Valentines Day Photoshoot (Marketing Tips)

Valentine’s Photoshoot

I’m a big holiday person.  I love every holiday and the excuse to decorate, craft, and celebrate with my little ones.  Christmas is a big deal in our house, and who doesn’t love Easter? 

However, right smack in between, there is a little day filled with hearts and flowers and pretty paper things that makes my heart go pitter-patter.  Valentines Day!

A few years back, I decided to make this somewhat lesser-celebrated holiday part of my business plan.  As a family photographer whose primary focus is not on mini-sessions but on full-sized, ooey-gooey family portrait sessions, I knew I wanted to limit my mini-session offerings throughout the year and ensure that the pint-sized sessions that I was offering made sense for my business. 

How to Use Valentine’s Day Photoshoots to Market Your Photography Business

EVERYONE seems to offer Christmas and Easter mini-sessions galore.  However, I relished the opportunity to bring some attention to my work during the off-season and to breathe a bit of marketing back into my photography business during these cold Canadian months, and that’s when I decided to offer Valentine’s mini sessions to my clients!

Here is some information about why Valentine’s photography has worked so well for me and some tips on how you can make your own Valentine’s photo sessions a unique and unforgettable experience for not only your clients but also a great kick-start to your marketing for the upcoming year:

1. Timing is Everything

As I mentioned before, I happen to live in the good old Canadian North, where we don’t see our neighbors from December to April.  Naturally, business tends to slow down during this time. 

So, in addition to offering Fall family photo sessions during the busiest time of the year when clients are willing to pay full price, why not offer mini-sessions during the slowest time of the year when clients are harder to come by?

By staying active during the off-season, you will keep your clients engaged and bring more attention to your work.  It will also get them thinking about the upcoming spring season and why they should book with you!  And the extra income during the slow season doesn’t hurt either.

2. Keep Your Prices Consistent

Just because your mini-sessions are smaller, it doesn’t mean the price tag has to take a nosedive.  Keep your Valentine’s mini sessions priced relative to your full sessions.  For example, if you’re charging $800 for a family session, don’t give away the farm by pricing your mini-sessions at $50.

If your mini sessions take you a third of the time to shoot in comparison to regular sessions and you include a third of the files, prints, etc. – then you should charge a third of what you normally would for a full session.  Of course, this is only a guideline, but a little food for thought.

Keeping your pricing in line with what you’d typically charge gives your client base a foundation for what they can expect from you if they want to book a full session.

Also, keep your Valentine’s sessions short.  I work with a set and find that 15-20 minutes is plenty of time to capture the images I need.  Sticking to a short timeline prevents overshooting and will also save you time at the computer later.

3. Keep Your Clients Coming Back

Getting creative with your sessions will help keep your clients coming back to you again and again. 

Try offering one-on-one design and ordering sessions to help them see the incredible ways they can enjoy their portraits professionally printed in a stunning wall gallery.

Offering this kind of service builds a relationship with your clients and lets them know what to expect when working with you.  Alternatively, you could give each client a gift certificate for a spring session as a thank you.

4. Be a Photography Marketing Machine

Why do Valentine’s Mini Sessions and not Easter sessions?  The answer can be summed up in one word.  Marketing!

During my Valentine’s sessions, I include a set of watermarked, personalized valentines cards with images from the session.  Your little clients can then hand out these sweet little treats to all of their classmates. 

Not only are your clients walking away with something gorgeous and tangible, but you’ve also just delivered hundreds of marketing pieces directly to your target market (local moms with young children)!

Conclusion

I hope some of these tips will help spark some interest in adding Valentine’s photo sessions to your lineup for this year!  

They can be a great way to get your clients geared up for the spring portrait season and hopefully ensure they FALL IN LOVE so that when the time comes for their family portraits, they return to YOU!

Do you have any questions or comments about Valentine’s Day Photo Sessions?  Leave us a comment below – we would love to hear from you! And PLEASE SHARE this blog post using the social sharing buttons (we really appreciate it)!