A word with luxury power to transform your photography brand
Image by: @shamblenstudios
Little to no-cost ways to elevate your photography business and appeal to a more affluent client. Break free of the saturated market and enter the ShineSparkL market.
If you follow some of my content, you know that I place a strong emphasis on words and language. Why? Because when it comes to differentiating as a business from the saturated photography market and elevating a business to command higher prices, the details matter. In fact, if you do everything identically as photographer down the street but you just change your language, you have already elevated. It is that powerful. Don’t believe me? Let’s use some examples:
“Your photo package comes with 10 digital files”
“Your purchased collection includes ten photographs”
“Pics from your session will be ready in 2 weeks”
“Your proofing gallery of images will be ready for viewing in two weeks”
These are different ways of saying the same thing, but I’m sure you will agree that the latter option in each subset has a better ring. It is the difference between dollar store and premium store, or fast food versus Michelin-star dining.
While it may be a good exercise for you to size up your competition and re-word the similar phrases and expressions that are common in the photography world, we also should be on the lookout for adding words that competitors rarely use, or don’t use in the same context as us. There is one such word that can have a transformative effect on our luxe appeal.
Congratulations on reading this blog post
We typically hear the word congratulations in the context of celebrating a milestone event:
“Congratulations on the new baby!”
“Congratulations on the engagement!”
How about we up the ante and use it elsewhere in our business?
I recently signed up for a sales offer from a business coach that I follow. And I received a confirmation email with the following subject line “Congratulations on signing up for the XY Sales Course.” Considering they specialize in sales education, this was very intentional!
The only other time I receive this subject line is usually in a spam email trying to get me to claim some prize in a contest. In that way, the word has gotten some bad press, but it shouldn’t prevent us from using it to elevate our business and brand if it helps to do so.
Other times I have signed up for a course, I will still receive a nice email, but they won’t congratulate me rather than welcome me to the course, or thank me for the purchase. The energy is still good, but maybe we can get to great.
In the book Selling Luxury by Robin Lent and Genevieve Tour, they talk about the power of congratulating buyers in the luxury retail space. When someone is shopping in an exclusive shop, the sales associate will congratulate them upon the completion of an expensive purchase. What does this word do?
It implies that the buyer has made a good choice. We get a self-esteem and confidence boost when we feel like others perceived us as someone who has great personal taste.
It reinforces a good investment on a big expenditure which mitigates any buyer remorse.
It ends the transaction on a positive and celebratory note, which triggers the buyer to build affinity to the brand and become a repeat customer and/or become a business/ brand advocate
How it applies to your photography branding
The word will act the same way for us as with the retail experience. You want to make your clients feel that they have great personal taste in deciding to hire you over anyone else. It reinforces their investment so that they see the money outlay in a good light. It creates a positive perception of you, creating affinity with your brand. It creates a potential repeat client who might become your greatest ambassador.
I have started to use this word more frequently and strategically in my business. Just like a word starts to sound weird when you say it too many times, you don’t want to overuse or abuse this word, because it is already abused in spam emails. Instead, think of it as adding sparkle when appropriate, to boost the exchange, like a sprinkle of fairy dust to make things magical. This was my response when a recent client sent me an email that they would hire me for their wedding:
Hi client,
This is wonderful news, thank you! Congratulations on making this important decision and I am honoured that you have chosen me. I will do everything in my power to provide you with an incredible experience!
In this case, the congratulations:
Applauded them for the effort they made in the process of seeking a wedding photographer, recognizing their hard work.
Validates that this was indeed an important decision amidst the stress of wedding planning and instills confidence of a correct decision.
Makes them feel good that they knocked something off of their long wedding to-do list and that they are a step closer to their amazing day.
It sets the stage (along with the other elements in the response) for perceiving you in a positive light with all future interactions, making a much smoother client experience.
P.S. In congratulating you for reading this blog post (above), the word subtly implies that you are the person who took your marketing education into your own hands and sought information to educate yourself to improve your business and overcome challenges of your saturated market. And congratulations that you may have found exactly what you are looking for!
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