I worked part-time at a drug store when I was in high school. Their wasn’t anything great about the store: they didn’t have great prices, and they didn’t have a great selection.

However, what they did have was 100% US Grade-A milk for 99 cents a gallon. Even then, that was a deal. I spent half of my senior year emptying and re-stacking milk crates so that the giant walk-in coolers in the back of the store were always full of fresh milk.

What does milk have to do with a drug store? Nothing. The milk was a loss-leader.

You’ve seen them before. Supermarkets put something on sale in the back of the store so you have to walk past everything else to get to it. In exchange for the great price, you put up with the inconvenience.

Marketing pros know that once you’re in the store, you’re likely to buy a few other items at full price. Nobody likes to waste time, and since you’ve already got a deal on the loss-leader, it won’t hurt to pick up a few other things. Sound familiar?

How could this work for your studio?

• If you’re a portrait photographer, offer a low-cost sitting fee.
• If you’re a wedding photographer, offer a low-cost starter package.
• If you’re shooting churches, offer a low-cost 8×10 print.

I don’t recommend this marketing strategy to everyone. Cutting prices – if not done carefully and strategically – can lead to lowering the value of your service in the mind of your customers. And some customers will frustrate you when they buy the loss-leader – and nothing else.

However, if you need to quickly generate some traffic into your studio, offering a loss-leader is a tested marketing strategy that really works.

Tags: marketing, marketing in tough times

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 at 3:37 pm and is filed under marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.