SubZero Digital, Marketing Plan

Our Objective

SubZero Digital is “Urban Lifestyle Photography” that aims to provide high quality portrait images to those seeking new content for their media platforms.

Table of Contents

1. Business Summary

SubZero Digital

Marketing Leadership

Locations

Mission Statement

SWOT Analysis

2. Business Initiatives

Initiatives

Marketing initiatives, goals, metrics

3. Target Market

Industry Name

Buyer Personas

Competitive Analysis

4. Market Strategy

Product

Price

Promotion

People

Process

Physical Evidence

5. Budget

Marketing Expenses

6. Marketing Channels

Websites & Blogs

*Purpose

*Metrics

Social Media Links

*Purpose

*Metrics

Business Summary

Our Company

SubZero Digital is a small, freelance photography company based in the Westchester, New York area. The company’s mission is to supply high quality photos to young, social users looking to expand their platforms.

Our Marketing Leaders

Winter Smith is SubZero Digital’s creator and mastermind behind all shoots, social media maintenance and client interactions. She is to provide excellent customer service and photo work, as she has been doing since October, 2016.

SWOT Analysis

As SubZero Digital’s marketing team, we want to help the brand lean into what it does well, improve what it doesn’t, capitalize on what it can do, and defend against what could challenge it. With that in mind, here is our SWOT analysis for 2019.

Strengths. What we’re good at. What’s working. What our customers like about us.

SZD is great at maintaining friendly and personable relationships with their clients. Customers enjoy the idea of returning to amazing interactions.

Weaknesses. What we want to fix. What we want to strengthen. What we want to become more efficient at. What the industry might soon want. Money issues and availability (again) could potentially cause a huge problem.

Opportunities. What we think we’ll be good at. What will be our difference-maker.

To reach more clientele, SZD would love to expand their photographers (by one or two) to increase availability and reduce overbooking concerns.

Threats. What we think could hinder our growth. What/who we think could take our customers. Winter Smith (creator) is a full time college student who has very little personal time to dedicate to SZD. Sharing photo responsibilities could perhaps take the load off.

Business Initiatives

SubZero Digital has the ambitious goal of reaching 1,000 followers on Instagram by June, 2020. To help the business do that, our marketing team will pursue the following initiatives in 2019:

Initiative 1

Description: Over the next 9-12 months, our marketing team will strive to reach more clientele and choose further, more well known shooting locations.

Goal of initiative: Doing so has the ability to attract the eyes of more potential consumers, which can help boost business.

Metrics to measure success: Measuring the amount of outreaches that come from either Instagram Direct Messages or SZD website forms.

Initiative 2

Description: SZD can advertise a period of free or discounted shoot session times to help boost the amount of people that inquire.

Goal of initiative: Who doesn't enjoy free stuff? This will only be for a short period of time, and after some attention has been accumulated, the prices will return to later, still keeping the interest we had previously.

Metrics to measure success: The measure of success depends on numbers. In this case, it’ll be the number of new clients that come to us in search of participating in our free or reduced offer. When we get an increase in that type of customer, we know word is traveling, and that new traffic will soon come.

Initiative 3

Description: Creating more physical promotions can help catch the attention of those looking to take part in our services. Business cards, stickers (to stick in random locations) and flyers on bulletin boards are prime examples.

Goal of initiative: During a regular walk or a stop somewhere (in the NYC area for instance), people are bound to notice your advertisements if they’re flashy enough. Our marketing team will strive to create physical ads to do

Metrics to measure success: Since communications are mainly online, traffic to either social platforms or “for filling” will represent our metrics to measure success. The more traffic, the more our advertising efforts are working.

Target Market

Industries

In 2019, we’re targeting the following industries where we’ll sell our product and reach out to customers:

Social Media

This includes Instagram, Facebook, Email communications, and the SZD Website.

“Word of Mouth”

This includes mutual friends of previous or current clients, family members, advertisement viewers and college campuses.

Buyer Personas

Within our target market(s), we’ve identified the following buyer personas to represent our ideal customers:

Traditional Consumers are 15-28 years old. They are either high school or college students,  have part time jobs, or both. The majority of these individuals are millennials who, as our objective states, are heavy social media users that are searching for ways to build their platforms. They spend free time perhaps with family (as they are likely to still live at home with parents). More importantly, they spend much of their day scrolling through their phones, checking any and all social accounts they have for themselves. Ultimately, Traditional Consumers want to find a consistent option to be there when they want new photos of themselves.

Like Minded Promoters can be any age. They are typically those who also have side hustles that they are on the hunt to promote and advertise. If they are older, they may not be as inclined to technology as our marketing team is. Because of this, they are in need of a third party to capture or demonstrate the purpose of their work. Though we would be helping someone who could potentially be competition, we are helping ourselves first and foremost. Ultimately, Like Minded Promoters want someone to help themselves get established into the world of self marketing and will seek help from those they’ve heard of (word of mouth, SZD work, etc.)

Competitive Analysis

Within our target market(s), we expect to compete with the following companies:

Consumers

Consumers themselves have the potential to be competition. Yes, it is easy to take a photo, but at this point, it is our job to let consumers understand that it is better for them to hire us then it is to take their own photos. We do this by showing them that our skills are essentially better than theirs.

Local Photographers

Other local photographers can be a competitive hazard as well. Those in the area who can have possibly been in the industry or the business longer than us or, may have more in hand skills or equipment than us have the ability to draw away our clientele.

Professional Photographers

Lastly, professional photographers in the area have the ability to increase their clientele by trying to diminish ours. We must realize that we are not professionals but we are quite skilled. However, many consumers like the peace of mind of hiring someone who is either licensed or can prove that they’ve been working towards the same goals longer.

Market Strategy

Product

Though SubZero Digital is capable of many things in many areas, our focus is strictly portrait photography. Referencing the buyer persona, many of our consumers are either looking to have someone photograph themselves or to photograph their skills, talent, or services. It seems as though there are not many in the area that will cater to a target markets such as this. For example, many professional photographers have their expertise in one area, which may not be related to what our buyers are searching for.

Price

Typically, prices vary based on what the buyer is looking for. Prices can increase based on number of participants, number of outfit changes, number of changes in scenery, etc. On average, a two hour session can be priced at $45. Compared to our competition this is low. This is not just for consumer advantage though. As mentioned before, our traditional consumers are between the ages of 15 and 28. These consumers are students, have a low paying jobs, or both. Keeping the prices this low will help maintain the amount of consumers we have looking into us and the amount of consumers that we have currently utilizing our services. This is not just for consumer advantage though. As mentioned before, our traditional consumers are between the ages of 15 and 28. These consumers are students, have a low paying jobs, or both. Keeping the prices this low will help maintain the amount of consumers we have looking into our products and the amount of consumers that we have currently utilizing our services. Seasonal promotions and Customer Loyalty can be offered on occasion.

Promotion

Product/Service promotion can be carried out in several ways. Aside from our blog posts, website, and social media channels, there is a possibility of having physical advertisements placed in public areas. For example as mentioned before, flyers on a bulletin board or stickers placed at a random locations can help create more exposure than what is possible with just the Internet alone. We have the potential to reach audiences that either do not have access to the Internet or do not have accounts on social media platforms where they can view our previous advertisements.

People

Being a freelance photographer, I, Winter Smith, play a majority of the role in the marketing strategy. I am a one-man band so to speak. If I feel as though new forms of advertisement, discounts and promotions, or a revamped marketing plan can potentially help my business, then I am the one to bring those decisions to pass.

Process

Aside from online communications, a photography business of course requires face-to-face meetings. Depending on customer loyalty, the arrangement can be an ongoing service. The option to have edited photos or future discounts can help keep the customer around longer, as well as mention our services to friends and family.

Physical Evidence

Pictures in this age are not always something that you can feel. After a photo session I can take from 24 to 72 hours to receive your photos. Our work, with consent from our clients, is displayed in our social media page for potential customers to view and reach out. After a session, clients are able to view their photos by the receipt of a Google photos link. Each client has their own designated folder with all images taken and any future photos taken will be added to that folder as well.

Budget

Over the course of 2019, given the cash allotted to the Marketing team, we expect to invest in the following items to ensure we meet the objectives outlined in this marketing plan:

Marketing Expense & Estimated Price

Editing Software (i.e; Photoshop, Lightroom)

$20/mo x  12

Lens Equipment (i.e; new lenses, cases, cleansers)

$300

Lighting Equipment (i.e; soft boxes, ring lights, light filters)

$150

Transportation (bus/train/subway fare, rideshares)

$100

Monthly Website Fees (Squarespace agreements)

$22/mo x 12

Yearly Domain Fee (SubZeroDigital.org)

$20

Total: $1,074

Marketing Channels

Over the course of 2019, we will launch/ramp up our use of the following channels for educating our customers, generating leads, and developing brand awareness:

[SubZeroDigital.org]

Purpose of channel: Brand Awareness, Brand Establishment, Service Showcasing

Metrics to measure success: 50-100 unique page views per month

[Millennial Travel Blog Post: SZD Top 10]

Purpose of post: Gather following from blog readers

Metrics to measure success: Amount of blog post reads and web link clicks

[Social Network: Instagram - @SubZeroDigital]

Purpose of channel: Brand Promotion, Work Showcasing, Customer Interaction

Metrics to measure success: Photo likes, Post tags, website clicks, Direct Messaging