Buyers Kit
Content
BUYERS WANT PHOTOGRAPHERS
from
Preferences and habits of the most influential image buyers.
presented april 2011 by
what
3 INTRODUCTION 6 MARKETING 18 PORTFOLIO WEBSITES 31 SELLING AND DELIVERY 37 RESOURCES
contents
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, without the prior written consent of PhotoShelter, Inc. or Agency Access. PhotoShelter, Inc. and Agency Access make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation.
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introduction What’s the best way to understand how to attract and serve your clients better than anyone else? Listen. You need to ask them specific questions.
These questions are not unique to photographers and their clients at ad agencies, publications, and corporations worldwide – in fact they’re universally asked across all businesses. Yet despite living in the “everything social” era of hyperconnectivity 24/7, the information gap between photographers and their commercial and editorial clients continues to loom large. Photography remains a silo-based industry where little information is shared between the suppliers (photographers) and the buyers (photo editors, photo buyers, art directors, etc.) Our 2011 survey aims to break down some of these information barriers and address many of the questions that photographers really need answers to – how to best reach the clients, attract their attention, and serve them in a way that keeps a client coming back for more. Inside you’ll find powerful data and suggestions straight from the minds of buyers. Essentially, it’s like having a cocktail party with 500 potential clients and getting a chance to flirt with every one of them.
How do buyers like to receive information? How often? Via what medium? What marketing messages do they notice more than any other? What’s the best way to package and deliver a final product?
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why we do this
Since 2008, PhotoShelter and Agency Access have worked together to field a survey that helps illuminate the needs of clients who consume photography, and we provide that information to photographers who aim to grow their businesses by better understanding the customer. We recognize that it’s hard for individual photographers to ask questions like this on their own (especially to a group of this size), and the reality is that it’s not typically information that prospective clients simply volunteer to share. We invest our own resources in gathering this information to serve two main purposes. First, to empower our clients and the greater photographer community with key information that can help make smarter marketing choices for their photography businesses. And second, to continuously stay aware of the needs and interests of the client community so we can both advise photographers and optimize our own services. PhotoShelter provides portfolio websites backed by powerful archiving, sales and marketing tools that help photographers attract more business online. Agency Access provides a one stop resource for photographers to effectively promote themselves – from list memberships to direct marketing and specialized consulting services. So, gathering data like this really helps all of us do our jobs better.
what to expect
Some really juicy information and insights from a diversity of photography buyers. Respondents included art directors, photo editors, art buyers, graphic designers, photo buyers, directors of photography, picture researchers and other creatives – all united by the common thread of hiring photographers or licensing their work. They told us all about: • Preferred methods for finding photographers • How to capture their attention • What separates good and bad photographer promotions • What they love and hate about photographer websites If you focus on these insights – doing what they appreciate and avoiding what they hate, this guide should help you grow your business. There is, of course, no magic bullet for this stuff. While one photo buyer may love connecting with emerging photographers on Facebook, another may prefer rock solid direct mail promotions.
survey methodology
In March 2011, we sent a 35 question survey via the Agency Access database to 55,000 global recipients. All of the recipients have self identified as someone who either hires photographers for commission/assignment work or licenses still photography. 500 total recipients responded to the survey.
4
Facebook | Twitter
Facebook | Twitter
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Who are the participants?
what they do
Hire photographers for assignment License still photography Hire photographers for still and video shoots License video Other
26.0% Art Director 22.1% Photo Editor - Editorial 7.6%
Creative Director
Art Buyer 4.5% Graphic Designer 4.1% Marketing Manager 4.1% Associate Creative Director 3.9% Design Director 3.9% Designer 3.9% Editor in Chief 3.9% Picture Researcher 1.9% Project Manager 1.9% Director of Photography 1.2% Senior Designer 1.2% Art Producer 0.8% Photo Editor- Advertising 0.4% Copywriter 0.4% Artist 0.2% Public Relations 0.2%
job titles
45.1% 42.2% 6.2% 2.5% 4%
sample companies
Editorial
Discover Magazine Essence Martha Stewart The Atlantic USA Today
Advertising
DDB DraftFCB J Walter Thompson Fallon Publicis
In-house Design
Acquity Brands Kiehls Safeway Toys R Us Universal Orlando Wells Fargo
Book Publishing Harper Colliins McFarland McGraw Hill National Geographic School Publshing Random House
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MARKETING
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
What is the best way to get noticed? What gets your attention? What makes a good email? Meet the Buyer: Whitney Lawson What makes a good direct mail piece? What do you search for on Google? Do you use social media to find photographers? Meet the Buyer: Alyssa Adams Which social media sites do you prefer? Do you use photo contests to find talent? Do you follow photographers’ blogs?
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | M A R K E T I N G
What is the best way to get noticed by a new client?
Email
key insights
We asked this open-ended question and received 354 responses. “What is the best method you would suggest a photographer use to capture your attention, share their work, or share new work?” Of the 354 responses provided: • 134 buyers said email is the best approach • 75 suggested any form of communication – but to ensure it is uniquely targeted to their needs • 36 buyers said direct mail is the best approach • 27 buyers suggested an in-person portfolio visit • 81 other responses were provided, from social media, to personal introductions, to sourcebooks and directories, to reps and agencies. • Study the agency’s clients or the publication’s content and only send portfolios, emails, or direct mail that clearly relate to their regular work.
38%
Customize your pitch
22%
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What gets your attention?
Show samples of your work from other publications. Share recent as well as historical work. Personalize it with my name.
Find out what I need— or don’t send anything. Connect by Linked In and then follow up with email intro.
Do some really good work that stands out. Hook me with a good blog. Tell me stories. Contact us direct with work or ideas that are relevant.
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Avoid Flash presentations. Present something unusual, out-of-the-box.
Send a piece that’s innovative or flashy.
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What makes a good email?
Do
• Images must be beautiful, striking, high quality • State relevance in subject line • Image(s) and copy immediately relevant • Unique style or technique • Images truly represent a photographer’s work • Highly targeted vs. clearly a mass mailing • Simple and direct • Emotionally riveting/ evocative • Demonstrate problem solving • Clever and creative copy/ headlines • Share work in use by other campaigns • Sensible, accessible geographic location • Good self promotional design • Highlight the photographer’s abilities, specialties • Consistency/ regularity in sending promos
Don’t
• Irrelevant content (don’t know the product, market, demographic) • Website inconsistent with sample photos in email • Poor subject lines • Boring or over-the-top images • Emails that lack photos (only links to a site) • Image display errors • Too many/ large attachments • No context around the new work being shared • No indication of location • Conversational tone with no prior relationship • Links that don’t work, or link to a slow loading site • Repeating the same email/ too frequent • Single image with no copy • Careless errors (e.g. spelling mistakes, agency/publication title incorrect, photographer or rep name & contact info missing)
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meet the buyer
Whitney Lawson
Photo Editor, Travel + Leisure
To get noticed by Whitney Lawson, your best bet is to start thinking like she thinks. “It is our job at the magazine to tell stories,” she explains. “So a small edit that tells a story is best for me. Of course this is totally different from advertising, which asks you to sum everything up in one single photo.” Whitney still favors a unique printed promotional piece that features a small series of photos (or maybe even a set of six cards in a series). “I’m more inclined to look at anything with a home-made or personal vibe. One of the best promos I ever got was a little Moleskin book with cut-up contact squares taped to each page, made from a personal trip. The images were varied: food, scenics, portraits. They were all very personal and they went very well together. I hired the photographer soon after I got it.” When it comes to getting noticed via email, Whitney says the subject line really determines if an email gets opened. “New Work from [Photographer Name]” doesn’t compel Whitney to open a message because it simply isn’t very interesting or appealing. “It is already implicit that the email is touting some new work,” she says. Rule #1 is to be sure the subject line says the photography is relevant to Travel + Leisure. Rule #2 is to be as specific as possible. Whitney often uses Google to find new photographers and individual images. “If I am working on a 2-page story about nightlife in Croatia, the first thing I will do is use Google to find photographers in or around Croatia. Then I will contact them to see if they have covered any of the locations that I need. This in turn may lead to an assignment.” Whitney finds several photo contests helpful in identifying new talent. She includes among her favorites: PDN 30, American Photography, Hey Hot Shot, New York Photo Festival, National Portrait Gallery Wessing Portrait Prize (UK), Visa Pour l’Image awards (France), and Surface magazine’s Avant Guardians award.
key advice
“I need to be able to download a comp of an image if I am doing photo research for a story. It’s fine if it is low-res or watermarked. But if your photos are in a Flash animation that I can’t download individually, I will usually move on.” “I also have a soft spot for holiday card promos,” she says. “I like to keep them in a little silver tray on my desk. It is a good way for you to show your style, and even your humor.”
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
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What makes a good direct mail piece?
Do
• Striking images • Relevance - specific to our needs/work • Customize/personalize - a personal note helps • Postcards help see the images immediately • Provide information, i.e. include a description of featured assignment • Produce something unique that shows effort vs. mass produced • Creative production/ paper choice • Creative in presentation but not “out of reach” • Contact details • Action - include an event, show opening, or request direct meeting • Make it useful (i.e. as notepaper, a calendar) • Great design • Unique size and packaging • Simplicity • Mind the environment - don’t overuse paper
Don’t
• Bad photography • Not well researched: content irrelevant to buyer’s needs • Low production quality photos • Waste of paper/resources • Poorly written, bad grammar and misspelling • Complicated to act on, lack of contact information or website • Hard to obtain pricing/ rates • Doesn’t exhibit problem solving/ strategic thinking • Poor print quality; especially for postcards
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What do you search for on Google?
61%
key insights
We asked two separate questions: • Do you search for PHOTOGRAPHERS using the major search engines? • Do you search for IMAGES using the major search engines?
Respondents are regularly using search engines like Google to find images, less often to find photographers. Looking deeper, we learned that respondents at Editorial Publications (38%) & Book Publishers (39%) use search engines more regularly to find photographers than their counterparts at Advertising (32%) & Design (16%) agencies, and Corporate In-House designers (23.4%). Meanwhile, over 75% of book publishers use search engines to find images (well above the average).
30%
Images
Photographers
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Do you use social media to find photographers?
Yes
key insights
We asked “Do you search for photographers, or have you discovered new photographers using social media, including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn?”
A majority of respondents don’t heavily rely on social media to find photographers. Advertising and editorial buyers use social media a bit more (38%) than the average survey respondents, while book publishers and design agencies report using social media significantly less (less than 22%). Many buyers told us that they prefer to use social media to follow photographers they’re previously worked with, rather than to find new photographers.
33%
No
67%
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meet the buyer
Alyssa Adams
Deputy Photo Editor, TV Guide Magazine
Alyssa Adams hires photographers for celebrity portraits to accompany the feature stories that run in TV Guide Magazine, and also handles licensing celebrity stock photography for the publication. Alyssa saves photographer emails when they make an impact, and offered some sound advice for photographers trying to capture her attention using email. Alyssa suggests varying the timing of email sends according to different weekdays to test when the audience is most receptive, and that sending a new promo every other month was a reasonable amount of email to receive from a single photographer. Alyssa will also use search engines to find photographers, for example, who have experience shooting a particular celebrity. Social media, however, she prefers to use for keeping tabs on photographers she has worked with previously, or cares about personally. Contests are useful to Alyssa, not necessarily to motivate Alyssa to hire new talent, but rather they help her understand trends. She pays particular attention to the PDN 30, the Society of Publication Designers, and the American Society of Media Photographers annual contests. For photographer websites, Alyssa recommends keeping the website updated frequently with new work. She echoes the same recurring suggestions about user experience - that photographers should focus on fast load times, simple design, image viewing and navigation.
key advice
“Don’t make me scroll down too far in an email promo to find your photo,” Alyssa suggests. She also is turned off by emails when photographers act like they know her despite never having met or worked together before. Alyssa is also amazed at how frequently photographers neglect to include a link to their website in the email. Alyssa suggested a different tactic we don’t always hear. “Get me to act on something other than a meeting.” Given that most promo emails do exactly that, Alyssa suggested sharing some self inspired/initiated work and an invitation to an event (e.g. a gallery showing). Further, she suggests photographers can benefit from working with public relations pros to help get their work seen in more places. “If I see you’ve been published or featured elsewhere and like your work, I will file it away for inspiration.”
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MARKETING
Which social media sites do you use most?
54% 36%
key insights
Among buyers who do use social media to discover and connect with new photographers, the top choice is LinkedIn. In one category – Editorial – respondents indicated a greater preference for Facebook (47%) vs. LinkedIn (42%).
10%
LinkedIn
Facebook
Twitter
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Do you use photo contest results to find new talent?
Yes
key insights
Among buyers who do use photo contests, the top competitions tend to be the industry’s largest awards and those run by top publications.
American Photographic Artists Applied Arts American Society of Media Photographers BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Communication Arts Coupe Creative Review D&AD Graphis Kitcatt Nohr Photo Comp The Lucie Awards Lürzer’s Archive National Press Photographers Association Best of Photojournalism
15%
No
The One Show PDN 30, PDN Photo Annual, PDN Self Promo Awards
85%
Pictures of the Year International Print Magazine National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year World Press Photo
Notably, 97% of book publishers said they do not use photo contests.
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Do you follow any photographers’ blogs?
Yes
key insights
While having a blog may be critical for optimizing your online presence for search engines and your fans, the majority of buyers won’t necessarily subscribe or frequently return to your blog. However, in the editorial segment, 39% of buyers do actually frequent/subscribe to photographer blogs in contrast to the 26% average across all respondents.
26%
No
74%
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PORTFOLIO WEBSITES
19 How long will you wait for a website to load? 20 At what size do you prefer to view images? 21 Do watermarks impact your decision to hire or license? 22 Meet The Buyer: Kat Dalager 23 Which background color works best on a website? 24 What do you look at on a website? 25 What do you hate to see on a website? 26 What features should photographers include? 27 Do you view photographer websites on your mobile? 28 Do you open photographer emails on your mobile? 29 How do you like to view a portfolio? 30 Do you like to see video alongside stills?
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How long will you wait for a website to load?
41.3% 19.7% 19.7% 10.9% 6.3% .8% 1.3%
key insights
For a busy potential client, speed is essential. Buyers will bail if your website loads slowly. After 15 seconds you’ve lost 81% of buyers visiting your site.
SECS
5
SECS
10
SECS
15
SECS
30
MIN
1
MINS
5
AMOUNT
any
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At what size do you prefer to view images?
43% 31.1% 11.1% 7.8% 6.8%
key insights
We were surprised that the “bigger is better” axiom doesn’t always apply for buyers when viewing a photographer’s website. Buyers preferred sizes that fell in the 700 pixel (wide) to 900 pixel range. Even in the advertising segment, the preference for +900px was only marginally greater than average, at 9.6%.
500
PX
700
PX
900
PX
+900
PX
Don’t Care
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
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Do watermarks impact your decision to hire or license?
Yes
key insights
While many commented that they respect photographer’s rights, their guidance on watermark usage is loud and clear. If you’re going to watermark, make it subtle and ensure a buyer can easily get ahold of an unwatermarked version for layout and client presentation.
notes
• Don’t cover so much of the image that the feel for it is lost. • Highly distracting watermarks are a deterrent to licensing/ reviewing a portfolio. • When agency clients see the watermark, they sense the “stock” image and it is difficult to convince the client of the image’s value. • Agency clients often ask to get images without watermarks so they can fully visualize how an image will look in a layout. • Some watermarks obstruct the image so badly you can’t discern the quality of the image. • Some agencies don’t like letting clients know what the photography source is. · Clients feel that photographers serious about a working relationship will grant the use of a watermark-free image for layout purposes
24%
No
76%
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Kat Dalager
Art Producer, Campbell Mithun
Kat Dalager handles hiring photographers for Campell Mithun’s variety of client projects as well as licensing stock photography. She suggests that photographers take care to use multiple channels to promote themselves. “What may not reach one audience may reach another.” She prefers email promotion from photographers because they can be processed on her own terms, rather than more interruptive methods like cold calling. Kat keeps a completely separate email address which she gives out to list services, and she files her favorite emails in very specific folders, generally by specific clients or specialty. For direct mail promos, Kat takes notice of more substantial pieces, books and other interesting items like clear or distinctive envelopes, and even smaller mailers. Kat does use Google and other search engines to find new photographers and their websites. “I turn to the search engines when I’m looking for inspiration, usually to find a photographer I don’t already know, outside my normal realm.” For example, if Kat needs a photographer in a different country. “Photographers from New Zealand don’t typically send me promos.” For photographers who use blogs as their primary website, Kat suggests being very careful that the navigation includes a very clear link to view a portfolio or direct access images. “Sometimes it’s nearly impossible to get out of the vortex of commentary to see the work or find the contact info.” In terms of social media, Kat prefers to use LinkedIn to connect with photographers - primarily just photographers she has worked with in the past. She maintains other social network profiles but uses them for personal connections only.
meet the buyer
key advice
Kat advises photographers to be very specific about the email subject line. “Tell me what’s featured in the promo,” she instructs. For example “Lifestyle Photography // On Location in Vancouver” or “Food Photography // Seafood for Conde Nast” work well in her system, while “URGENT! Please open immediately” is useless for future reference. Regarding websites, Kat suggests photographers keep their websites as simple and easy to navigate as possible. “We’re not looking at your web development skills, we’re looking at your work and trying to get a hold of you!” Among pet peeves, Kat lists roving scroll or “next” cursors, slow upload times, loud music, “Agree To” conditions. Kat suggests photographers make it very easy for clients to request and download hi res images for comping. She points out that Corbis and Getty do this - that’s what photographers are competing against.
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W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | P O R T F O L I O W E B S I T E S
Which background color works best on a website?
92% 75% 54% 39% 21% 2.4% 3.2% 9.6% 8% 17.5% 0.9% 0.2%
key insights
Buyers loved (and liked) black and white backgrounds the best. Color and texture were most hated because they tend to distract from images. We suggest avoiding backgrounds that strive for uniqueness in favor of simplicity.
Black
White
Dark Grey
Light Grey
Color
Texture
= Love
= Hate
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
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What do you look at on a website?
How many Galleries/ Portfolios? 0-3 4-6 7-10 10+
11% 35%
Will you watch slideshows? Yes No
35%
42%
65%
12%
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
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What do you hate to see on a website?
Slow loading, Flash heavy, hard-to-navigate sites. Just show me the (money) shots! No Flash. Keep it clean and simple. I hate when the site opens full screen without user’s control.
Don’t make it too clever or busy. I’m on there to look at the images. I don’t care that a website looks “cool” if it isn’t quick.
I don’t like auto-running slide shows. Music drives me nuts.
Too many other things on their site that aren’t related to their work.
It’s annoying when the next button jumps around and you have to “re-find” it after each click.
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
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What features should photographers include on their websites?
Do
· Fast image loading · Email address always visible · Phone number always visible · Ability to click to view all thumbnails · Search all images by keyword · Ability to send or copy a link to a photo or gallery · Showcase a ‘newly added’ section · Captions below photos or on roll-over · Ability to view at full screen · Ability to create/send a lightbox of select images · Ability to price/purchase/license images right on the site · Navigation menu consistent on all pages · Ability to email a photo • Make browsing easy and logical • Simple navigation • Group photos in logical categories/ galleries/ portfolios • Enable a buyer to request a comp download
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Don’t
· Music · Ads (ie Google text ads) · Full-screen ‘intro’ (e.g. animated photographer name/logo) that plays before you get to main menu · Slideshows as default/slideshow-only galleries · Contact forms instead of listing email address · Slideshow as intro · Photographer’s recent Facebook/twitter status • Hidden “next” arrows that move • Long, Flash intros that can’t be skipped • Complex, unique navigation
photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | P O R T F O L I O W E B S I T E S
Do you view photographer websites on your mobile?
Never Infrequently Sometimes Regularly Always
4.1% 26.2% 50.4%
key insights
Despite the massive shift to mobile communications, a surprising majority of buyers most often view photographer websites from non-mobile devices. Only 4.1% claim to view photographer websites regularly on a mobile device.
19.1%
0.3%
27
photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | P O R T F O L I O W E B S I T E S
Do you open photographer emails on your mobile?
Never Infrequently Sometimes Regularly Always
0.8% 7.9% 26.1% 44.8%
key insights
When viewing photographer emails, buyers tend to follow the same pattern as photographer websites, with a surprisingly small segment claiming regular interaction on mobile devices.
20.5%
28
photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | P O R T F O L I O W E B S I T E S
How do you like to view a photographer portfolio?
62.6%
key insights
We asked “What is your preferred method of photographer portfolio presentation?”
For editorial buyers, the photographer’s website stood out as preferred (75%) more than any other segment. Meanwhile, advertising agencies indicated “all of the above” at 29% (above average) while the photographer’s website was less significant in this segment, preferred by only 53% of respondents.
21.1% 7.2% 7.7% 1.3%
Website
PDF
Printed
iPad
All
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Do you like to see video alongside stills?
Yes
key insights
If you’ve got the skills, you’ve got to showcase them. 66.5% of buyers said that for photographers with video skills, they want/expect to see video as part of the photographer’s portfolio and marketing.
66.5%
No
33.5%
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
SELLING& DELIVERY
32 33 34 35 36
Where do you search for photography to license? Where do you get stock images? How do you prefer to handle pricing? How do you prefer to receive images? Meet The Buyer: Lisa Smith
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | S E L L I N G & D E L I V E RY
Where do you search for photography to license?
87% 55% 44%
key insights
• 87% of buyers use other stock agencies beyond the industry’s largest names, Corbis and Getty • 55% of buyers use individual photographers’ websites • 44% of buyers use consumer sites like Flickr Corporate in-house designers indicated a greater than average propensity to strictly stick to the big stock agencies, with 21% stating they only license from Getty & Corbis. Editorial buyers indicated the greatest usage of individual photographer websites to find images, with 64% stating they search using this method, while 57% of advertising buyers claim to do so. Book publishers reported an above average (55%) use of sites like Flickr to find images.
Stock Agencies
Photographers’ Websites
Consumer Sites
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Where do you get stock images?
We asked buyers to tell us each of the websites they visit to license photography beyond the industry giants Getty & Corbis. Their open-ended results yielded literally dozens of different sources.
172 mentions
81 mentions
53 mentions
Alamy AP Images Dreamstime
age fotostock Flickr Fotosearch Gallerystock
123 RF 4Corners Action Images AFP AgstockUSA APA Ardea Art Resource August Aurora Axiom Bigstock BlackBook Bloomberg Bridgeman Camera Press Celebrity Citizenstock
33
Fotolia Jupiter Masterfile
National Geographic Society Photos.com PhotoShelter Punchstock
Common Ground Comstock CP Images CSA Images Cutcaster Ericksonstock Eurostock Everett FirstLight Foodstock Glow GMA Granger Grant Heilman Graphic Obsession Greatstock Icon SMI IDS Imagebank Imagestate Imagezoo Inmagine Interiorarchive.com IPN JPI Keystone Landov Lensmodern Library of Congress/ US National Archives Lonely Planet Loupe Magnum Matton MCT Media Bakery MedicalRF Millennium Minden Morguefile Narratives.com Nature Picture Library Newscom Noor Oseeris PA Photos Panos Photographers Direct Photonica Photoshot Photostock Photostogo
Photolibrary
Superstock ThinkStock
mentions
16-30
mentions
8-15
Photostogo Phototake Picsearch PictureDesk Plain Pictures Pond5 Redux Retna Reuters Rex Features Rubberball Science Photo Library Sipa Smyle Media Spiderpic Splash Sportsshooter Startraks
Stock.xchang 7 Stock4B mentions StockFood Stockthat doesn’t suck The Image Work The Travel Library Topham Trevillion Trunk US Presswire VII Visuals Unltd.1 Wallace Garrison Wallpaper Wikimedia Wireimage Workbook Zuma
photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | S E L L I N G & D E L I V E RY
How do you prefer to handle pricing?
Instant Online Negotiate
10.7% 44.6%
key insights
When licensing an image from a photographer’s website, buyers shared mixed preferences for getting the deal done.
Instant & Negotiate Don’t Care
34
37%
7.8%
photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | S E L L I N G & D E L I V E RY
How do you prefer to receive images?
72% 53% 31%
key insights
Buyers had the opportunity to choose their preferred method of image delivery.
After an image has been licensed, or a shoot has been completed, the busy client clearly wants the image in their hands as fast as possible. *Among other methods, many buyers cited delivery of a hard drive.
24% 6%
FTP
Upload/ Download
DVD/ CD
Email
Other*
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | B U Y E R P RO F I L E
meet the buyer
Lisa Smith
Art Buyer, Target Corporation
Lisa Smith primarily handles licensing still photography for Target. Like many of the buyers we surveyed, to capture Lisa’s attention and have a chance at working with Target, the promos that photographers send her must first be relevant - demonstrating strong work that is suitable for retail advertising - and the images must be extremely strong. However, Lisa frequently receives promotions that are way off base. “Photographers don’t send relevant images for consideration. I work in a retail corporation where we present the photographers work to our creative directors. If the work is not relevant it can be difficult to sell them in for consideration. Lisa does not use search engines, social media, or photography contests to find new talent. So, if a photographer wants a shot, they need to succeed at the traditional methods of promotion - direct mail and email, with email (from photographers and reps) being her preferred medium. She suggests sharing recent work that was done for other retailers or publications. Beautiful, unique work will catch her eye. Among critical website features and designs, Lisa encourages photographers to focus on achieving fast website load time, showcase an about/bio page, and give buyers control of viewing both thumbnail and full screen images. For photographers with multimedia skills, Lisa suggests that it is essential to display video alongside still photography.
key advice
Lisa does frequent her favorite photographers’ blogs and will search their individual websites for images to license. So, she offers some key points for photographers to consider: “Websites should be simple,” Lisa says. “When it gets too slick, it takes too long to load the images, I move on.”
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
RESOURCES
38 More Resources 39 About PhotoShelter 40 About Agency Access
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | R E S O U RC E S
More Resources
PhotoShelter Resources
In addition to this survey, each of our companies regularly publish photography business content you may find helpful. Below you will find some sample links:
Agency Access Resources
Create An Estimate That Gets The Job How @photojack Found Twitter Success 8 Tips For That All-Important Meeting Is Your Website Marketing Smart? Is Direct Mail Worth The Investment? Cold Calling For Artists Building A Marketing Database That Gets Results 5 Ways To Get More Meetings
Free Photography Business Reports – download more guides like this Free Photography Business Webinars Top 13 Ways to Piss Off a Photo Editor 10 Ways to Make a Photo Editor Fall in Love With You Selling Yourself: 10 Traits of the Master Marketers 10 Secrets to Successful Online Photo Portfolios Positive Vs. Negative Photographers: Which Are You? 4 Photographers Describe Their Social Media Workflow
38
photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
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About PhotoShelter
SPECIAL OFFER Set Up Your Website, Get $10 Back!
Build a stronger photo business with a PhotoShelter website. You can now try PhotoShelter for only $1 for 14 days. And, if you join by April 29, you’ll earn a $10 account credit just for getting your site set up during the trial. Launching your new PhotoShelter website is so simple, you can get it live in a matter of minutes.
Get Started
PhotoShelter is the leader in portfolio websites and business tools for serious photographers.
With PhotoShelter, you also get powerful features and resources to market your photos, like SEO and social sharing capabilities, the most options for licensing photography and selling prints online, and pro-strength file delivery tools to please your clients. Visit Photoshelter.com/tour and let PhotoShelter power your business online!
Learn more & join PhotoShelter today! Or, visit Photoshelter.com/signup and enter COUPON CODE
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Questions? Contact us anytime at 212-206-0808 or [email protected].
Offer only valid for new paid PhotoShelter users.
39
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | R E S O U RC E S
About Agency Access
Agency Access was created in 1996 because we saw that photographers, commercial artists and their reps needed a single source for promotional mailing lists and mailing services. Before Agency Access, no one offered that kind of convenient, professional service. Today, no one else does. As the art of marketing grew and technologies changed, so did we. We added a comprehensive suite of email solutions and services, quarterly membership payment plans, and postcard printing services. And now that the Internet’s made global business easy, we’ve also expanded our list to include contacts from across the world. Our latest program, Campaign Manager Pro, is a complete marketing program for the busy photographer. We take care of everything for a whole year, leaving the artist to focus on what they do best. Watch Erik Rank talk about how we helped him here. Agency Access CEO Keith Gentile was recently interviewed by Thomas James over at Escape From Illustration Island. Listen to the podcast as Keith discusses how to maintain a database, build relationships, branding and much more. To learn more about Agency Access and our marketing services, contact us anytime. We build strong, personal relationships with our members because that’s the way we like to do business. Let us know how we can help you. To sign up for the new Agency Access newsletter The Lab, click here. www.agencyaccess.com [email protected] 1-800-704-9817
40
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AXS51511
offer expires May 13, 2011 Learn More
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Questions? Call us anytime at 1-800-704-9817 or email us at [email protected]
This offer expires May 13, 2011 and is available to new Agency Access members only on the purchase of a North American database package.
275-S Marcus Boulevard Hauppauge, NY 11788
from
Preferences and habits of the most influential image buyers.
presented april 2011 by
what
3 INTRODUCTION 6 MARKETING 18 PORTFOLIO WEBSITES 31 SELLING AND DELIVERY 37 RESOURCES
contents
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, without the prior written consent of PhotoShelter, Inc. or Agency Access. PhotoShelter, Inc. and Agency Access make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation.
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | I N T RO D U C T I O N
introduction What’s the best way to understand how to attract and serve your clients better than anyone else? Listen. You need to ask them specific questions.
These questions are not unique to photographers and their clients at ad agencies, publications, and corporations worldwide – in fact they’re universally asked across all businesses. Yet despite living in the “everything social” era of hyperconnectivity 24/7, the information gap between photographers and their commercial and editorial clients continues to loom large. Photography remains a silo-based industry where little information is shared between the suppliers (photographers) and the buyers (photo editors, photo buyers, art directors, etc.) Our 2011 survey aims to break down some of these information barriers and address many of the questions that photographers really need answers to – how to best reach the clients, attract their attention, and serve them in a way that keeps a client coming back for more. Inside you’ll find powerful data and suggestions straight from the minds of buyers. Essentially, it’s like having a cocktail party with 500 potential clients and getting a chance to flirt with every one of them.
How do buyers like to receive information? How often? Via what medium? What marketing messages do they notice more than any other? What’s the best way to package and deliver a final product?
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W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | I N T RO D U C T I O N
why we do this
Since 2008, PhotoShelter and Agency Access have worked together to field a survey that helps illuminate the needs of clients who consume photography, and we provide that information to photographers who aim to grow their businesses by better understanding the customer. We recognize that it’s hard for individual photographers to ask questions like this on their own (especially to a group of this size), and the reality is that it’s not typically information that prospective clients simply volunteer to share. We invest our own resources in gathering this information to serve two main purposes. First, to empower our clients and the greater photographer community with key information that can help make smarter marketing choices for their photography businesses. And second, to continuously stay aware of the needs and interests of the client community so we can both advise photographers and optimize our own services. PhotoShelter provides portfolio websites backed by powerful archiving, sales and marketing tools that help photographers attract more business online. Agency Access provides a one stop resource for photographers to effectively promote themselves – from list memberships to direct marketing and specialized consulting services. So, gathering data like this really helps all of us do our jobs better.
what to expect
Some really juicy information and insights from a diversity of photography buyers. Respondents included art directors, photo editors, art buyers, graphic designers, photo buyers, directors of photography, picture researchers and other creatives – all united by the common thread of hiring photographers or licensing their work. They told us all about: • Preferred methods for finding photographers • How to capture their attention • What separates good and bad photographer promotions • What they love and hate about photographer websites If you focus on these insights – doing what they appreciate and avoiding what they hate, this guide should help you grow your business. There is, of course, no magic bullet for this stuff. While one photo buyer may love connecting with emerging photographers on Facebook, another may prefer rock solid direct mail promotions.
survey methodology
In March 2011, we sent a 35 question survey via the Agency Access database to 55,000 global recipients. All of the recipients have self identified as someone who either hires photographers for commission/assignment work or licenses still photography. 500 total recipients responded to the survey.
4
Facebook | Twitter
Facebook | Twitter
photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | I N T RO D U C T I O N
Who are the participants?
what they do
Hire photographers for assignment License still photography Hire photographers for still and video shoots License video Other
26.0% Art Director 22.1% Photo Editor - Editorial 7.6%
Creative Director
Art Buyer 4.5% Graphic Designer 4.1% Marketing Manager 4.1% Associate Creative Director 3.9% Design Director 3.9% Designer 3.9% Editor in Chief 3.9% Picture Researcher 1.9% Project Manager 1.9% Director of Photography 1.2% Senior Designer 1.2% Art Producer 0.8% Photo Editor- Advertising 0.4% Copywriter 0.4% Artist 0.2% Public Relations 0.2%
job titles
45.1% 42.2% 6.2% 2.5% 4%
sample companies
Editorial
Discover Magazine Essence Martha Stewart The Atlantic USA Today
Advertising
DDB DraftFCB J Walter Thompson Fallon Publicis
In-house Design
Acquity Brands Kiehls Safeway Toys R Us Universal Orlando Wells Fargo
Book Publishing Harper Colliins McFarland McGraw Hill National Geographic School Publshing Random House
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MARKETING
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
What is the best way to get noticed? What gets your attention? What makes a good email? Meet the Buyer: Whitney Lawson What makes a good direct mail piece? What do you search for on Google? Do you use social media to find photographers? Meet the Buyer: Alyssa Adams Which social media sites do you prefer? Do you use photo contests to find talent? Do you follow photographers’ blogs?
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | M A R K E T I N G
What is the best way to get noticed by a new client?
key insights
We asked this open-ended question and received 354 responses. “What is the best method you would suggest a photographer use to capture your attention, share their work, or share new work?” Of the 354 responses provided: • 134 buyers said email is the best approach • 75 suggested any form of communication – but to ensure it is uniquely targeted to their needs • 36 buyers said direct mail is the best approach • 27 buyers suggested an in-person portfolio visit • 81 other responses were provided, from social media, to personal introductions, to sourcebooks and directories, to reps and agencies. • Study the agency’s clients or the publication’s content and only send portfolios, emails, or direct mail that clearly relate to their regular work.
38%
Customize your pitch
22%
7
photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | M A R K E T I N G
What gets your attention?
Show samples of your work from other publications. Share recent as well as historical work. Personalize it with my name.
Find out what I need— or don’t send anything. Connect by Linked In and then follow up with email intro.
Do some really good work that stands out. Hook me with a good blog. Tell me stories. Contact us direct with work or ideas that are relevant.
photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
Avoid Flash presentations. Present something unusual, out-of-the-box.
Send a piece that’s innovative or flashy.
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W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | M A R K E T I N G
What makes a good email?
Do
• Images must be beautiful, striking, high quality • State relevance in subject line • Image(s) and copy immediately relevant • Unique style or technique • Images truly represent a photographer’s work • Highly targeted vs. clearly a mass mailing • Simple and direct • Emotionally riveting/ evocative • Demonstrate problem solving • Clever and creative copy/ headlines • Share work in use by other campaigns • Sensible, accessible geographic location • Good self promotional design • Highlight the photographer’s abilities, specialties • Consistency/ regularity in sending promos
Don’t
• Irrelevant content (don’t know the product, market, demographic) • Website inconsistent with sample photos in email • Poor subject lines • Boring or over-the-top images • Emails that lack photos (only links to a site) • Image display errors • Too many/ large attachments • No context around the new work being shared • No indication of location • Conversational tone with no prior relationship • Links that don’t work, or link to a slow loading site • Repeating the same email/ too frequent • Single image with no copy • Careless errors (e.g. spelling mistakes, agency/publication title incorrect, photographer or rep name & contact info missing)
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | B U Y E R P RO F I L E
meet the buyer
Whitney Lawson
Photo Editor, Travel + Leisure
To get noticed by Whitney Lawson, your best bet is to start thinking like she thinks. “It is our job at the magazine to tell stories,” she explains. “So a small edit that tells a story is best for me. Of course this is totally different from advertising, which asks you to sum everything up in one single photo.” Whitney still favors a unique printed promotional piece that features a small series of photos (or maybe even a set of six cards in a series). “I’m more inclined to look at anything with a home-made or personal vibe. One of the best promos I ever got was a little Moleskin book with cut-up contact squares taped to each page, made from a personal trip. The images were varied: food, scenics, portraits. They were all very personal and they went very well together. I hired the photographer soon after I got it.” When it comes to getting noticed via email, Whitney says the subject line really determines if an email gets opened. “New Work from [Photographer Name]” doesn’t compel Whitney to open a message because it simply isn’t very interesting or appealing. “It is already implicit that the email is touting some new work,” she says. Rule #1 is to be sure the subject line says the photography is relevant to Travel + Leisure. Rule #2 is to be as specific as possible. Whitney often uses Google to find new photographers and individual images. “If I am working on a 2-page story about nightlife in Croatia, the first thing I will do is use Google to find photographers in or around Croatia. Then I will contact them to see if they have covered any of the locations that I need. This in turn may lead to an assignment.” Whitney finds several photo contests helpful in identifying new talent. She includes among her favorites: PDN 30, American Photography, Hey Hot Shot, New York Photo Festival, National Portrait Gallery Wessing Portrait Prize (UK), Visa Pour l’Image awards (France), and Surface magazine’s Avant Guardians award.
key advice
“I need to be able to download a comp of an image if I am doing photo research for a story. It’s fine if it is low-res or watermarked. But if your photos are in a Flash animation that I can’t download individually, I will usually move on.” “I also have a soft spot for holiday card promos,” she says. “I like to keep them in a little silver tray on my desk. It is a good way for you to show your style, and even your humor.”
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | M A R K E T I N G
What makes a good direct mail piece?
Do
• Striking images • Relevance - specific to our needs/work • Customize/personalize - a personal note helps • Postcards help see the images immediately • Provide information, i.e. include a description of featured assignment • Produce something unique that shows effort vs. mass produced • Creative production/ paper choice • Creative in presentation but not “out of reach” • Contact details • Action - include an event, show opening, or request direct meeting • Make it useful (i.e. as notepaper, a calendar) • Great design • Unique size and packaging • Simplicity • Mind the environment - don’t overuse paper
Don’t
• Bad photography • Not well researched: content irrelevant to buyer’s needs • Low production quality photos • Waste of paper/resources • Poorly written, bad grammar and misspelling • Complicated to act on, lack of contact information or website • Hard to obtain pricing/ rates • Doesn’t exhibit problem solving/ strategic thinking • Poor print quality; especially for postcards
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | M A R K E T I N G
What do you search for on Google?
61%
key insights
We asked two separate questions: • Do you search for PHOTOGRAPHERS using the major search engines? • Do you search for IMAGES using the major search engines?
Respondents are regularly using search engines like Google to find images, less often to find photographers. Looking deeper, we learned that respondents at Editorial Publications (38%) & Book Publishers (39%) use search engines more regularly to find photographers than their counterparts at Advertising (32%) & Design (16%) agencies, and Corporate In-House designers (23.4%). Meanwhile, over 75% of book publishers use search engines to find images (well above the average).
30%
Images
Photographers
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | M A R K E T I N G
Do you use social media to find photographers?
Yes
key insights
We asked “Do you search for photographers, or have you discovered new photographers using social media, including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn?”
A majority of respondents don’t heavily rely on social media to find photographers. Advertising and editorial buyers use social media a bit more (38%) than the average survey respondents, while book publishers and design agencies report using social media significantly less (less than 22%). Many buyers told us that they prefer to use social media to follow photographers they’re previously worked with, rather than to find new photographers.
33%
No
67%
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W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | B U Y E R P RO F I L E
meet the buyer
Alyssa Adams
Deputy Photo Editor, TV Guide Magazine
Alyssa Adams hires photographers for celebrity portraits to accompany the feature stories that run in TV Guide Magazine, and also handles licensing celebrity stock photography for the publication. Alyssa saves photographer emails when they make an impact, and offered some sound advice for photographers trying to capture her attention using email. Alyssa suggests varying the timing of email sends according to different weekdays to test when the audience is most receptive, and that sending a new promo every other month was a reasonable amount of email to receive from a single photographer. Alyssa will also use search engines to find photographers, for example, who have experience shooting a particular celebrity. Social media, however, she prefers to use for keeping tabs on photographers she has worked with previously, or cares about personally. Contests are useful to Alyssa, not necessarily to motivate Alyssa to hire new talent, but rather they help her understand trends. She pays particular attention to the PDN 30, the Society of Publication Designers, and the American Society of Media Photographers annual contests. For photographer websites, Alyssa recommends keeping the website updated frequently with new work. She echoes the same recurring suggestions about user experience - that photographers should focus on fast load times, simple design, image viewing and navigation.
key advice
“Don’t make me scroll down too far in an email promo to find your photo,” Alyssa suggests. She also is turned off by emails when photographers act like they know her despite never having met or worked together before. Alyssa is also amazed at how frequently photographers neglect to include a link to their website in the email. Alyssa suggested a different tactic we don’t always hear. “Get me to act on something other than a meeting.” Given that most promo emails do exactly that, Alyssa suggested sharing some self inspired/initiated work and an invitation to an event (e.g. a gallery showing). Further, she suggests photographers can benefit from working with public relations pros to help get their work seen in more places. “If I see you’ve been published or featured elsewhere and like your work, I will file it away for inspiration.”
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S |
MARKETING
Which social media sites do you use most?
54% 36%
key insights
Among buyers who do use social media to discover and connect with new photographers, the top choice is LinkedIn. In one category – Editorial – respondents indicated a greater preference for Facebook (47%) vs. LinkedIn (42%).
10%
15
photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | M A R K E T I N G
Do you use photo contest results to find new talent?
Yes
key insights
Among buyers who do use photo contests, the top competitions tend to be the industry’s largest awards and those run by top publications.
American Photographic Artists Applied Arts American Society of Media Photographers BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Communication Arts Coupe Creative Review D&AD Graphis Kitcatt Nohr Photo Comp The Lucie Awards Lürzer’s Archive National Press Photographers Association Best of Photojournalism
15%
No
The One Show PDN 30, PDN Photo Annual, PDN Self Promo Awards
85%
Pictures of the Year International Print Magazine National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year World Press Photo
Notably, 97% of book publishers said they do not use photo contests.
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | M A R K E T I N G
Do you follow any photographers’ blogs?
Yes
key insights
While having a blog may be critical for optimizing your online presence for search engines and your fans, the majority of buyers won’t necessarily subscribe or frequently return to your blog. However, in the editorial segment, 39% of buyers do actually frequent/subscribe to photographer blogs in contrast to the 26% average across all respondents.
26%
No
74%
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
PORTFOLIO WEBSITES
19 How long will you wait for a website to load? 20 At what size do you prefer to view images? 21 Do watermarks impact your decision to hire or license? 22 Meet The Buyer: Kat Dalager 23 Which background color works best on a website? 24 What do you look at on a website? 25 What do you hate to see on a website? 26 What features should photographers include? 27 Do you view photographer websites on your mobile? 28 Do you open photographer emails on your mobile? 29 How do you like to view a portfolio? 30 Do you like to see video alongside stills?
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | P O R T F O L I O W E B S I T E S
How long will you wait for a website to load?
41.3% 19.7% 19.7% 10.9% 6.3% .8% 1.3%
key insights
For a busy potential client, speed is essential. Buyers will bail if your website loads slowly. After 15 seconds you’ve lost 81% of buyers visiting your site.
SECS
5
SECS
10
SECS
15
SECS
30
MIN
1
MINS
5
AMOUNT
any
19
photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | P O R T F O L I O W E B S I T E S
At what size do you prefer to view images?
43% 31.1% 11.1% 7.8% 6.8%
key insights
We were surprised that the “bigger is better” axiom doesn’t always apply for buyers when viewing a photographer’s website. Buyers preferred sizes that fell in the 700 pixel (wide) to 900 pixel range. Even in the advertising segment, the preference for +900px was only marginally greater than average, at 9.6%.
500
PX
700
PX
900
PX
+900
PX
Don’t Care
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | P O R T F O L I O W E B S I T E S
Do watermarks impact your decision to hire or license?
Yes
key insights
While many commented that they respect photographer’s rights, their guidance on watermark usage is loud and clear. If you’re going to watermark, make it subtle and ensure a buyer can easily get ahold of an unwatermarked version for layout and client presentation.
notes
• Don’t cover so much of the image that the feel for it is lost. • Highly distracting watermarks are a deterrent to licensing/ reviewing a portfolio. • When agency clients see the watermark, they sense the “stock” image and it is difficult to convince the client of the image’s value. • Agency clients often ask to get images without watermarks so they can fully visualize how an image will look in a layout. • Some watermarks obstruct the image so badly you can’t discern the quality of the image. • Some agencies don’t like letting clients know what the photography source is. · Clients feel that photographers serious about a working relationship will grant the use of a watermark-free image for layout purposes
24%
No
76%
21
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W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | B U Y E R P RO F I L E
Kat Dalager
Art Producer, Campbell Mithun
Kat Dalager handles hiring photographers for Campell Mithun’s variety of client projects as well as licensing stock photography. She suggests that photographers take care to use multiple channels to promote themselves. “What may not reach one audience may reach another.” She prefers email promotion from photographers because they can be processed on her own terms, rather than more interruptive methods like cold calling. Kat keeps a completely separate email address which she gives out to list services, and she files her favorite emails in very specific folders, generally by specific clients or specialty. For direct mail promos, Kat takes notice of more substantial pieces, books and other interesting items like clear or distinctive envelopes, and even smaller mailers. Kat does use Google and other search engines to find new photographers and their websites. “I turn to the search engines when I’m looking for inspiration, usually to find a photographer I don’t already know, outside my normal realm.” For example, if Kat needs a photographer in a different country. “Photographers from New Zealand don’t typically send me promos.” For photographers who use blogs as their primary website, Kat suggests being very careful that the navigation includes a very clear link to view a portfolio or direct access images. “Sometimes it’s nearly impossible to get out of the vortex of commentary to see the work or find the contact info.” In terms of social media, Kat prefers to use LinkedIn to connect with photographers - primarily just photographers she has worked with in the past. She maintains other social network profiles but uses them for personal connections only.
meet the buyer
key advice
Kat advises photographers to be very specific about the email subject line. “Tell me what’s featured in the promo,” she instructs. For example “Lifestyle Photography // On Location in Vancouver” or “Food Photography // Seafood for Conde Nast” work well in her system, while “URGENT! Please open immediately” is useless for future reference. Regarding websites, Kat suggests photographers keep their websites as simple and easy to navigate as possible. “We’re not looking at your web development skills, we’re looking at your work and trying to get a hold of you!” Among pet peeves, Kat lists roving scroll or “next” cursors, slow upload times, loud music, “Agree To” conditions. Kat suggests photographers make it very easy for clients to request and download hi res images for comping. She points out that Corbis and Getty do this - that’s what photographers are competing against.
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | P O R T F O L I O W E B S I T E S
Which background color works best on a website?
92% 75% 54% 39% 21% 2.4% 3.2% 9.6% 8% 17.5% 0.9% 0.2%
key insights
Buyers loved (and liked) black and white backgrounds the best. Color and texture were most hated because they tend to distract from images. We suggest avoiding backgrounds that strive for uniqueness in favor of simplicity.
Black
White
Dark Grey
Light Grey
Color
Texture
= Love
= Hate
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | P O R T F O L I O W E B S I T E S
What do you look at on a website?
How many Galleries/ Portfolios? 0-3 4-6 7-10 10+
11% 35%
Will you watch slideshows? Yes No
35%
42%
65%
12%
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | P O R T F O L I O W E B S I T E S
What do you hate to see on a website?
Slow loading, Flash heavy, hard-to-navigate sites. Just show me the (money) shots! No Flash. Keep it clean and simple. I hate when the site opens full screen without user’s control.
Don’t make it too clever or busy. I’m on there to look at the images. I don’t care that a website looks “cool” if it isn’t quick.
I don’t like auto-running slide shows. Music drives me nuts.
Too many other things on their site that aren’t related to their work.
It’s annoying when the next button jumps around and you have to “re-find” it after each click.
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | P O R T F O L I O W E B S I T E S
What features should photographers include on their websites?
Do
· Fast image loading · Email address always visible · Phone number always visible · Ability to click to view all thumbnails · Search all images by keyword · Ability to send or copy a link to a photo or gallery · Showcase a ‘newly added’ section · Captions below photos or on roll-over · Ability to view at full screen · Ability to create/send a lightbox of select images · Ability to price/purchase/license images right on the site · Navigation menu consistent on all pages · Ability to email a photo • Make browsing easy and logical • Simple navigation • Group photos in logical categories/ galleries/ portfolios • Enable a buyer to request a comp download
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Don’t
· Music · Ads (ie Google text ads) · Full-screen ‘intro’ (e.g. animated photographer name/logo) that plays before you get to main menu · Slideshows as default/slideshow-only galleries · Contact forms instead of listing email address · Slideshow as intro · Photographer’s recent Facebook/twitter status • Hidden “next” arrows that move • Long, Flash intros that can’t be skipped • Complex, unique navigation
photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | P O R T F O L I O W E B S I T E S
Do you view photographer websites on your mobile?
Never Infrequently Sometimes Regularly Always
4.1% 26.2% 50.4%
key insights
Despite the massive shift to mobile communications, a surprising majority of buyers most often view photographer websites from non-mobile devices. Only 4.1% claim to view photographer websites regularly on a mobile device.
19.1%
0.3%
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | P O R T F O L I O W E B S I T E S
Do you open photographer emails on your mobile?
Never Infrequently Sometimes Regularly Always
0.8% 7.9% 26.1% 44.8%
key insights
When viewing photographer emails, buyers tend to follow the same pattern as photographer websites, with a surprisingly small segment claiming regular interaction on mobile devices.
20.5%
28
photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | P O R T F O L I O W E B S I T E S
How do you like to view a photographer portfolio?
62.6%
key insights
We asked “What is your preferred method of photographer portfolio presentation?”
For editorial buyers, the photographer’s website stood out as preferred (75%) more than any other segment. Meanwhile, advertising agencies indicated “all of the above” at 29% (above average) while the photographer’s website was less significant in this segment, preferred by only 53% of respondents.
21.1% 7.2% 7.7% 1.3%
Website
Printed
iPad
All
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | P O R T F O L I O W E B S I T E S
Do you like to see video alongside stills?
Yes
key insights
If you’ve got the skills, you’ve got to showcase them. 66.5% of buyers said that for photographers with video skills, they want/expect to see video as part of the photographer’s portfolio and marketing.
66.5%
No
33.5%
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
SELLING& DELIVERY
32 33 34 35 36
Where do you search for photography to license? Where do you get stock images? How do you prefer to handle pricing? How do you prefer to receive images? Meet The Buyer: Lisa Smith
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | S E L L I N G & D E L I V E RY
Where do you search for photography to license?
87% 55% 44%
key insights
• 87% of buyers use other stock agencies beyond the industry’s largest names, Corbis and Getty • 55% of buyers use individual photographers’ websites • 44% of buyers use consumer sites like Flickr Corporate in-house designers indicated a greater than average propensity to strictly stick to the big stock agencies, with 21% stating they only license from Getty & Corbis. Editorial buyers indicated the greatest usage of individual photographer websites to find images, with 64% stating they search using this method, while 57% of advertising buyers claim to do so. Book publishers reported an above average (55%) use of sites like Flickr to find images.
Stock Agencies
Photographers’ Websites
Consumer Sites
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | S E L L I N G & D E L I V E RY
Where do you get stock images?
We asked buyers to tell us each of the websites they visit to license photography beyond the industry giants Getty & Corbis. Their open-ended results yielded literally dozens of different sources.
172 mentions
81 mentions
53 mentions
Alamy AP Images Dreamstime
age fotostock Flickr Fotosearch Gallerystock
123 RF 4Corners Action Images AFP AgstockUSA APA Ardea Art Resource August Aurora Axiom Bigstock BlackBook Bloomberg Bridgeman Camera Press Celebrity Citizenstock
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Fotolia Jupiter Masterfile
National Geographic Society Photos.com PhotoShelter Punchstock
Common Ground Comstock CP Images CSA Images Cutcaster Ericksonstock Eurostock Everett FirstLight Foodstock Glow GMA Granger Grant Heilman Graphic Obsession Greatstock Icon SMI IDS Imagebank Imagestate Imagezoo Inmagine Interiorarchive.com IPN JPI Keystone Landov Lensmodern Library of Congress/ US National Archives Lonely Planet Loupe Magnum Matton MCT Media Bakery MedicalRF Millennium Minden Morguefile Narratives.com Nature Picture Library Newscom Noor Oseeris PA Photos Panos Photographers Direct Photonica Photoshot Photostock Photostogo
Photolibrary
Superstock ThinkStock
mentions
16-30
mentions
8-15
Photostogo Phototake Picsearch PictureDesk Plain Pictures Pond5 Redux Retna Reuters Rex Features Rubberball Science Photo Library Sipa Smyle Media Spiderpic Splash Sportsshooter Startraks
Stock.xchang 7 Stock4B mentions StockFood Stockthat doesn’t suck The Image Work The Travel Library Topham Trevillion Trunk US Presswire VII Visuals Unltd.1 Wallace Garrison Wallpaper Wikimedia Wireimage Workbook Zuma
photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | S E L L I N G & D E L I V E RY
How do you prefer to handle pricing?
Instant Online Negotiate
10.7% 44.6%
key insights
When licensing an image from a photographer’s website, buyers shared mixed preferences for getting the deal done.
Instant & Negotiate Don’t Care
34
37%
7.8%
photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | S E L L I N G & D E L I V E RY
How do you prefer to receive images?
72% 53% 31%
key insights
Buyers had the opportunity to choose their preferred method of image delivery.
After an image has been licensed, or a shoot has been completed, the busy client clearly wants the image in their hands as fast as possible. *Among other methods, many buyers cited delivery of a hard drive.
24% 6%
FTP
Upload/ Download
DVD/ CD
Other*
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | B U Y E R P RO F I L E
meet the buyer
Lisa Smith
Art Buyer, Target Corporation
Lisa Smith primarily handles licensing still photography for Target. Like many of the buyers we surveyed, to capture Lisa’s attention and have a chance at working with Target, the promos that photographers send her must first be relevant - demonstrating strong work that is suitable for retail advertising - and the images must be extremely strong. However, Lisa frequently receives promotions that are way off base. “Photographers don’t send relevant images for consideration. I work in a retail corporation where we present the photographers work to our creative directors. If the work is not relevant it can be difficult to sell them in for consideration. Lisa does not use search engines, social media, or photography contests to find new talent. So, if a photographer wants a shot, they need to succeed at the traditional methods of promotion - direct mail and email, with email (from photographers and reps) being her preferred medium. She suggests sharing recent work that was done for other retailers or publications. Beautiful, unique work will catch her eye. Among critical website features and designs, Lisa encourages photographers to focus on achieving fast website load time, showcase an about/bio page, and give buyers control of viewing both thumbnail and full screen images. For photographers with multimedia skills, Lisa suggests that it is essential to display video alongside still photography.
key advice
Lisa does frequent her favorite photographers’ blogs and will search their individual websites for images to license. So, she offers some key points for photographers to consider: “Websites should be simple,” Lisa says. “When it gets too slick, it takes too long to load the images, I move on.”
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
RESOURCES
38 More Resources 39 About PhotoShelter 40 About Agency Access
W H AT B U Y E R S WA N T F RO M P H O T O G R A P H E R S | R E S O U RC E S
More Resources
PhotoShelter Resources
In addition to this survey, each of our companies regularly publish photography business content you may find helpful. Below you will find some sample links:
Agency Access Resources
Create An Estimate That Gets The Job How @photojack Found Twitter Success 8 Tips For That All-Important Meeting Is Your Website Marketing Smart? Is Direct Mail Worth The Investment? Cold Calling For Artists Building A Marketing Database That Gets Results 5 Ways To Get More Meetings
Free Photography Business Reports – download more guides like this Free Photography Business Webinars Top 13 Ways to Piss Off a Photo Editor 10 Ways to Make a Photo Editor Fall in Love With You Selling Yourself: 10 Traits of the Master Marketers 10 Secrets to Successful Online Photo Portfolios Positive Vs. Negative Photographers: Which Are You? 4 Photographers Describe Their Social Media Workflow
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photoshelter.com • agencyaccess.com
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About PhotoShelter
SPECIAL OFFER Set Up Your Website, Get $10 Back!
Build a stronger photo business with a PhotoShelter website. You can now try PhotoShelter for only $1 for 14 days. And, if you join by April 29, you’ll earn a $10 account credit just for getting your site set up during the trial. Launching your new PhotoShelter website is so simple, you can get it live in a matter of minutes.
Get Started
PhotoShelter is the leader in portfolio websites and business tools for serious photographers.
With PhotoShelter, you also get powerful features and resources to market your photos, like SEO and social sharing capabilities, the most options for licensing photography and selling prints online, and pro-strength file delivery tools to please your clients. Visit Photoshelter.com/tour and let PhotoShelter power your business online!
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About Agency Access
Agency Access was created in 1996 because we saw that photographers, commercial artists and their reps needed a single source for promotional mailing lists and mailing services. Before Agency Access, no one offered that kind of convenient, professional service. Today, no one else does. As the art of marketing grew and technologies changed, so did we. We added a comprehensive suite of email solutions and services, quarterly membership payment plans, and postcard printing services. And now that the Internet’s made global business easy, we’ve also expanded our list to include contacts from across the world. Our latest program, Campaign Manager Pro, is a complete marketing program for the busy photographer. We take care of everything for a whole year, leaving the artist to focus on what they do best. Watch Erik Rank talk about how we helped him here. Agency Access CEO Keith Gentile was recently interviewed by Thomas James over at Escape From Illustration Island. Listen to the podcast as Keith discusses how to maintain a database, build relationships, branding and much more. To learn more about Agency Access and our marketing services, contact us anytime. We build strong, personal relationships with our members because that’s the way we like to do business. Let us know how we can help you. To sign up for the new Agency Access newsletter The Lab, click here. www.agencyaccess.com [email protected] 1-800-704-9817
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