Recently, I threw a business head shot party, complete with music, refreshments, and mingling for the local businesses in my Port Huron, Michigan area. It was the first time I’d ever thrown such an event, and so I had a strong desire to have it documented. The decision to hire an assistant to take some video footage was an easy one.

Afterwards, I combined the footage with some of my own and created a brief promo piece about the party. I kept it short. Very short.

As in, 75 seconds short.

With attention spans what they are these days, I knew there was no need to belabor the video. After adding a friendly music track on top of it all to capture the feel of the event, I decided to measure the public’s response. I posted the video on my website and Facebook, and made sure to tag those individuals who were in it. Within twenty-four hours, I was pleasantly surprised with the overwhelmingly positive reaction it received. The most common comment was that it looked like we were all having such a fun time. Mission accomplished!

Video can be a powerful marketing tool for your photography business. Here’s the quick piece:

Why Incorporate Video Into Your Marketing?

It helps people get to know you in a more personal way.

There is power in video footage of you. It allows the viewer (who is often a potential client) to watch you in action, and get to know you on a much more personal level. It shows off your expertise and personality, as well as the enjoyable time your subject is having. This goes beyond having the standard portfolio images on your website. Remember, people need to know, like, and trust you before they ever consider forking over any cash. The added bonus is that watching you work in a video while in the comfort of their own homes/offices allows them to subconsciously picture themselves working with you eventually.

It’s a strong marketing piece you can use again and again in the future.

Your promo video can be used in multiple ways, over and over again. Your “About” page should be the first place it should go. And if you’d like to partner with other organizations to throw similar events, you now have a cool, relevant video to show as an example. And when submitting proposals for certain gigs, you can link to the video so that the potential client can see how you work.

Ever before throwing my first portrait party, I knew it would be hugely important to properly document this event and put it in video form. I knew it would give me an extremely powerful tool.  Now, as I plan future head shot parties, I know I can use this video to show people what to expect.

Here is my video on my About page.
Here is my video placed on my About Page on my website. It’s a great way for people to get to know you even better.

 

It doesn’t have to be a long video – or perfect. Just do it.

I encourage you to document yourself in action. It’s not complicated, and it doesn’t have to be expensive. Have an assistant take some video footage of you while you’re working with a client. Or, set your second camera on a carefully positioned tripod, point it at yourself, and press record before doing a shoot.

The footage doesn’t have to be perfect, and you don’t necessarily need to hire a video crew to do it (unless you want to, of course). If you look at my video, you’ll see there is shaky hand-held footage, simple camera-on-the-tripod footage, and even security camera footage!  Combined with a handful of still images and carefully selected music, it’s become a marketing piece that goes a step beyond showing people photos from my portfolio.

One thing I didn’t yet do, but recommend, is that you take it a step further and record a voice-over of yourself describing your personal mission statement. This will make the video even more personal, and it’s on my to do list.

A video promo piece can really help potential clients get a sense of how awesome it will be to work with you. I encourage you to consider it.