Sell The Experience, Not The Photo Booth

I’m about to drop some tough love, but it needs to be said: owning a photo booth business does not make you unique. 😬

Photo booths aren’t necessarily a new phenomenon. In fact, the first photo booth has been around since 1925 and appeared on Broadway in New York City. 

It was the type of vintage photo booth that you think of today – the one where you climb into a booth, close the curtain and the machine snaps a few pictures. After that, you’ll receive a black and white photo strip to hold as a keepsake. 

I’m sure you even have one of those photo strips buried somewhere in a memory box that’s stored away in your attic! 

A Brief History on Photo Booths

Since 1925, photo booths have continued to modernize as technology advanced and that’s what has led to the booming photo booth businesses that you see today. 

It’s been said that by 2016, more people were searching for photo booth rentals than DJ rentals in the largest cities in the U.S. Pretty crazy, right?!

With this increase in demand, more and more people started opening businesses for these rentals specifically and today there are over 3,000 photo booth businesses throughout the United States but I think we all know the number is probably WAYYYY higher than that.

So, it’s clear that anyone can have a photo booth business which means that simply having a photo booth is NOT going to be the reason that someone chooses YOU out of the 3,000+ options that they might have. 

What will make someone choose you is the unique experience that you provide that’s different than what they might expect.

How To Stand Out In The Photo Booth Business

After being in the photo booth industry for almost 7 years now, I’ve learned the ins and outs of the business – what works and what doesn’t. 

Which is why I’m excited to share all of these things with you so that you too can build a photo booth business of your dreams. 

The first thing that I want you to understand is that selling the experience that your photo booth offers instead of trying to sell the photo booth itself is what will help you win in this business. 🏆

I see it all too often when scrolling through Instagram…

A photo booth company is constantly showcasing the features of their photo booth, such as the backdrops you can choose from, what the setup looks like and even the cool designs that you can choose from for your prints.

All cool things right? But they give little to no insight as to what the experience is like for someone using the photo booth at an event. 

Even worse, all of these things have no differentiating factor. 

Almost every photo booth out there has different backdrop options and cool designs you can choose from – those things aren’t new.

In fact, all of these things are expected!

But what does feel new, exciting and different to someone is the specific value add that you bring to the table.

How are you different from others in your industry? What special touches do you provide? How do you make sure that your photo booth guests get a top notch experience?

Those are the things that people want to see!

Do you have a small speaker with your setup that blasts a personal playlist for the event? (ICON booth, we see you)

Do you provide custom props that are specific to the event?

How do guests interact with your booth? Do they keep coming back for more? 

What does the client experience look like through out the booking process?

Whatever it is for you, lead with those things first, features second. 

When you do, you’ll attract the people who are looking for the best experience, NOT just the best price. 

Even if your booth is more expensive than someone else’s, a potential client could clearly see your value and happily pay more when they know what they’re getting beyond just a setup. 

So, if you truly want to stand out in this business, I can’t encourage you enough to flip the way you’re selling and speak to the specific experience you offer instead. 

At the end of the day, moments matter to people – so first and foremost, take on the role of helping someone see how you can help them make a magnificent moment in their life by getting outside of the box and speaking to what matters most!

Here’s to being among the best in the photo booth game, friend. 📸