Quick Win + Pro Tip: Make A Digital Photobook

"How do you use photos as part of your marketing and sales process?"

It’s a common question I ask AV leaders when we’re talking about growing their business. And while each team has a different system for storing, organizing, and finding images, the answer is almost always the same:

We use them for everything.

When they say everything, they mean everything.

Photos are on every page of the website, from the homepage to industry specific pages to ones that highlight different types of events. Pictures of past events are utilized heavily on proposals, or may even be what gets the AV or production team an RFP in the first place. Images are shared at networking events, during site visits, and during casual meetings. The AV industry is one that relies on pictures to sell work more than almost any other.

Why? Because live events are inherently visual, and while you can explain how a certain piece of technology works or the effect a creative idea will have, you can’t illustrate the concept nearly as effectively as an image can. In the events industry, images are a currency.

“What do you do to organize your images?” It’s my go-to follow up question, and, believe it or not, the answer is often the same here, too.

Silence.

When a current process works “well enough”, many busy leaders don’t prioritize making it work better - but here’s a good reason to.

Imagine you’re at a networking event speaking with a meeting planner you’ve never met before. They ask if you have pictures of any galas you’ve worked on. You open your event photo album and scroll through it to find a few images from a gala that took place a month ago.

“That’s great,” they ask. “Can I see more?”

“Of course,” you tell them. And then you start scrolling. And scrolling. And scrolling. You find more images of galas, but between each set up, you have to scroll through 50 more pictures to find another one that is relevant. It’s not the end of the world - but it is a bit awkward and you worry you seem disorganized.

Now picture yourself pulling out your phone, and instead of opening a single event photo album, you open a gala specific gallery. You hand your phone over to the meeting planner and allow them to look freely through the images. After a few moments, the meeting planner finds one from over a year ago. “I love this multi-screen set up with a walkway,” the planner says. “I’d love to learn more about how that worked.”

Having a digital photo book with a variety of galleries that show off specific events or session types, technology, and activations make it easier to share targeted information, which allows you to market and sell with specificity.

You can even make albums with images that can be displayed and shared publicly, like on your website or in an email footer, as well as galleries that can only be shared privately, like in a proposal or directly with a prospective meeting planner or client. Organizing photos by their privacy levels removes guesswork and keeps your team from accidentally posting a photo that you don’t have permission to share.

This is incredibly important as many clients may prefer that event photos aren’t posted to your website or social media platforms, but don’t mind them being shared directly with other organizations. Others may want identifying logos or information removed. Meanwhile, some clients may give you permission to use any photo as you see fit.

If you’re not sure which category an event falls into, the best thing to do is ask your clients so that you don’t miss an opportunity to post a great photo to your website or burn any bridges by assuming you can share something a client would prefer you didn’t.

If you're not sure what to say, we've created an email template below that you can copy and paste:

SUBJECT LINE: Quick Request About Event Photos

Hi [NAME],

Our team loved working with you on [NAME OF EVENT] recently.

We captured some great images that showcase what an incredible experience the event was and I was hoping to get your permission to use some of these pictures on our website and social platforms.

Here's a link to the images we're hoping to use: [INSERT LINK]

If you'd prefer to only approve specific images, would like logos or identifying information removed, or are only comfortable with certain use cases, please let me know!

— [NAME]


Creating a digital photobook is quick and easy - and there is most likely a tool to create them in a suite you already pay for!


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