What’s one way, perhaps one of the most important ways, to separate yourself from the competition and to increase business? One word: marketing. Matt Lucas of Lucas Photography in the Central Missouri area takes time to share his most successful marketing efforts.

What works best for you when markting your portrait photography business?

Our most effective marketing strategy is our mall display. The overall strategy for the display is to attract new customers, as well as reminding current customers that it’s time for new portraits.

How long have you had a mall display?

We’re on our fifth year of placing a display at the mall, and because of it, we now photograph seniors from towns to which we’ve never marketed. It’s amazing how far seniors will drive for portraits simply because they saw the display while at the mall.

What tips would you have for other photographers looking to set up their own displays?

You definitely want to display in front of the stores where your demographic is shopping. We tested a few different locations, and for us, being in front of Buckle, Hollister, and American Eagle are best for our seniors. I’d also suggest placing products that really stand out so people are forced to notice the display as they walk by. We choose colorful images for the display and print on metallic paper so they really pop.

How do you supplement the mall display when marketing to seniors?

After they’ve seen the  display, we want to push our potential seniors to Facebook more than anything else so they can see our most recent portfolio of images, as well as see what other seniors are saying about us.  We also use fliers, postcards, and a pretty substantial rep program to market.

To hear more from Matt and to see which specific products he suggests using for your mall display, check out this video: