When you run a photo booth business, it can be a very freeing experience, especially if you have moved into self-employment having previously been employed. Many photo booth operators love the flexibility running this sort of enterprise affords them. However, there can be little doubt that starting a photo booth business does mean that some significant initial outlay will be required. Along with your initial marketing budget, there is the need to invest in the sort of digital devices that photo booths now operate on. There again, you’ll also need suitable software if you are going to be able to offer your customers what they really want – video FX features, digital props, social media shareability and so on.
Consequently, any forward-thinking entrepreneur who is considering paying for a photo booth solution should consider just how beneficial an iPad-based one will be. Rather than buying a DSLR camera and a separate device to run photo booth software on, an iPad can do both jobs. Furthermore, its screen will provide a convenient digital interface for your users. Therefore, investing in an iPad photo booth solution has many advantages.Â
The key question remains, however, how soon will you make your money back and see a return on your investment? This will come down to how many events you are booked for, of course. That said, there are some great ways you can maximize your ROI potential. Read on to find out what some of the best ones are.
- Promote Your Business With Photo Booth Competitions
Let’s face it – we live in an interactive digital world today. Therefore, one of the best things that any business can do if it relies on digital technology – as photo booth enterprises do, of course – is to harness the power of interactivity. When you are booked to set up your photo booth at an event, you will want to make sure as many people as possible know about it. This should help you get your brand name better known among your target market and start eating into your competitors’ market share.
One of the tried and tested methods for promoting interactivity is to run competitions among users when they have snaps taken of them in your booth. Get them to share their photos and videos online and ask them to use a suitable hashtag so you can track them all. By encouraging users to share their images online by awarding a prize for the funniest photo or the cutest image, for example, so your business is more likely to go viral with shares and likes.
- Invest in 360° Technology
According to Snappic, a leading photo booth software developer that has products specifically designed for iPad-based photo booth operators, people are willing to pay a premium for 360° technology. In other words, if you invest in a revolving boom for your iPad that creates mini-movie masterpieces centered on the user from all angles, then you could make your money back even faster than with a conventional setup.
With increased profitability, your return on investment could leave other photo booth operators in the shade. One of the stand-out factors with a 360° photo booth is that the revolving iPad is just so eye-catching. Even people who have no interest in having the photo taken in a traditional booth will be willing to give it a go, helping to ensure you are repeat-booked for further events down the line.
- Contactless and Virtual Photo Booths
In an era when people worry about picking up pathogens when they’re out and about, a contactless photo booth that doesn’t need users to touch anything can be a smart move. Look for software that supports QR scanning, for example, so users merely need to hold up a card they’ve been issued with to start the booth running.
In addition, it can be useful to have the capacity to take on virtual photo booth events. Where companies have remote workers or can’t fly everyone in for corporate events, running a photo booth through a browser instead is possible with the right sort of software. With it, you could cut down on your travel costs, too, also helping to boost your bottom line.
- Benefit From Event Analytics
Finally, analytics are useful in all sorts of businesses. With the right system, you will be able to review your event analytics to work out what you did well and what you can improve. This will make your business run more efficiently and help you to provide your clients of more of what they want and less of what they don’t. Use analytics to work out when your peak hours are, to which demographic groups your booth most appeals and which digital effects are the most popular.