
What’s missing here?
I get to look at and review thousands of websites, whether it’s at one of my conferences or in one-on-one consulting sessions. Most businesses can take half of the text off their sites and still have too much. Photo and Video professionals’ websites usually have way too many images and not enough text. It’s the text and the branding that make you different in the minds of your site’s visitors.
If you were sitting with them while they were viewing your site, you would be narrating for them the things that aren’t obvious in your photos and video samples. You’d be letting her in on the backstory that she can’t see. Whether it’s something you love about that image, something the person in the photo loves, or something another person loves about it, there’s usually more than meets the eye.
Unfortunately most of you leave it at the image, with no caption, no narration and the viewer makes up their own mind as to what they’re seeing. That may work in an art gallery, but when you’re trying to get them to take action and contact you, it needs to be a lot clearer.
So, don’t just put lots of great videos. Put a caption that tells the viewer what they’re going to see, where it was taken… and keep it short. I’m sure I’m not the only one that looks at how long the video is and decides whether to view it based upon the length. If it’s more than 2 or 3 minutes, I usually don’t even start it.
Don’t just put great photos. Tell the viewer something about it. Put a testimonial from the person that’s in the photo. Put a short quote from you about why you love this image. Tell us where it was taken (it helps with your SEO as well if it’s real text, not Flash or in the image).
Mission Impossible?
So, if you can’t tell me it’s your style, your quality or your personality, what separates you from the next great photographer or videographer? Is it a tough question? Sure it is. Is it impossible to answer? Not at all. It’ll just take a little introspective and honesty. A good place to start is the testimonials you get from customers and the reviews they post. They’ll often use the words that you don’t or can’t use that will give you a hint and sometimes the direct answer. When you can answer this, it’ll help take your marketing and branding to the next level. I’m looking forward to seeing it.
For more information on my consulting services, speaking events, books & DVDs or this article, call or email me today, 732.422.6362