Many photographers think the sale is over after the wedding is booked and never think about Wedding Album Sales. But wait! There’s more! Do you remember the days when our parents used to take out a large hard-covered albums with all of their photos in them? Many of us still have our parents’ wedding albums at home. They may be as old as 50 years or more. They’re old fashioned, but those black and white photos sandwiched between tissue paper still look new.
The best thing about Wedding Album Sales is that you can physically show them, and your clients can touch them, and then, when they purchase, they can revisit them time and again. The smell of an old wedding album takes you back to the time when you had your first look or were waiting for your bride at the altar. It is also a reminder of those that may not be with us anymore.
Wedding albums are also easy to access since there’s no computer required!
Our point is…Photo Albums are evergreen and still relevant in this digital age. And learning about Wedding Album Sales can get you some much-needed post wedding income.
Why Are Albums Still Relevant For Wedding Photographers?
With the advancement and dominance of technology, photographers may feel compelled to drop Wedding Album Sales as they believe albums are becoming obsolete. However, the reality is the opposite.
The relevance of photo albums still remains. There are clients who love prints. The younger generation has a kind of penchant for photo albums. Even with tablets and smartphones being handy, there is always the fear of losing them at any moment and once they’re gone, you might not be able to get them back.
Brides and grooms are well aware of these situations and the challenges that technology poses. So to avoid such situations, they get their wedding photo albums printed. They might even get a few of their favorites framed separately to adorn their walls or place them on the fireplace mantle.
Wedding Album Sales – this is where you have a great chance of generating revenue for your wedding photography business. Prints and album sales are a great way to make extra profits. While they may need a little more work to be sold than before, their customization options and adjustable price points make them the MOST PROFITABLE PRODUCT IN THE STUDIO.
How Can Wedding Photographers Make Money Through Wedding Album Sales?
Album selling is how to convince your client that they should buy an album from you after you have taken their wedding photos. So here are 10 TIPS TO INCREASE YOUR WEDDING ALBUM SALES.
1. Make Them See In Long Term
Make your clients understand the value of albums versus using technology to store it. You can tell them it is more sensible to preserve their memories in the form of albums than on USBs. They might just agree with you and order an album.
2. Share Testimonials
A great way to help your client understand the value of an album is by sharing a testimonial from a previous client that communicates all the ways an album brings value to their lives.
3. Sample Albums
The fastest way to sell albums is by letting clients look through your sample products. You don’t have to say a word; a beautiful album speaks for itself. Your clients will eagerly place an order so they can have one of their own.
4. Share on Your Website or Social Media
Your website and social media handles are the most natural and effective marketing tools. By showcasing your amazing albums here, you have the opportunity to make a killer impression before a potential client even books you. If you’re already presenting gorgeous custom photo albums on your website, your clients know these are a specialty of yours. This means you’ve already planted a seed for the Wedding Album Sales.
5. Make Albums a Part of the Package
When albums are sold separately, the splurge can be difficult for budget-conscious clients to justify. Including them in the package drives home the point that the album isn’t just an extravagant part but an integral part of the service you provide and an elegant way to store and share the beautiful wedding images.
6. Market Wedding Album Sales Before Sessions
Start building the buzz for your albums before clients even book their session or wedding. Don’t just list an album in your packages. Explain why they’re a priceless investment.
7. Market Wedding Album Sales During Sessions
Gather details that tell a complete story. Create those epic images that beg to be displayed across a full spread. Let clients know as you’re shooting how amazing those images are going to look in their album. Get yourself in the mindset of selling an album, and get them in the mindset of buying it.
8. Offer Incentives
If you just designed a breathtaking wedding album for a client, why not offer discounted duplicates to increase your sales? A 10×10 duplicate makes the perfect holiday gift for picky in-laws. An 8×8 clone of the album could make a perfect keepsake for grandma. Explain the type of print and quality used for printing their album to gain more trust.
9. Allow Yourself to Decide for Them
Choose your favorite images, pre-design an album, and send them spreads to approve. Many photographers recommend designing an album with more spreads than your package includes or your credit covers. Now, you can ask your clients to remove any images they don’t need. This will be difficult for them once they’ve seen your gorgeous layout.
10. Get Resources For Wedding Album Sales
There are dozens of online resources to help photographers succeed with product sales. Design Aglow is one that offers an incredible catalog of design templates, selling guides, studio marketing material, and much more.
Choose an Album Type
Once you have convinced your client to buy an album from you, the first thing to do is to know the kind of album your client would prefer.
Most wedding albums fall into two categories: matted albums or flush-mount albums.
- Matted albums: This more traditional style of the album has the photos printed individually and adhered to a pre-cut mat. The mat is then attached to the album page.
- Flush-mount albums: Each album page is printed as a single image so that all the photos lay flat across the entire page. It is then dry-mounted to a thick page board.
Whether you go with a matted style or a flush-mount style album, you can choose a thick, high-quality cover made from a material of your choice.
How Can Wedding Photographers Design an Album?
After you know the type of album your client wants, it’s time for you to start designing it.
There are some basic rules for designing an album:
- Be simple
- Be consistent
- Tell a story through your album
- Be in line with your brand image
- Use the best images from the wedding
Many successful photographers use these ways to create their albums —
- Photoshop: Building an album from scratch in Photoshop is perhaps the most technical, but also the most powerful way to create your albums. Many photographers prefer this method because they find limitations with other design packages.
- Software: There are some software companies that make album designing easy and efficient. They range from being very expensive to free. One such software is Adobe Indesign.
- Outsourcing: This is a popular alternative to the time-consuming process of album design. There are companies like Pixellu that host images on their site for your client to preview and purchase. They will also take the images you choose and create a full album design for free. They also allow you to modify your album after your clients have a chance to review it and provide input.
Top Wedding Photo Album Design Companies & Labs
With so many to choose from when you google a wedding album design company, it might be confusing and difficult for you to zero on one. To make things easier for you, here are our suggestions on choosing a top album design company.
- Fundy Designer software boasts of some celebrity clients and provides quality work. It offers album designing, proofing on its template free design suite.
- Queensberry provides quality albums with cool options such as metallic leather covers.
- Artifact Uprising offers high-quality flat lay albums and great customer service. This is a little on the expensive side but the results are totally worth it.
- Millers Lab is one of the fastest. It ships your album in 24 hours.
- Bayphoto lab has a long history of innovative photographic printing and photo finishing services.
- WHCC (White House Custom Color) provides extensive services for photographers. From proofing to designing to printing albums.
Further Read: The Fast And Efficient Approach To Wedding Album Design
Make More Profits with Albums
Hopefully now you can start working towards Wedding Album Sales AS A great revenue generator for your wedding photography business. Just create an easy, comprehensible price chart for your album products and start earning more money from your weddings. Want more? Here’s another great Wedding Album Sales Blog Post!
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