Comments on: AdWords for Photographers

By: SalomonFotografie

SalomonFotografie — Mon, 19 May 2014 20:40:04 +0000

Hi Rosh,
very helpful article. This explains why my first google ad campaign did not work.

I’m just curious about the landing page. Every template for photography websites are more or less the same (it doesn’t matter if it’s wordpress theme or a complete solution like zenfolio or squarespace or so). On the homepage they all show some pictures but the juicy stuff is inside of the website.
I still struggle how I should set up my landing pages because on the one hand side, I want people see my portraits. I’m a bit clueless how a good landing page for a photographer should look like.

Anyhow, great article.

Cheers

Alexander

By: matthainesphoto

matthainesphoto — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 01:45:23 +0000

zachprez matthainesphoto Thanks Zach.
My internal conflict has been this: all of the wedding photographers I aspire to be like to NOT advertise on google, Facebook etc. Their clients don’t even from google search. They come from wedding planner referrals. Their web sites are there to prove they exist and can take pictures, basically. So it’s been difficult for me to come up with a way to sell using the internet that won’t offend the type of client I’m trying to reach.

So I’ve taken your suggestions and made a dedicated landing page for the google ad, complete with offer.

http://matthainesphotography.com/weddings/february-offer/ ‎

By: zachprez

zachprez — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 18:45:43 +0000

matthainesphoto Hi Matt,

There is almost no information on your landing page. Think of a landing page as a marketing flier you would tape to a store window or hand out at a bridal show. It needs to have lots of info and answer user’s common questions like who are you, why should they hire you (your badges are hidden on slide 14), how much do you cost, how can they contact you and a reason to contact you (you’ll give them a behind the scenes tour of their venue or something)…

I would reinforce the offer at the top of the page, list all images vertically so users don’t have to wait to see them, and add lots of text that answers the above questions.

Assuming it is tough to get someone to contact you based on a 30 second introduction, consider doing a special offer that doesn’t discount your stuff but gives the bride a free resource that positions you as an expert (like a local bride’s guide to venues in City X).

Also would turn off this ad for mobile devices since your page is not mobile friendly.

Hope that helps,
Zach

By: matthainesphoto

matthainesphoto — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 00:34:04 +0000

zachprez matthainesphoto Zach that’s thoughtful of you. My adwords account has been dormant for months now, but I decided I’d
try again and see if anything shakes loose. The problem is not one of
getting clicks, and not even a problem of getting inquiries. The problem
is all the spurious inquiries from low-budget brides. I have trouble
weeding them out. And the whole “special offer” thing works on the low
end, but on the higher end it looks a little…well, low end. So I’ve
taken a sort of contrarian approach with my new ad. The headline is
“Fine Art Weddings” and the copy is “Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer.
Shot on Film. Starts at $2400.00” I want it right out there what I
charge, so I can dissuade the craigslist crowd from clicking my ad and
spending my money. :) The landing page is of my weddings splash page.
No, there isn’t an offer or promotion on that page. I can’t think of a
way to do that without sounding low-rent.

By: zachprez

zachprez — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 21:42:42 +0000

matthainesphoto If you want to tell me your ad text and destination URL I’d be happy to take a look. I would guess you need a special offer and custom landing page.

By: matthainesphoto

matthainesphoto — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 19:06:19 +0000

I was hoping for a little bit more from this post. I’ve dumped a lot of money down the the google hole, with very little return. One or two portrait clients, and some cut-rate wedding clients I booked because it made sense at the time…but if I get an inquiry at all, it’s always for low budget stuff. Google doesn’t allow profiling of the leads like Fb does….although Fb has fallen off in the effectiveness as well. Any suggestions on how to reduce the wasted clicks by unsuitable prospects would be helpful.

By: zachprez

zachprez — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 19:23:34 +0000

Thanks for contributing this great post Rosh!
I advise everyone I consult to at least test out one month of AdWords, even if they have done so unsuccessfully in the past. I completely agree with you – most people turn it on without much thought or measurement, so of course there are no results! Also agree that an ad should never link to a homepage – most people make this mistake.
As long as you have a Google-only offer that nobody else can see, it is simple to track results. For example, a wedding photographer can buy keywords around a particular venue with an ad that offers a free guide (a simple Word document or PDF) to the best vendors at Venue X. This should link to a hidden page (easily done in WordPress via the Pages menu) all about that venue and the special offer. If you can make users give you their email address in order to get the offer, that is even better. That way you can follow up with them rather than wait for them to call.
Google will give you a discount when the keywords you buy are closely related to the keywords in the ad text and keywords on your webpage. Thus a very specific campaign like this will be affordable, not too competitive, and generate your ideal prospective client.