I too wondered about how much to spend on advertising as a percentage of my sales.
So I asked the speakers at the last 3 PPA events i've attended. These are names - michele celentano, jen hilenga, michael Redford, vicki taufer and others - some run studios that do in excess of $2 Million in sales. These are wedding and wedding/portrait studios.
EVERYONE said the same thing - 15 to 20% of what you WANT your sales to be. Advertising/marketing is like a gas pedal on your car - you control how much business you want by how much you spend.
And as always, 50% of all marketing is wasted - you just can't tell which 50% is the problem!

Some advertising takes more time, others more money, some is more targeted than others. And how well any of it works is open to debate. What works this year or at this bridal show won't work at the next one or next year.

Marketing/advertising is: ads, mailings, brochures, samples (albums, prints), biz cards, incentives (referral programs, discounts, etc), sales are often in the advertising category, email, as well as sponsorship of events, donations to charity events (if it gets you publicity).

Once you have what you need in albums to sell yourself for now, get a new one each year and retire the oldest. You may not notice dress styles and colors changing, but the brides shopping you will. Stay current. Album companies change what they sell, so stay current. You work changes (new lenses, more DR from that new body, better posing or lighting knowledge, etc) so stay current.

Analiyze the marketing you do - what works, what doesn't. What does it cost you to do it, and what is the response, in hard dollars.

Direct mail - it may cost you $2000 up front to get the stuff printed, addressed and mailed. But if you book a $2500 wedding you broke even, book 2 and you're profitable. Repeat it. Perhaps a bridal show booth and handouts will cost you $1500, but you book 5 weddings. It's a better deal than the mailing. Some folks do well on the Knot at $1800/year, others do not - in the same market! So it's the message as much as the media/um, and timing is always critical. That to me is the luck part you can't control.

Thanks everyone! Very insightful!

Smile

Hi everyone,

Word of mouth is powerful! We have tried discounting our prints, but that has not worked. The best thing for us is giving our time and prints. A lesson learned.

We recently photographed Miss Georgia at a private reception, her "on-to Miss America" party, and the public viewing of her Miss America attire and talent. We donated our time and things have taken off from there. Our photos are being used by newspapers and magazines locally - what great publicity for our studio!

We continue to advertise weekly to keep our name in front of our prospective clients.

Thanks to all fellow photographers I am learning so much!!