Ben Wheeler

Posted: 08 May 2010 02:32 PM PDT

One interesting venue of email marketing already in existence, yet may be unknown to many, comes from an unexpected direction: photography. High-quality photography has always been associated with full-scale ad campaigns, found traditionally in billboards, posters, newspapers, and glossy magazines. But with the rise of the Internet as a powerful medium of marketing, even photography sites like Flickr have become a playground for email marketing campaigns.

Marketing with Photos at Flickr

Flickr is one of the most popular photo hosting sites in the Internet. While it is often synonymous with photography professionals and hobbyists, it is also a teeming community of marketers and potential customers. The demographics of Flickr covers a vast area not merely confined to people with photography interests. It is also a microcosm of the entire Internet itself, where people from all walks of life, and with diverse interests, upload captured snapshots of events, family affairs, and company products and services.

A picture speaks a thousand words, and can sell a million products. Flickr users can be potential customers reachable through email marketing with nice Flickr photos as a valued-added. The emphasis is on good quality photos, without which any email marketing campaign isn’t worth the effort. Why? As mentioned, there are many family photos and point-and-shoot images in the Flickr archives. It takes outstanding imagery to rise above the run-of-the-mill and be noticed by the entire community.

Tips to Market at Flickr

Ready to shine on Flickr? Here are some tips on how to go about it:

1. Build up a portfolio of quality photos. Most Flickr users have an eye and taste for quality. Many of them will certainly ignore email marketing efforts based on poor photos. Hire a photographer, buy the best camera, or capture images powered by enchanting concepts. By whatever means possible, half of the email marketing challenge is solved when the photos are there.
2. Tag for searchability. Flickr, like almost all online community sites, rely heavily on search tags to bring results to users. The most appropriate keywords should be used as descriptive tags to bring in the target audience. Further to this, keyword analysis should be conducted, to appropriately modify tags to suit the search patterns of users.
3. Organize photos properly into collections, for ease of access by users, who can click on the photo galleries based on themed groupings descriptive of actual content.
4. Grab attention with attractive thumbnails. From the photo collection, the best images should be selected as thumbnails, those tiny visual teasers that lure users to peruse the rest of the collection.
5. Regular photo updates. As in blogs and websites, frequently refreshing content builds reputation for being a reliable and consistent source of fresh images, with the possibility of being visited more often or linked to by other blogs and websites.
6. Treat Flickr as a social media playground. That means joining relevant groups and sharing tips, news and photos with the community. This builds relationships and reputation, and widens email marketing coverage further.

Summing up how to make email marketing work in Flickr, it takes nice quality photos, the will to keep going by regularly updating fresh content, and socializing with the Flickr community, to really reap the rewards of the email marketing campaign.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Make Your Business Shine on Flickr