photo booth email marketing

Why I don’t “sell” photo booth rentals on Facebook.

In Marketing & Businessby Chris12 Comments

photo booth facebook marketingWhen it comes to advertising on any platform, whether it be search engines, social media, radio/TV, etc., we have to ask ourselves, “do my potential customers use this platform?”  As of 2018, Facebook has about 2.23 BILLION users, so it is safe to say that there are plenty of people on Facebook who are interested in photo booths.

Don’t let the title of this article fool you, I run Facebook ads every day for my photo booth rental business and have done so from the very beginning of my business. When Facebook ads are positioned and crafted the right way, I believe they can be effective for any photo booth rental company.  The mistake that most photo booth businesses make is that they are trying to sell a prospective customer right from their Facebook ad.  They are hoping that the potential customer is going to see the ad, be so blown away that they drop everything and immediately call or email them with their credit card in hand. This just doesn’t happen.  There are people who will make small, impulse purchases, directly from an ad they saw in their Facebook feed. However, these are for smaller purchases, probably under $25, like a t-shirt or piece of jewelry. The price of a photo booth rental is too high for most people to make a impulse decision.

Why are people on Facebook?
Even with all the changes Facebook is making, in an attempt to make themselves very purchase friendly, the reality is people don’t log onto Facebook with the intention of buying something.  Sites like Amazon and Etsy are specifically for commerce and people are there to buy.  Facebook users want to scroll through their news feed and keep up with family and friends, share photos and videos, debate politics, etc.  Facebook is a “social media” platform, people use it to socialize and build relationships or be amused.

Advertising on Facebook is like placing a billboard (one that is hopefully very targeted) along the road as people drive by.  People are quickly scrolling through their newsfeed and you only have a small window of opportunity to catch their attention and get them off Facebook and onto your website.  When I make a Facebook ad, I don’t try and reinvent the wheel, I simply look specifically at what the online marketing experts are doing.  These are the guys that have already spent a ton of money testing and figuring out what kind of ads work.  Look at these ad examples from my newsfeed:

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All of these ads are likely selling high priced online marketing courses that probably cost more than a 4 hour photo booth rental.  These businesses know that they are not going to sell a prospective customer immediately from a Facebook ad.  These ads have one purpose and that is to get you to submit your email address in exchange for some free information.  These businesses will then proceed to send emails for the next few weeks, educating you on their course and at the end making their sales pitch.  If these business owners simply advertised their high prices on the Facebook ad, without the education behind it, they would see very few people interested in their product. People would be quickly turned off by the high prices and would not bother clicking the ad.

How can a photo booth business use this strategy?

Even though Facebook is not really a direct selling platform, it is a place where people are open to being informed, educated and inspired. Advertising on Facebook is akin trying to carefully lure a stray kitten to you.  You don’t want to make any loud noises or sudden movements, or you’ll scare it away.  When advertising and marketing on Facebook, rather than trying to sell, I educate my target audience about photo booth rentals.  I offer potential customers valuable information about photo booths and the reasons why their event will be better with one. The goal of my Facebook ads are to get the potential customer curious enough about my ad and offering, that they click it and end up on my website.

For example, my Facebook ad to engaged couples is a link to a blog post titled, “5 Reasons Your Wedding Needs a Photo Booth.”  No prices, no information about packages, no phone number, no “book now” language, etc.  I just want a bride or groom to see it and be curious enough as to the reasons and explanations. They click on it, which takes them to the blog page of my photo booth website.  The lead reads through the post, which is a very good article about how photo booths enhance the experience of a wedding.  At the end of the post there is a contact form where they can request more information.  Then via the phone or email I can educate the customer about our company and why the prices are what they are. Along with why we don’t advertise our pricing online. This is a dance, a back and forth, not a proposal on the first date, a relationship has to be built. Maybe the ad has to show up in their news feed a few times, but eventually many will click because the curiosity is overwhelming.

This is not the end all be all strategy for Facebook advertising, there are other techniques that are equally as effective, but we’ll save those for another post.  Try this method of using a Facebook ad for your business and drop me an email or comment with the results.

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Comments

      1. Ridiculous lol
        The funniest part is “This is a dance, a back and forth, not a proposal on the first date, a relationship has to be built.”

  1. Can I use your, 5 Reasons Your Wedding Needs a Photo Booth to drive my traffic to

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