There was a talk at a local photographic club by someone who described himself as a street photographer, although he tended to focus (pun intended) on the people who were in the streets. He was asked how he chose what to photograph. The answer rather spookily described what we should be doing in email marketing.
He quoted another photographer, who reckoned SEO is dead. That ensured I concentrated. However, it was more layered as he said many photographers chase the demands of Google, following directions from commentators (like me!) to the letter. This gives rise to all images and websites being optimised along identical lines, and the same for Facebook posts and other social media.
You cannot expect to appeal to your specific target audience if you follow machine-like, generic systems. You will end up over-optimised, but for no one in particular. His main emphasis was that 100% of what we do must be aimed at potential targets. He used statistics in a similar, although less effective, way than we do in email marketing.
He used the term ‘guerrilla marketing’. I’ll use that sometime in the future; it’s cool. What he meant by it is that we should always, but always, remember who we wish to convince by what we produce.
One of the aspects of the chat that was most pertinent to email marketing was termed in a way that made it easier to get a grip on what he tried to do, and what we should do. He ignored past clients, giving them no thought whatsoever; perhaps a step too far for us. He gave little consideration to current clients, saying he’d already nailed them.
Another aspect was that he did not necessarily take photographs that he would find particularly attractive. He wanted to sell them. This is the same as us with free email marketing templates. We should not pick the ones that appeal to us, which we like the most, and instead should, and must, pick what appeals to our subscribers.
Many specialities in marketing use methods we can copy. Email marketing is just like every other form. We sell to specific people.
