Synergy Is the Secret Sauce to Photo Booth Marketing
“Selling out” can drive photo booth marketing success. By featuring a brand or nonprofit’s logo as part of your booth, you encourage companies to book you to enhance their own promotional capabilities. It can take many photo booth operators years to realize the benefit in sharing their branding with others, but those that do achieve a much more consistent booking schedule all year round.
The fact is: relying only on special events bookings becomes unsustainable. Eventually, you will encounter a lull in the calendar where there are no weddings or high-budget birthdays. Only a slim portion of these customers will be repeat bookers, either.
On the other hand, organizations trying to get their name out there rely on attractions like photo booths to make their events fun. Big companies, local businesses, non-profits, huge brand names and other organizations hold events throughout the year, and these events often become annual traditions.
By reaching out to these organizations and making a deal to share branding exposure with them, you become a go-to person in their contacts list. They can secure your services for sporadic events like industry trade shows, and you can also come to expect a call on recurring annual events.
How do you lock these types of beneficial relationships down? Use the following tips to get started.
Make Your Business Model Open to Co-Branding
Your first step is to work out ways to include someone else’s brand within your photo booth materials. You can start by locating an affordable printing service that creates materials like custom logo tablecloths or step-and-repeat backdrops. Working company logos into your photo booth print out strips should also be a priority. Even something as simple as purchasing photo booth backdrops in common logo color schemes builds out your branding resources.
Any companies or non-profits you try to book will want to see these materials as proof-of-concept for how you will represent their brand at events. They need their branding to be prominent yet professional. People should be able to clearly discern the brand both on your booth materials from afar and on any printouts given to them. Organizations will also likely want a branded watermark on digital copies of photos that is subtle yet visible.
You have two options for creating these “proof” materials. One is to eat the cost yourself entirely and produce materials for a fake brand or a “charity case” brand you are willing to produce materials for. Your other option is to offer a serious discount on your first co-branding project in exchange for them taking on faith that you are capable of representing their brand well.
Establishing that you can effectively broadcast a brand name is step #1 in booking more corporate, local business and nonprofit based gigs.
Provide a Unique, High Quality Photo Booth Experience
If your booth is going to engage people at events, it should offer an experience that is impossible to pass up on. Appearing professional helps you achieve this level of appeal. Your photo-taking setup and any photo booth backdrops or photo booth props you use must look inviting, slick and completely polished.
Printouts must also be high-quality, with the option to produce multiple strips per participant. Sharing your photos online should also be a priority to help support brand awareness efforts and give participants the chance to share their wacky photos with friends and on company pages.
Work on honing your photo booth experience until it conforms to the expectations of huge brands, and you can begin to rely on bigger-name clients to book you for events.
Develop a Client Portfolio for Your Website and Social Media Pages
As you build out your resume of past clients, ask their permission to share photos on your website as promotional materials. Your goal is to have a landing page or dedicated website page that presents your photo booth as the go-to service for companies and nonprofits in the area.
The best way to get started with your portfolio is to work with local charities and nonprofit organizations. Lend your services at a discount, and explore options for writing off any free or discounted labor in order to maximize the benefits you earn.
When you have gathered enough materials, potential clients should be able to visit your site and see an impressive array of fun photos featuring distinct branding.
Begin Targeting Companies and Nonprofits Through SEO and Social Media Photo Booth Marketing Techniques
With proof of your abilities online, you can begin to create campaigns specifically targeting non-profit and company employees.
For SEO and paid search campaigns, research keywords that are most likely to lead to B2B (business to business) traffic and that signal booking intent. Possible examples include:
- Photo booth for trade show
- Fundraiser photo booth
- Branded photo booth
You can also begin to create content telling these organizations how to show attendees a better time at their events, with the inclusion of your photo booth as a possibility. These blog posts can provide organic SEO content and lead magnet assets driving engagement on your other marketing campaigns.
Make the most of targeted promoted post campaigns on social media sites like LinkedIn and Facebook, which allow you to target certain industries and sometimes even employees of a particular company or group.
Offer digital rolls from every event so that hosts can upload their fun photo booth pictures from the day as a way to engage their own social media audiences while repping your photo booth brand.
Build Out a Network of Referrals and Reviews
Once you begin to establish a reputation as a quality photo booth operator, you can leverage the positive reviews and referrals you glean from existing clients. Make review requests part of your customer sales cycle, including an email follow-up after every event thanking the host for their booking and requesting their review. You can also create incentive programs for referrals, such as giving a discounted rate to clients who bring in a set number of referrals every year.
Building off the momentum of each successful event will be your ticket to achieving more consistent bookings from higher-paying customers all year round. Get started by adding to your collection of photo booth props and accessories, including photo booth backdrops in common company colors, today.