If you’re photographing high school seniors, you know these sessions can be so much fun and produce lots of great images. It’s a celebratory experience for the students, and it’s just as rewarding for their parents when they look through the collection of portraits. Grad cards are a great way to share images from senior portrait sessions, and we’ve got the top tips for offering grad cards for all your high school seniors.
Digital images from the sessions give graduates the immediate satisfaction that they looked great and had fun. Of course, kids and parents get excited to share the milestone of high school graduation on social media. However, there are so many great looks, settings, and locations captured during a senior session, so it makes sense that some of their favorite images end up in printed products like albums and wall galleries.
While big-ticket products boost sales averages, don’t overlook the smaller items like grad cards. They can have a surprising impact on your customers’ experience and future sessions. We’ll share the top tips for offering grad cards in just a bit.
Getting Over the Design Hurdle
Offering options for printed cards like save the dates, party invites, and the holidays can be a stumbling block for some photographers. Starting a design from scratch can be a challenge. Plus, the time it takes to design a few card templates can offset the profitability of selling the cards. These lower-priced items can’t withstand much of a markup. So, if you’re spending hours designing a 5 x 7 grad card, you’re eating into any profit margin.
We’ve got a solution! McKenna has pre-designed cards that are downloadable and editable. There’s even a premade catalog for you to share with clients. This allows photographers to create cards in minutes and easily customize them for each unique client.
2 Benefits of Offering Grad Cards
Show off your stuff.
Grad cards act like mini-portfolios on the move. One of the top tips for offering grad cards with your high school senior sessions is that these shareable items will get your senior and your images noticed beyond your current client base. Each design can show off a nice selection of images, highlighting the variety, creativity, and uniqueness of each session. Of course, as cards are sent out, you are reaching new people who may also be in the market for senior portraits.
Be the printing hero.
If customers are getting digital files alongside prints in their collections, they may be tempted to DIY their announcements. However, clients may be missing out on your professional aesthetic and quality professional products. Helping create the right design and choosing the best images takes the burden off mom and makes you a shining star when it comes to service. Plus you have more control over the way your images are reproduced. Keeping with the quality of your brand.
Getting Started with Grad Cards
So now that we know that parents want grad cards, they are easy to design, and there are lots of lovely paper options to choose from, here are 3 tips to start offering grad cards to your clients.
- Make decisions easy. While it might be tempting to offer lots of choices, you may want to cull down the card design choices to fit your brand and style. Don’t overwhelm.
- Keep things simple with a few size options, and paper types. A “this or that” approach to choosing what works best for each client.
- Limit the number of images on the card. The templates give a great guide to how many photos look good within a design. Grad cards are not big canvas and adding too many images will look crowded and less impactful.
Top Tips for Offering Grad Cards
Once you’ve decided on the products that you’re offering for your grad cards, now it’s time to figure out how to include them in sets, collections, and special promotions.
Use grad cards as incentives.
- Offer complementary grad cards for sessions that book early in the season.
- Include 25 – 5 x 7 grad cards as a gift with the purchase of any 10 x 10 album
- Gift a set of 4×6 grad cards with a purchase of any two pieces of wall art.
- Offer them as bonuses for an upgraded session.
“If you book a studio session in combination with an outdoor at the lake session, you’ll receive 25 complementary 5×7 custom designed grad cards.”
Pro Tip: When using grad cards as incentives, keep in mind, the price of the cards is fairly low, but always be sure to figure that cost into the overall collection. Giving something away should not eat into your profits.
Offer grad cards designs right out of the gate.
- When sending clients their galleries, or when meeting in person for their ordering appointment, show them three grad card designs that you’ve already created. Remember now that you have templates, it’s really easy to do!
“We’ll have a look through all your images and narrow down to your favorites. I did want to show you some announcement cards I made with some of my favorite images. You could swap these out, but I wanted to let you know that they are available to add onto any collection.”
Pro Tip: When offering grad cards, include them with other items so that they are not a standalone. They are a perk, a bundled item that adds value to a collection.
Create customer delight.
- When customers meet a certain price point, give them 25 grad cards.
- Give complimentary grad cards to any ambassadors and increase the amount with their referrals.
- If a client will collaborate with you on social media, gifting them grad cards that they can share is a nice touch.
Pro Tip: Offering complimentary grad cards in a low volume can inspire the need to purchase more. Treat them like a loss leader. Something you don’t stand to make a profit on, but they serve as an introduction to something bigger.
Be sure to check all the boxes.
- Grad cards announce that a high school senior is graduating.
- Custom invitations to a party or open house can be a different card design.
- Parties create a need for thank you notes.
Pro Tip: Create a la carte and bundled card options. With bundles of multiple printed products, you are helping to fill a need and save mom some time! Win-win!
Get Those Grad Cards Out There!
Remember, the smaller price point items are often the ones most shared. Things like grad cards, accordion books, folios, and gift prints are often seen by people outside the family and outside the circle of friends creating a great reach for you and your brand! So keep these top tips for offering grad card in mind when updating your senior portrait collections.
This blog was written by Maureen Miller, CPP, contributor for McKenna and contributor to marketing and client experience at Zookbinders. With 25+ years as a professional photographer, Maureen owns and operates her successful studio, Maureen T Miller Photography. She is an advocate for making money and doing what you love. Her motto is, “Photography is a BIG DEAL!”