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Steve Boxall is a commercial photographer in Miami, Florida. He focuses on companies with large workforces and works with travel/hospitality and education clients. Steve is a busy photographer and wanted to have someone keep his marketing efforts going so he could concentrate on his projects. Because of this, he was a perfect candidate for our Marketing Partner service. As a former commercial photographer myself, I understand how to communicate with potential clients as well as what a photographer’s strengths are and how to market them.
I’m someone who acknowledges my own need for assistance in marketing myself. Like many other freelancers, self-promotion does not come naturally to me. Recognizing that I needed a different perspective on my portfolio and the work I was presenting, I reached out to WM. Working with one of their specialists is like discovering a business partner that you never knew (but kind of always knew) you needed.
– Steve Boxall
Our first conversation was a while ago as we’ve been working together for over a year now. But, I remember Steve’s emphasis on marketing to large workforces. And it’s very clear why! Steve loves people; he loves talking to people and having fun with them. Case in point – one of his favorite clients is Zero Gravity. While flying around in Zero Gravity makes for a good time, I suspect it’s more because of all the different people he gets to photograph that Zero Gravity takes up into the sky.
Marketing Partner is an intensive marketing service where we research 25 new contacts each month and send them personalized emails. We tailor each list to a specific industry that falls within the photographer’s expertise. Each month, Steve and I meet to discuss the results from the previous campaign and adjust our strategy for the following month.
Steve wanted to focus on businesses that have large workforces, including national companies like Amazon, UPS, or even cruise lines. I knew that we would be marketing to all these different industries and that it would be easier if we had his portfolio speak to the clients we were targeting. So, before we dove into our email campaigns, we had photo editor Andrew Souders work with Steve on a web edit to tighten up his online portfolio. While I was doing research for the first round of emails, Andrew was able to accommodate our tight turnaround so that his website was ready for the first email campaign we sent out.
Steve’s photography is very versatile and can apply to various industries. So to narrow our focus, we started by looking at the biggest companies in South Florida. After exhausting our picks for local clients to reach out to, we moved to more regional and then national companies. Our lists included companies like Walmart, Target, Deloitte, Accenture, Johnson & Johnson, Amtrak, Freddie Mac, and Carnival Cruise Line. Since that first campaign, we have continued to send out monthly emails based on our new client research. We’ve sent campaigns to companies in healthcare, transportation, hospitality, financial institutions, and even energy industries across the country.
Since we began the Marketing Partner process, Steve has acquired several new clients. Our average open rate is 42%, but we’ve had as high as 60% and as low as 23% on various campaigns. We always tweak things as we go to try to gain more engagement out of each email. For example, if the open rate is low on a particular subject line, we’ll change it to try to get a higher open rate. If we don’t get a lot of click-throughs on the email, we try to change the email content to invite more engagement. One significant client Steve has gained through this process is Boeing. He’s been back several times to photograph the team that keeps Boeing running and flying.
After working together for about a year, Steve and I considered what to do with all these new contacts. So Steve asked if I could work on Email Marketing Blasts for him. For this, I compiled his contacts into his Squarespace account, adding the 25 new contacts each month to his existing email list. We work together to come up with an editorial calendar and I then post the content and assemble it into a newsletter.
The email marketing blasts remind potential clients that you exist on a regular basis. They may not always open the emails, but they see your name in their inbox and this keeps you top of mind for potential projects. The first email blast we sent out got a lot of activity. In fact, one client from Steve’s past reached out and said: “Hey it’s been too long, let’s get something on the calendar for this year!”
I feel like Steve and I have a good rhythm going with monthly research, campaigns, and email marketing blasts. Steve is planning to continue with the service. I think he is happy to see the activity and to have someone take over his marketing for him. He says,
Wonderful Machine’s knowledge of the industry and where my work fits in has proven to be invaluable in growing my business. Their expertise has provided me with a new perspective on how to showcase my work and effectively communicate with my past, present, and hopefully future clients.
Further Reading
The Floating Photographer: Steve Boxall Joins US Space Force on Zero G Flight
7 Best Corporate Photographers in Miami
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