Anchoring works! A simple and effective marketing strategy for your photography business that you can implement today
I was recently at a big retail sports chain store. I'd been tossing around the idea of buying a new winter coat.
I live in a province with cold, long, winters. My last coat is about 8 years old so it's fair to say I'm out of touch with pricing. I 'settled' for years with the coat I'd picked up at a small shop, and can't even recall how much I'd spent - maybe something like $175.
This year, taking it out of the closet, I noticed my safety pin hack for the hood when some of the buttons that attached it to the coat popped off. As I zipped it up, I finally accepted how I didn't like how tight it zipped at my neck, the top of the zipper poking into my chin and no room to nuzzle my cold cheeks into a warm collar. And remembering that last winter, I really felt the cold passing through it on windy days. It was time to invest in something a bit more functional.
At the store, I randomly looked at a price tag of one. $199. Ok, I guess that's probably the range I'm going to be facing for investment. I then spotted a really nice coat. An inner liner that zipped like a vest, with another on top with a seamlessly attached hood, that created a cozy collar around my neck and chin. Rated up to -40 degrees. Soft cuffs on the wrists. Ample pockets and cozy, padded, deep hood to cocoon against the wind. And, loved the design and colour! I tried it on and immediately felt the difference from my old coat. In comparison, my old coat was actually quite flimsy. Even the heavy-duty zipper - mine was a cheap, metal type that I recall I had to fix a few times over the years when the teeth misaligned and caught in the lining. In just trying this coat on, I was being educated that there was much more to a coat than I’d ever really considered! Then I looked at the price tag. $400!
The first price anchored me at $199. This was double! I hesitated. Do I really need to spend $400? Could I get something decent for less? As I kept shopping, nothing stood out like that coat.
I came upon a rack of coats on security hangers. Price? $1200!
This whole experience alerted me that I thought that all coats were kind of the same. Being a marketer, I do know that there are brands that are better than others too; I just didn’t truly realize the design differences that really made an impact to warmth, comfort and longevity.
Any guesses what I walked out with? The $400 coat. After seeing coats priced at $1200 and really seeing quite a difference in craftsmanship and features, the $199 coats seemed flimsy and cheap, but my $400 option now seemed reasonable. I went as far as looking up the coat and it’s a good, solid brand with good reviews. Combined with having fallen in love with this coat, I now confidently purchased it, knowing that it will carry me warmly and comfortably for at least as many years as my previous coat.
Anchoring is a story
Anchoring works and it works well. It tells a story through the element of pricing. I wasn’t just looking at a set of prices; I was being educated on the range of options, and that there were quality and aesthetic differences to be considered. I also happened to be drawn to a particular design that appealed to me - the IT factor of that coat, for me. Can we apply this to photography?
The IT factor drew me to a particular style. This is the same driver of the decisions we make everywhere - what kind of car we drive, what movies we watch, what our favourite takeout food is. This is why your brand and photography style matters. I didn’t see price tags first; unless there is a rack display of price, the first thing you are presented is the coat, and then you reach for the tag. Your website is the equivalent. People will be drawn to the work first, and then seek other information, including price. If they didn’t like or feel drawn to the work, do you think they’d be looking for price then? There were a few racks of coats I bypassed altogether, because I didn’t like the aesthetics of the coats. And this is why I argue that pricing on your website isn’t to weed out the price-shopper but that it’s for an interested potential client.
Next, I was out of touch on pricing. The first coat I saw confirmed a value around what I’d spent many years before. My mind anchored on it, until I was given more information, and a new anchor. My mind slowly opened and changed as these new anchors worked on me. Photography clients who inquire with us can have a similar experience - they may have worked with a cheaper photographer before or it’s been years since a photo session, and they are out of touch with prices. Giving them an array of pricing from small to large educates them without the spiel so many want to give, of what it takes to run a business. It allows the client to become sensitized all on their own and we all know that when the decision comes from within, there is more confidence and less regret.
Three ways to set up anchoring in your photography business
Price Sheet
The easiest way is to create several options within your investment section: a high, a mid-range, and a low. The options should be presented as highest first. You’ll notice that I was anchored on the lowest first in my coat search. If I’d found my dream coat at $400 when my anchor was established at $199 and didn’t stick around to shop, I may have left it. Luckily I did browse and found a new anchor in the $1200 coat, but in our case we want to get that higher anchor out first. Landing on your investment page, a potential client would immediately see the highest price. Using my coat example, it would the the $1200 option. As their eyes continue scanning, they’ll see the $400 option. Still good, a few less bells and whistles but still good value! Then they see the $199 option and feel it’s bare bones and flimsy on the value. (Note: the pricing values are for the sake of example only; your pricing should be based on your business!)
Content
You can also use anchoring outside your price list, within your content. An example could be a blog post on choosing the right photography package or an introductory text on your Home or Investment page. It may go something like “While the luxury collection at $1200 comes with a gorgeous, coffee-table album, you may find the mid-range collection at $400 a better fit for your annual photo refresher.”
Sales and promotions
Anchoring can also work with sales. For example, if you want to offer a holiday card sale in December, showing the original price with a strikethrough and the sale price next to it could be an effective strategy. This can work especially well if the perceived difference seems visually great. For example $49.99 with a sale price of $41.99 isn’t as impactful as $44.99 to 38.99.
Although you need to tread carefully with pay what you can sessions, some companies have used a ‘suggested’ donation when they do similar promotions, strategically inserting that anchor point. In a pay what you can scenario you are giving lots of control to the consumer of your product and it can easily backfire. The risk can be somewhat mitigated by the strong power of suggestion that operates behind anchoring, relying on the fact that people would feel conflicted to pay below the suggested donation (and thus helping you get to your financial goals!)
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