When is the optimal time to do a senior marketing campaign?
Sal says, the reality is, you want to hit the kids when they’re in school. Your campaign, consisting of your senior rep program, your Facebook campaigns, your senior reps, direct mail, should all start going out in December-January. Sal realizes that this sounds crazy, but this is what has worked for him.
December/January: Interviews
As Salvatore Cincotta Photography goes into December and January this year, they will be having casting calls and interviews for 2020 seniors. Consider this example: He will be interviewing juniors this December and January. They are in the middle of their junior year. He will be meeting with them. He will be interviewing them. Every year these kids come in, they take notes, they dress up in suits. It blows Sal away how serious and excited these kids get about this. They’re coming in because they know what they’re going to get as part of his rep program. December-January is the time to start building anticipation and attention around this.
May: Rep Cards & Direct Mail
Around May, direct mail and rep cards should be handed out. The reason for May is because you want to get their attention before school lets out. Once school lets out, the kids are going to have a hard time connecting peer-to-peer. Sal asks you to think about it, how many friends do they see over the summer compared to when they are in class? They’re going to see, max 20 peers in the summer. But when they’re in school, they’re seeing hundreds of kids that they can hand out rep cards to. This could be your biggest sale. So, your direct mail pieces should start May, June, July, August, September, October. How many should you be sending out? Sal’s studio is typically sending out five to six pieces a year. If he hits a number he is happy with in June or July, he will stop sending out mail. If he is running a little bit slow, he will keep sending direct mail, because he wants to fill his calendar. Sal says you have to be ready to send five pieces, or somewhere in that range.
