After Buying a Photo Booth, How Do You Find Your Target Audience?

Photo Credit: Tara HuntWhen developing a marketing strategy for your new photo booth business, the first step is to identify the audience. Who sees your brilliant, shiny advertising? Who is your target customer?

 Before reading further, there are a few ground rules to keep in mind:

 1. The target audience is not the state, region or city where your company is based. No matter how small a geographical area the business operates in, crafting a marketing plan that appeals to every person who lives in that area is next to impossible and a complete waste of your time and energy.

 2. The target audience is not defined by a single characteristic: Maybe the operation will appeal to the men in the area, even specifically the men between 25 and 40 years old? Sorry, still too general! Men between 25 and 40 years old who are married and in a middle income bracket? Getting there, but a little too broad still. It helps to imagine their social life, family life and likely habits and behaviors as they go about a typical day.

 3. The target audience is not the end-all, be-all of who might be included in your customer base, but it will inform your marketing moves. Businesses often market to multiple target audiences, but to do this they engineer their marketing material and service to each group they reach out to.

 Let’s get specific. If the business is established with a strong customer base, answers can come from surveying those existing customers. If the business is newer, make yourself an imaginary target audience profile:

 

  • Basic information: Age, gender, income level, education, and marital status make a good starting point. A young person at a lower income level is going to see a lower-priced, kitschy photo booth differently than an older person of better means.
  • Lifestyle: Where does your imaginary target audience example get thier information? Does he/she ask friends for recommendations, or does he/she prefer to make a decision and go with it? Does this person have children? What do they like to do? What is a typical daily routine?
  • Values: What is important to your now almost-fully-developed image of a target audience member? What types of experiences are most important to him or her?

 Go into as much detail as you can imagine about the target’s lifestyle. Job type, home location, and media habits are factors to consider. With a fully realized image of one person who represents the business’s target consumer, it will be easier to direct marketing strategies effectively.

 Each marketing decision should go back to that prototype target audience. Because if the plan wouldn’t appeal to a person whose imaginary sole purpose to exist is to consume your product, who is it going to appeal to?

Photo Booth Tips: Take Advantage of the Summertime

Summertime Marketing

As we roll into the dog days of summer, we’re also entering the prime of event season. Don’t miss out! These next few months are a premier opportunity for you to grow your photo booth business and see some great profits in the process. Whether you’re an established brand in your community or just getting started, the summertime is the right time to hit the ground running with your business and market your photo booth with the best of them.

It’s Event Season – Cash in While it Lasts

What goes on in the summer? Everything! From block parties to outdoor festivals to backyard barbeques to wedding parties, these three months are a crucial span for anyone in the entertainment business. There are more and more potential clients out there every day waiting to be found. It’s your job to hit the pavement and market your photo booth so they can find you and give you their business. Think about it: there are no shortages of events in the summer that are looking for a photo booth. There are dozens of weddings every weekend, and more outdoor fairs and festivals than you can shake a stick at. The sky’s the limit for your business during the muggy summer months. Take advantage.

Summertime Events

Here’s the easy part about photo booth marketing: a lot of event organizers are already looking for an affordable and reasonable option. But a crucial step to take, and one that can cut out a lot of legwork on your part, is to approach local organizations and groups. Talk to fair organizers in your town, or present your ideas to local city officials. Obtaining permission is a huge step toward getting your photo booth placed prominently in many local events.

Hand out your flyers at similar public or municipal events, or promote your product in conjunction with other local businesses. If you’re just starting out, consider putting on a public demonstration of your booth. It’s the summer—people are outside, loose and having fun. If you park your booth in a busy park, people will be curious and stop by. If even a few of these people take your flyer or your card, you’re on your way to building your business.

Stand Out From the Crowd

Another way to set yourself apart from the competition is to offer your customers extras along with the booth rental. For instance, have you thought about purchasing an accompanying tent for your booth? Those kinds of purchases will cost you a little up front but ultimately make their money back and then some by swaying customers to purchase your product. Photo booth marketing, in the summer or any season, is about setting yourself apart from the competition. So think: what do people want in the summertime for their events? Well, most events are going to be outside and with the outdoors you have to factor in the heat and the elements. That’s where the tent comes in. It is little touches like that, simple and small, that can set your business apart. There will be dozens of events happening every weekend this summer, guaranteed, and every one of them is a business opportunity for you and your photo booth.

Marketing Tip: How to Build a Foundation of Clients

A Solid Client Base

The hardest part of starting any company is to not know where the next paycheck is coming from. It can be a little scary but it’s also the best part of being your own boss. You can take on as much or as little business as you can handle. One of the biggest first steps of any young start-up is building a steady client base. Your number of customers may jump up and down depending on the year, economy and season. If you can work off of a steady foundation of clients though, you’re in good shape. Here are a few simple steps for how you can build a network of trustworthy and repeat clients for your photo booth business.

Look to Local Businesses

There are a couple things you should look for in building up your client base: do your prospective customers have a need for your product, and if so, are they likely to repeatedly use it? Thankfully, if you own a photo booth, the answer to both questions is a resounding yes! The technology is only growing in popularity, and is always a smash hit at events.

A good place to start looking for interested clients is at local companies and event centers. Companies, for instance, will host many parties and events throughout the year for their employees. Many would love to have a photo booth present to assist in the festivities. Event centers, on the other hand, might be looking for something even more permanent. They could rent your booth during conventions and conferences, thereby guaranteeing you a steady client and steady income.

Another golden opportunity for marketing your photo booth business is local malls. Check around and see if any malls around you already have any photo booths. If not, offer your services to the mall’s director. You may have to pay a small rental fee to serve as a kiosk in the mall, depending on where they locate your booth but it will be worth it. Shopping malls provide incredibly high volumes of foot traffic and plenty of families with kids are walking around just looking to have a good time!

Promotions

Many businesses involved in sales are constantly searching for the best way to get people’s attention and your photo booth is a true head turning item. These companies could rent your booth for a weekend to use alongside their own demonstrations and presentations to grab people’s attention and get them to stop while they pitch their own products. That’s the beauty of owning a photo booth: it can be used for many different purposes! While you’re racking your brain thinking about the next innovative way to market your photo booth, it can be used to market someone else’s product! These kinds of clients are a boon for your business because they will use your booth repeatedly. It’s helping them grab people’s attention, and it provides another reliable customer for you. Talk about a win-win!

Starting your own photo booth business can be scary, but just think about all of the opportunities. There are countless companies, event centers and businesses looking for a photo booth. You’ve just got to go out and let them know you’re available!

Marketing Your Photo Booth Tip: Team Up With a DJ!

Strike Up a Partnership

Sometimes the best way to build your business is to team up with another aspiring businessperson in your community. Don’t look at other entrepreneurs as competition but instead as teammates. The list of things people want to have at events is a short one. At the top of nearly everyone’s is a DJ and a photo booth. Why not strike a deal so you both succeed? Teaming up with a DJ will help dramatically build your business’ reputation and client base. Sharing your talent, resources and equipment with another can be a great business move – sometimes two heads really are better than one. Joint venture marketing is one the strongest steps you can take to successfully market your business.

Find the Right Business Partner

Weddings are big business for both photo booths and DJs, serving as the primary customer for both in many cases. So search around for the best local DJ and see if he or she would be interested in forming a business partnership. You can find them by searching online, cruising your local social media, or by just asking around at bars and clubs. Who gets the most business? Who do people hire repeatedly? After you feel like you’ve narrowed down the field to a good list of candidates, reach out to them and see if they’d be interested. Remember, DJs are entrepreneurs just like you. They’ll be willing to listen.

Now comes the hard part. You’ll have to sit down with the interested party and hammer out the nitty-gritty details of your joint venture partnership. How will profits be split? Will you share equipment? How will you market yourselves? But throughout the negotiations, remember that joint venture marketing for your business is a fantastic way to expose your company to a wider base of customers, and make more money in the process. Put yourself in the shoes of your customers: would you rather hire a DJ and a photo booth separately and pay a higher price, or obtain both for a discount?

A Joint Marketing Plan

There are compromises in a joint venture, but both parties will ultimately achieve greater success. It’s easier to market a DJ/photo booth package deal for weddings and other events than it is to market each separately.  Have an honest conversation with your new business partner about how you’re going to reach your customers. You both bring many unique talents and contacts to the table, so don’t be afraid to utilize both of your skill sets to reach out. He or she may already have connections in the wedding business, or work off of referrals from previously satisfied customers. You may have a long time client that rents out your photo booth at every possible opportunity. If you combine your knowledge and resources, business can boom just like that.

Marketing your booth can be difficult, but if you build your business on the foundation of a rock-solid partnership, the process will only become smoother over time. Sharing your hard-earned business with another is never easy but keep your long term goals in mind. Teamwork can pay big dividends.

 

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Market Your Photo Booth for Last Minute Fourth of July Parties

A Festive Holiday

With Independence Day coming up next week, many people are gearing up to throw a serious party. You know the Fourth of July drill: barbeque,  beverages and spending the day with family and friends. While you might think of the Fourth as a pretty low-key affair, in recent years it has grown into a more lavish and celebratory holiday, almost like New Year’s Part Two. This holiday is a great opportunity for you to market your photo booth to people and parties you may not have even thought of. And that’s ultimately the key to successfully marketing your booth: you’ve got to think outside the box (or booth, in this case).

Family-Friendly Fourth Events

There are generally two types of Fourth of July parties: the family-friendly ones complete with yard games and fun activities. Then there are more adult-oriented parties, with plenty of adult beverages and fireworks. The beauty of this holiday is that you can easily market your photo booth to either group. But since these two opportunities are so different, you’re going to have to market your booth in two very different ways.

For the family-friendly gathering, think about where these big bashes will be held. Families will gather for the Fourth in the suburbs so target the affluent neighborhoods. They’re more likely to have the money and space necessary to go all-out on their Independency Day shindig. After you’ve found specific areas you want to target, it’s time to market yourself. Put your brightest, most colorful flyers up in local businesses, like grocery store bulletin boards, or hang them up on neighborhood street lights or communal posting places—anywhere they’re going to get seen.  Just because the Fourth of July is coming up quickly doesn’t mean you can’t seize the opportunity to rent out your booths. Remember, most people are planning their parties at the last second, too, and will be looking for fun events and activities for their guests. It’s up to you to be visible to them.

Adult Parties

Let’s be honest: getting together with friends and having a couple of adult beverages is a large part of many people’s Independence Day plans. Nothing fits that loose and fun party atmosphere more than a photo booth.

While a lot of people looking to let their hair down on the Fourth will host a casual backyard affair, some will throw a party of epic proportions. It’s these people you want to look for when marketing your photo booth. The most fun part of marketing your photo booth is putting yourself in the shoes of your prospective clients. So think: how best can you reach this untapped client base? People don’t know they need a photo booth for their holiday get-together until you show them that they need one. Here’s what you can do:

  • Post a lot on social media. Facebook and Twitter are great ways to reach out to a younger audience. Even if your prospective clients aren’t friends with your page, you can publish a Fourth of July promotion that can reach them through other people sharing and posting it.
  • Go face to face locally. It might be the opposite of new-school social media marketing, but if you go down to a local park or restaurant and hand out flyers to people, you and your product will be remembered. 
  • Word of mouth never hurt anyone. Businesses, and especially local businesses like yours, thrive on referrals and recommendations. So tell your friends about your Fourth of July deals. Word of mouth can also reach future customers.

The Fourth of July may not traditionally call for a photo booth, but with the exploding popularity of the product and a little savvy marketing, you can make sure your clients ring in America’s birthday in style with one of your booths at their party.

 

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Prop Shop like A Pro

Prop-A-Lot

To prop or not to prop, that is the question. There are risks when you invest in props. Sometimes people get a little carried away after consuming too many adult beverages and bye-bye props. Sometimes the children get a hold of them and the only chance for your prop’s survival is to be made out of stainless steel and bolted to the floor! Regardless of the risks involved, the solution is simple: offer props because they make customers happy.

Cost

Props come in all shapes, sizes and prices. You will find the average prices between $2 and $5 per piece. It’s recommended to find as many props as you can that cost $1 or less. Do not forget to include shipping costs to your prop package prices when applicable if ordering online. Also remember to add 20% for your time and effort. 

Decide whether or not you want to get crazy with all these props. You can quickly find yourself spending several hundred dollars building up a large inventory. You can try to build up your supply slowly over time, with each event. Also see how the different props stand up to different types of revelers’ use.

You can try charging a flat fee for the use of the props which can cover the cleaning costs and earn you a small commission. You may also want to try charging a flat fee for a prop theme kit package that guests can keep. Whichever way you decide, remember to have fun with it and communicate that fun to your customers. 

Many Props

Building a large and diverse inventory of props is the not the easiest step in your business. Start with the classics like over-sized mustachios, lighted glasses, and big hair rock-n-roll wigs! Then move on to oversize cowboy hats, pirate hats, sombreros, top hats, and Uncle Sam hats. Don’t forget the inflatable air guitars, tommy-guns, and police batons. Every prop should be over the top, outrageous and fun. And remember to build your inventory of accessories for specific events!

Online Prop Shops

There are many sites out there offering affordable products. Some of our favorites are:

 Each company offers a great variety of props in dozens of different categories. These sites are easy to navigate and offer convenient as well as affordable shipping rates. However, never underestimate the ability to find great pieces at toy stores or even a random yard sale!

Photo Booth Marketing Ideas: Family Reunions

The Opportunity

Renting a photo both is a great idea for any occasion, now to convince your customers of the same. Every year, tens of millions of people make the trek to the popular but sometimes dreaded family reunion. Potluck BBQs at the lake or ocean are a great choice.

Some people however like to go all out. Families often travel to popular all-inclusive spots like Vegas or even tropical getaways like Hawaii or the Keys while others take advantage of the many rental houses in the Carolinas, California, Maine and Vermont. With 5 bedrooms or more these rental homes are amazing places for special family gatherings. Lush accommodations with beautiful vistas for group activities are the hallmark of a successful family reunion.

Wherever the destination, advertising your rental photo booth with partnered businesses is just what you need to boost your bottom line!

Partners                        

A little bit of legwork on your part goes a long way. Get online and start looking at the resorts near you. There are summer homes, lodges or camps on every major lake and pond in every state. Do not forget about the ocean-side spots too. Keywords to search are “family reunion resorts in (your state)” or “family reunion on (lake, pond, ocean, etc.)”. Make note of the phone number and owner. Call them and start working your magic!

Remember to focus on how your business complements theirs. Feel out the person on the other end of the line. Ask them about their vision and really engage them in a deep conversation about the history of their business or property, the area, and their connection to it. Once you have made a great impression through a heartfelt conversation get ready to bring that box of pamphlets or flyers on over. Be sure to dress appropriately. Remember that a strong first impression from the conversation must be followed up by attire that matches your business-savvy voice on the phone.

Flyers

You must have quality advertising for your business. Some of the best places to go are:

 Here you can experiment with virtually any design or upload your own. Remember that a well-designed marketing/advertising flyer should make reference to the location. Use blue skies, green lawns or sparkling waters as part of a background as necessary. Use scenes of families with children playing with your photo booth props, ladies in sun dresses, ruggedly handsome men in polo tees, grandparents beaming over the generations of family gathered together. This is a family reunion where your photo booth will be a centerpiece. It is an opportunity for you to exercise your inner creativity.

 If you would rather someone else generate your flyers, you can do that too. You can try companies at:

Remember that the family reunion business is a seasonal market so have your material ready by the end of March to generate interest from the resort owners. Invite them to an open house where you showcase your booth or leave them with some photos from one of your last gigs. Above all, have fun and make lifelong connections and friends.

A New Twist on Wedding Guest Books – The Interactive Photo Wedding Guest Book

The Interactive Photo Wedding Guest Book

Photo booth owners, it is time to help your clients update the tradition of their wedding guest books. Weddings should be special in every way. After all, everyone they love will be present to see them officially paired with the man/woman of their dreams. This is a new chapter in their life and they have worked hard to make it all happen.

They spent months of time consulting with the event coordinator, baker, caterer, artist, dress/tux maker, location, family, friends and many more on a hundred big and small details. However, when their guests arrive, the first thing they will see is the wedding guest book.

It may look okay with soft cream colors and a cute little bow. But this is where tradition becomes outdated and a revamp is needed. People sign their names on neat little lines as if they are about to take a test. Is that really the best we can do after all the effort put into this day?

People want to be involved because they carry these memories for the rest of their lives. Help your clients to spice things up so they can look back on their wedding day with a book full of personalized memories. Offer to help them kick it up a notch and start with an interactive wedding photo guest book!

What Makes It So Special

This is no ordinary guest book sign in. This is a custom made book, limited only by their imagination. Choose a cover motif, page designs, line spacing, number of pages, etc. This will be your book forever.

The book is a printed book of personal pictures from the engaged couple and their lives that they will supply to a printer. Once they have the book the day of the wedding is where you can really make it special.  This book is meant to capture your guest’s pictures straight out of the photo booth, not just simply capture their signatures. 

Below we detail how to go about creating the book.  You need to let your clients know they will need to leave about a month to plan ahead and create the book.

 

How To

 The first step is to take at least 10 cute photos of the bride and groom to be.  A mix and match of new photos and past photos make for an endearing book. 

Once the photos are in digital format, the book can be ordered (about 2 weeks) and then all you need is a pair of scissors and a glues stick. On the big day, simply instruct those that sign in to step into the photo booth and snap some shots. Once they have the shots, they can clip and glue their favorite shot to the page and then sign their name and write a special message. 

Your clients can fit as many signatures and comments on each page as the books are large.  Making an example page to show guests what to do is always a good start. You can make a book up yourself to show your clients how it looks when it’s done. 

Make sure to bring many colors of sharpies to have as a backup for your wedding client for their guests to sign with so people can differentiate their comments and make it colorful incase a pen gets lost.

The personal messages with their pictures, perhaps after they have had a few adult beverages, will be honest, emotional tributes to the relationships you have built over the years.

Setup for Day of the Wedding – Instructions for Bride and Groom

When guests arrive at your wedding, a groomsman and maid of honor will greet them. They will direct couples and groups to your AAA PhotoBooth set up near the entry. Guests take a couple of shots and choose their favorite picture to add to your wedding photo guest book. (Make sure to provide the scissors and glue sticks so they can trim the edges off and add their picture with a personalized message!)

 This is so much more fun and a great way to get guests involved from the beginning. Your clients will always be able to see exactly what everyone wore and how they did their hair which could be really funny in a few decades! Remember the 70s? No trying to dig up memories of what people wore or how they had their hair done. You get the real feeling as if it were yesterday!    

Best Bets on Services to Create Your Book

Go to www.mixbook.com to make your own guest book! Create your free account and simply follow the easy step-by-step instructions to create the most beautiful guest book you can dream up! You should do this no later than two weeks before the wedding. There are also other websites where you can make a wedding photo guest book such as:

•           www.flickr.com

•           www.snapfish.com

•           www.winkflash.com

•           www.photobox.com

•           www.shutterfly.com

 

 

5 Creative Key-Phrases For Your Photo Booth Rental Business And How To Market Them

Our 5 picks for niche keywords are:

• Best wedding photographers – 12,100 local monthly searches
• Wedding photography prices 12,100 local monthly searches
• Cheap Wedding Rentals – 1600 local monthly searches
• Bat Mitzvah Photos – 1,300 local monthly searches
• Quinceanera Rentals – 480 local monthly searches

Keyword “Best Wedding Photographers”

For “best wedding photographers” this key-phrase is great for a couple of reasons. 12,000 monthly searches is nothing to sneeze at and secondly, people would not normally think of a photo booth instead of a wedding photographer, so you will have less article content in direct competition with yours. Your article will pose the argument of why a photo booth can sometimes make a superior wedding photographer or at least be a wonderful addition.

You are reaching across niches with this technique and offering a fresh perspective on the subject which will make it more likely to be shared on social networks and picked up by article directories which send more traffic your way.

Keyword “Wedding photography prices”

“Wedding Photography prices” is a bit similar but not as much of a stretch. This is still a good key-phrase because you are again introducing your photo booth as a photographer replacement option and can write about how your prices compare with photographers and the benefits of a booth over a photographer. The novelty of the idea is sure to get a few people on the phone with you quickly.

Keyword “Cheap Wedding Rentals”

Normally going after a keyword that includes “cheap” would be inadvisable for a higher priced industry but because we are talking weddings, which are by their nature more expensive, “cheap” is a relative term. There are only 1,600 local monthly searches so it’s a bit of a shot in the dark but the word rentals gives the clue that they are looking to purchase and have some ambiguity about what might be an inexpensive rental for a wedding they haven’t thought of yet.

Keyword “Bat Mitzvah Photos”

1,300 local searches is light but not if you grab the majority of the interest and rank high in the results. This is a pretty niche subject on its own and it’s doubtful that many organic articles have been written for it. A quick search on Google reveals the top results being photographer websites so you are in the right place. Try an article using the keyword “best”, “how to” or “top 5 ways” when thinking of the title and then watch your Google analytics to see how well the articles is doing.

Keyword “Quinceanera Rentals”

Most would not bother targeting something with under 500 local monthly searches but for small businesses that understand this market it can drive some traffic fairly quickly. If you don’t know what Quinceanera means than it is likely you are not Latin. The other word for this is Sweet 16 and celebrates a girl becoming a woman in many Latin traditions.

It is celebrated much in the way a wedding is and is just as elaborate. If you are unaware of this market but find you have a large Hispanic or Latin community nearby, this may be a great new client to market to.

Facebook, Photo Booths and Proms

SOCIAL MEDIA FOR SOCIAL EVENTS

Facebook is a great way to both promote an event and share with friends after an event is over. By choosing to use a photo booth at a school prom, students can help collect memories for a lifetime and then upload pictures, and video clips (from video capable booths like ours) to Facebook to share with their friends and family.

This makes the event more interesting and tons of fun. Everyone attending the prom will have an opportunity to sit in the photo booth and get their photos for free. This is especially good at proms where students are often strapped for cash.

Even better for the students, they can capture serious moments with thier best friends or act silly and pose in groups. Masquerade props would be a great idea to use in a prom setting.

FUN CHOICES

Imagine all the fun and excitement you could generate by having a time capsule at the prom. By having a photo booth at the prom you’re getting precious memories on a film strip. If students run through the booth twice they can keep their favorite strip to take home and place one in a time capsule!

You can also use all the pictures from the night to help fill the class yearbooks with interesting and entertaining pictures. Just imagine all the endless possibilities these strips would make in a yearbook “remember when?”

CONNECTING WITH DECISION MAKERS

Just like any form of government the student council and class president will make all the important decisions (with the schools approval). The first thing students need to do is run the idea by the student council and explain the facts. Help the parents understand the process and create instructional literature they can give to students to help get you hired for their prom. If you help them understand the benefit of having a booth and how to go about getting it approved, why would they not hire you?

The reason to go for prom instead of a school dance is that they normally have a larger budget and more importance is spent on entertainment. A prom will be much more likely to have the budget to afford a photo booth rental than a school dance.

USE FACEBOOK TO SPREAD THE WORD

So how do you use a Facebook ad to promote this idea? Consider placing a regional ad in Facebook that targets female, teens 16 – 18 for your given area. It’s easy to see how many audience members your ad will reach and from there you can determine if it is worth it for you to run the ad.

Next, hire a graphic designer to make a cute ad (spend no more than $50 on this) and give your ad a test run!

 

TALK TO YOUR PEERS

You can also mention your idea for props or get ideas from other students. Props could be made in art class for the event to make it even more special.

Just imagine how cool it would be to have something so fun and exciting at the prom! All the ridiculous moments caught on film strips to cherish forever.

There will be a line of people waiting for their turn and quite possibly the highlight of the evening. Facebook will help spread the word about the photo booth being at the prom.

 

OUR EXPERIENCE FITS YOUR BUSINESS

AAAPhotoBooth.com is glad to assist you with tips, tricks and ideas. Help make proms special by using these tips to get hired in prom season and above all, remember to have fun!