Oct 15, 2021
The wedding industry is one of the most reliable businesses worth investing in. As a filmmaker, you are among the luckiest job seekers around. Wedding ceremonies occur year round, and couples require your services for their big day.
But that niche has some stiff competition, so you’ll need to strategically position yourself to attract customers to your business.
The most important thing is identifying your area of interest. That is, deciding if you want to shoot local weddings vs. distant weddings, or shoot the entire day vs. the ceremony and reception sections.
After settling on how to present your business, your next move should be reaching out to your prospective customers. This is where you need an appropriate email list — preferably a segmented one.
So, how do you go about that?
This article will assist you in creating the ideal email list and give tips on how to market your wedding film business.
Building a filmmaker's email list
Email marketing gives you direct contact with your clients. And with a segmented list, you can send your customers more personalized emails. That’s why you need to be careful when building your email list.
One key benefit of having an email list is that those subscribers sign up because they’re interested in your services. They aren’t expecting spam from you because there’s a level of trust involved. (And your list also helps to contact previous customers for referral purposes.)
Let's face it: Convincing internet strangers to give you their email addresses isn't the easiest job. But we rounded up a few pointers to make it a little less exhausting for you.
Here are a few tips.
Install website ppt-in pop-ups
Site pop-ups can be annoying, but using them correctly can be a good source of email addresses for your list.
Ensure the pop-up includes information that’s valuable for your readers. The pop-ups should have more details and show up at the right time, ideally after the user has been scrolling for a while. You don’t want to interrupt them before they even get invested in your content.
You can also include pop-ups that offer discounts just before your visitor is about to exit, or after they scroll to a certain point on the page. These factors are critical contributors in turning guests into subscribers.
Here is a pop-up form example created with Sender.net in 10 minutes:
Source: Sender.net
By using Sender.net, you can manage your whole email list in one convenient spot. So it’s the main tool for email list growth that I recommend.
Get to know your audience
The wedding film industry is more about you than the services you offer — it’s safe to assume all of your competitors are providing video work. For that reason, selling your personality to your clients through social platforms is a big plus towards gaining trust and lengthening your email list.
Make it interesting enough to catch the reader’s attention so that they have no other option than to sign up for your email list.
Use Facebook ads
Social media is a very influential tool in the wedding video industry. Your Facebook followers are likely to be far more engaged than the email contacts you have on your list.
Since your followers know you and are interested in what you do, ask them to sign up to receive exclusive content for email subscribers.
Have target group knowledge
After settling down on your area of specialization in the wedding film industry, you can identify a target market that you want to pursue. It's crucial to do comprehensive research on this segment so you can learn their expectations and difficulties.
By having a clear image of your client couple, you know:
- What content to write
- How to addresses their needs
- Where to drive them to subscribe
- How to interact with them on social media
Provide intriguing newsletters
The exclusive content you promise your subscribers must be persuasive enough to inspire them to hand over their emails to you.
In this case, you may set aside a page dedicated to email marketing on your website. You can offer discounts, informative content, or amazing photos that would help in their wedding plans.
Source: Sender.net
Create a list from your previous clients
Reference your current customer list when deciding who to target, but don’t copy/paste all the addresses to make your list as long as possible.
By contacting the customers you have worked with before, you can identify those interested in hearing from you. While they’re probably not going to need your services again, they could be a valuable source of referrals for your business if you remind them of your work.
Marketing a wedding film business
In a typical business model, the only way to maintain relevance in your market and improve on sales is to invest in marketing. The wedding industry is no exception, but the personal nature of finding and choosing the right wedding filmmaker cuts the expensive advertising out of the picture.
Content marketing is the best approach here because it builds your reputation, gives an overview of your work, and shows potential customers what you can accomplish.
Below are some digital marketing strategies that don’t require a big budget to accomplish.
Get an attractive site
A website is a must-have for wedding filmmakers. Your website is an essential tool in marketing your business, so you need to keep it up to date and have an eye-catching presentation.
In addition, include all your contact details and examples of your work. Previous wedding videos build your prospective clients' trust in you to deliver a high-quality piece of work.
Capitalize on customer satisfaction
Go out of your way to make your clients feel that you are part of their organizing team and that you are committed to making their big day a success.
Showing your dedication and responsibility before signing any contract will assure them that you’ll do your job professionally.
A satisfied customer will draw others to your business by sharing their experience, while an unsatisfied one criticizes your work and can really detract potential clients from using you.
Source: Sender.net
Use outstanding videos
In the recent past, most people’s interests have shifted from text to video marketing. The percentage is even higher with millennials.
So when sending your subscribers promotional videos of your past work, the clips should be outstanding enough to go viral. I believe this is your primary goal, right? To create videos that turn prospective customers into happy clients?
When people are pleased by your work, they'll promote it by commenting, sharing, and even recommending it to friends, colleagues, and loved ones.
Share your experience
Your email list contacts would be glad to receive informative blogs that give them a glance into your creative process and workflow. Share your ups and downs in the wedding videography business, which will also help prospective clients know what to expect when they work with you.
Additionally, set aside some sections for blogging about your films business and keep the content original and fresh. This kind of blog content can include things like:
- Various videography presentation styles
- Unknown facts about video shoot experience
- A look behind the scenes of a wedding shoot
- Recommendations and helpful tips for couples
- A “day in the life” of a wedding filmmaker
To achieve your marketing goals as a filmmaker, you also have to be consistent in your publications. That means posting at least semi-regularly, even if they aren’t lengthy or particularly insightful.
Use tailored, original content
Digital marketing enables you to showcase the features that make you stand out among your competitors. It's all about informing and directly engaging with your customers online.
But because there are dozens of places for people to find similar information, try to provide the best stuff in order to give your audience valuable content.
Your target market response helps you to polish up the content and offer better stuff in the future. You also get a better understanding of what customers expect from your workflow and process.
Enable easy sign up
You can include pop-ups and links on your website for subscribers to sign up with ease. In addition, you could offer discounts to inspire them to book your services sooner rather than later.
You can also use tools like MeetFox to book meetings with your prospects, giving you an opportunity to talk with couples and make sure that you are the right wedding filmmaker for their unique needs.
Creating an email list as a wedding filmmaker
Wedding filmmaking is a highly competitive field, even within the broader wedding industry. But the good news is that you’ll never run out of potential clients to attract to your business.
However, you’ve got to advertise your business using the most effective tools if you want to stand out above the stiff competition in your local market.
This is where having a reliable email list — and the ability to create valuable content — can help you manage potential clients and also engage people over time. Once your customers get familiar with your work, your journey will get a little easier because they will trust your business and feel that much more likely to trust you on the biggest day of their lives.
About the author:
Skirmantas Venckus is a writer by day and reader by night. He hates talking about himself in the third person. He is also the growth hacker at Sender.net, the email marketing provider that is focused on user-friendliness, affordability, and utility.