Prices on the website: Who are they really for?
The question of whether to post full pricing on your website seems as old as the Internet itself. There seems to be 2 main camps: those who feel that all pricing needs to be provided, in the spirit of ‘transparency’. They insist that they themselves don’t appreciate gated prices when shopping online for any product. Then there is the other camp - post no pricing at all to encourage people to reach out because photography should be more about value and investment. Putting prices out is just an invitation for people to price shop and remove us from their decision-making completely. And there is small, third camp that posts starting prices, to allow people to see if they can meet a minimum threshold. Weeding out price-shoppers and trying to be a little transparent at the same time. So which way do we go, when the community is so divided? By our own standard of what we look for? We may or may not be representative of our own ideal clients, so that leaves things as very subjective. Listen to other photographers? They are just divided as you may be. So how about we ask an exploratory question?
Who is the pricing on our website really for?
Let’s pursue the theory that price always needs to be transparent on a website and works to filter people - to weed out price-shoppers. It is one measure that can indeed do this, but our websites don’t work in a vacuum. Starting prices help set a level of financial expectation and investment, but before anyone gets to a pricing page they should have already hit your landing page first, and possibly your Portfolio and About page too. And if those pages have done their job properly with strong branding and a value proposition, combined with a well-curated portfolio, then price shoppers should have already been deterred - feeling they’ve hit on a site that may very well be out of their range. If they ignore the pointers of a higher end brand and get to the pricing page, then a threshold or average is more than enough to deter them further. Why would you need to layout your entire list if anything above the minimum is already out of reach? Almost like adding salt to a wound. You can’t afford my bottom package, nor my middle, nor highest, nor my albums or my prints…
So maybe the entire package list isn’t there to weed out price-shoppers after all. But swinging to the opposite direction of no pricing at all can be a deterrent to anyone who, after seeing your landing page, remains engaged but would appreciate some idea of prices.
Pricing on the Site is actually to qualify a good lead further, rather than to repel a bad lead.
Instead of trying to weed people out, let’s further entice the ideal people in. It almost sounds like the same thing, but it’s not and it can subtly change how we approach what our website is meant to do. Essentially, we shouldn’t focus on who we don’t want, but put energy into nurturing and engaging those we do want. A by-product of this approach will naturally see people of poor-fit fall away, for the most part.
When someone hits your website’s landing page and they have a low budget or are a price-shopper, you want them to understand that you aren’t their photographer right then and there, without having them waste their time exploring, only to be disappointed when they get to the pricing section (or worse, bypass it altogether and message you and waste your time too!). That means that your landing page has to instantly be able to communicate the tier of the market you stand in. This has to do with a strong brand message and value proposition (basically what is your superpower, who you serve and why people would hire you), a strong image or set of images that shows what/ who you shoot, and other design and brand elements that enforce it all. If we say that the landing page does its job well, then we confirm the pricing page isn’t for the price-shopper at all, but it will be for the client who saw the landing page and fell a little bit in love with you and your brand and understood the quality and value enough to stay and dig more. If you buy into this idea, then the pricing page is truly for your ideal client.
So it still begs the question: do I show them everything? Isn’t it good to be transparent? Well it depends on how they perceive that price list and how, psychologically, it affects their mood and decision-making.
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If a potential client fell in love with my images, thought I was awesome and is getting excited about booking a session and seeing herself and her family in my photos, the last thing I want is for her to get lost in packages and numbers. Way too rational and left-brain! I want her to take that excitement and reach out to me so then I can accompany the rest of the pricing, and I am confident to do that because she’s already 75% booked at that stage. I complete the numbers part with me involved, assuring them it’s a great investment. And indeed I have more inquiries that say “I looked at your site and love your work and your style suits me; can you walk me through your packages and how it all works?” Rather than “how much for...” This by far is much more of a measure of success and booking. And at that point competition no longer matters not because they’ve already pre-selected me. I just have to bring it home at that point and then it’s still not about price but the fortitude of my closing skills.
Ask yourself if giving all the prices at that moment needs to be done and if you think it will help or hinder your booking. If you’re watching an enthralling love story on Netflix and you’re wrapped up in the characters, then a buzzing phone will snap you out of the dream in an instant and may even irritate you because you got lost in the romance. You might consider that showing a huge list of packages and prices could conceivably work against you - a rude awakening from the dream of someone wanting to work with you that you’ve carefully tried to cultivate to this point. And would anyone think you’re being dishonest or not transparent in some way, if you didn’t offer up the whole farm? My guess is not; you’ve given them enough to act either way - drop off, or contact you. And if elements are in harmony, then it will be the latter. A tiny interruption of a starting price doesn’t shake them from the dream, and the longer that client spends in the dream state, the more they’ll actually be willing to spend!
Two case studies
As I wrote this article, I opened the Tiffany & Co. website. This is the first line:
“Our jewelry builds on a legacy of over 180 years of craftsmanship with beautifully designed necklaces and pendants, bracelets, rings and more.” Coupled with the crispest, cleanest, largest images of beautiful jewellery pieces and minimal, clean design, this already tells me I’m not going to be looking at a low price here. That’ll drop the majority of people not ready to make the investment right there (not to mention the luxury perception of the brand already - some won’t even click on the site to begin with!) Notably, no pricing on that main page, just links to shop. Once I’ve selected a category to shop, I do get pricing but it’s a pop up on hover, so it doesn’t initially break the experience of seeing all that eye candy to feed their dream. This deepens the aspirational aspect and emotional investment before going into the transactional details - smart and strategic on their part. The price doesn’t compete with the image, until you’re ready to uncover the pricing. And unless someone wants to rub it in their own face or just dream well beyond their means and intentions, they won’t be the one clicking on price because didn’t even make it to that page and dropped out early. The ones who do, and the ones that Tiffany & Co attracted to this page and are speaking to, their ideal client, are people who will likely make a purchase. And while they do offer products where we are offering our art and talent in addition to product, we can take a powerful lesson here on how they unfold and present price and how the price is intended for those who are buying, and not for those who won’t afford it or don’t value it.
Let’s contrast this with Old Navy. Their landing page has a huge “30% Off Everything!” banner, and the first pop-up has the same 30% offer and another offer of a 50% discount if you sign up to their mailing list. Can we immediately see that they open themselves to bargain-shoppers? Enticing with deals and discounts is an open invitation to all. As you go deeper into the categories, all pricing is given freely because their focus is low price! And they go as far as crossing off the regular price and showing discounted prices in red, bringing even more attention to price. They welcome the price shopper because that is their ideal client. Someone who is searching for high-quality, custom-tailored clothing probably will never get to the website, because any media/ ads would likely repel them, with cheap deals and more cheap deals. In both of these cases, pricing is for their ideal clients, to convert leads into sales!
You are looking for the person who says: “I love the portfolio, and I connected on a personal level with the photographer through her About page bio and her philosophy on her art and service, so now that this final pricing step didn’t shock me then I can take the next step to reach out about booking.”
This is the process of the client becoming captivated by your message and offering. It’s an emotional response. To reiterate, too much detail on pricing can risk killing this emotional investment that you’ve poured time and money into making. The qualifying number for financial investment may be all that’s needed, to inform them only enough not to want to turn away and lead them to connect.
What’s your take on this - which camp do you sit in? Has this article given you any food for thought?
Want to hear more of my thoughts on the topic? I recorded some added commentary in the video below.
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