Market Saturation
Do you feel like you are fighting for every single client that you get and you’re blaming it on an over-saturated market? Here’s the thing though, you may not actually be facing over-saturation but instead a highly competitive market. Now, I have probably left you scratching your head thinking, aren’t they the same thing.
Today, I am going to share with you three reasons you aren’t facing over saturation and three ways you can grow in a competitive market.R
New Customers
One of the first things that may indicate that you are not in oversaturated market is that there are new customers all the time. I say this based on the definition of what a saturated market is, directly from Investopedia, “From a macro perspective, market saturation occurs when an entire customer base has been serviced, and there are no new customer acquisition opportunities for any firm operating in that industry”. In the photography industry, new customers appear all the time requiring different services such as wedding, family, or portraiture. This is one of the biggest indicators that you are not operating in a saturated market.
Industry Growth
The industry is growing. According to Ibis World over the past five years guys, the photography industry in the U.S. has grown by 1.6% to reach a revenue of 10 billion in 2018. What that means is that the photographers around you are raising their prices, they’re adding in associates, their growing their team, and that is another indicator that you are not operating in an oversaturated market.
New Businesses
There are new people opening photography businesses every single year. In fact, at a rate of 3% growth in the industry this last year of new photographers opening up businesses, on top of that established photographers were adding to their team at a rate of 2.4%, so that means that the industry is growing.
Now, that we’ve talked about the fact that you’re probably not in a saturated market, what you’re actually in is a competitive market. How can you handle a competitive market and stand out and get booked? Here are our three tips for standing out in a competitive market:
Be Creative
Now I know that sounds really simplistic, but honestly, how many of you have taken classes and then applied a cookie cutter model to your photography to the point that your picture looks like your competitor’s picture who looks like somebody down the street as well. You’ve got to be creative. You have to use your skillset, your eye that nobody else has. That is the first step to standing out.
Be Innovative
I love the quote that says, “Innovate or Die,” because it’s true guys. You need to look for those products, those things that nobody else has, whether that’s a really cool press printed book or an amazing wrapped art canvas that no one else in your market is offering at all. You need to offer products that help you to stand out. At the same time you have to make sure you talk about that innovation with your customers so they know that you are different from other photographers in your market.
Learn Outside Your Industry
Guys that is one of the biggest ways we found to stand out in different social media platforms is to stop doing what other people in our industry are doing and to learn from experts in the business arena, experts in the floral business, experts that are wedding planners, or even Fortune 500 companies. Different industries bring different perspectives and foster more innovation and creativity. If you are doing the same thing as everyone else, NO ONE WILL KNOW YOU ARE THERE.
All right guys, so succeeding in a competitive market is hard. It’s absolutely hard if you have to do it on your own. We would love for you to join like minded entrepreneurs and conquer any market you are in. We have a private Facebook group where we share videos only for that group with interviews and hot seats every week, so go check it out and join.
Want more education like this? Then head to our private educational group below!
Make sure you swing over to watch our video on this same topic on Youtube. While you’re there make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out on any content we produce every week.
