All of us enjoy taking photos to capture the special moments in our lives, and social media makes it extremely easy for us to share those moments. However, we also enjoy the feel of holding those photos in our hands, whether as a photo album or a commemorative mug.
In this context, launching a photo product or photo book business can be a lucrative model for you. All you need is a high-quality digital printer, a solid target audience, and a motivated, entrepreneurial spirit.
In this detailed guide, we cover all the steps to help you start and successfully run a photo book business.
Why should you start a photo printing business?
Change of trends during the year
In this time and age, personalized photo books are an increasingly popular product. You will be surprised to know that sales of photobooks were 25.4 million in 2018. Further, the market value has risen by 2.7% since 2017.
Digital channels continue to drive sales, with over 95% of photobook sales in 2017 and 2018 made online. According to market reports, the global photo printing and merchandise market achieved a significant milestone, surpassing a value of US$ 20.2 Billion in 2022 and is exhibiting a CAGR of 5.7% during 2023-2028.
So, if you are looking to start a trendy and profitable initiative, you can easily consider setting up a photo product business.
Types of Photo Products Options for Your Online Business
The global market for custom t-shirt photo printing industry will cross USD 10 billion in the next five years. However, a photo printing business is not restricted to selling personalized t-shirts. As mentioned before, you can sell photo books, the sale of which garnered 25.4 million last year. Then, there are also photo calendars, photo mugs, keychains that can be offered by your photo printing business.
Successful online photoplayers
Major eCommerce stores that are currently doing a fabulous job offering the service include Shutterfly, Snapfish, Target Photo, and Printique among others.
Resources needed to start a photo printing business
When starting an online photo product business, you will need three essential items in terms of technology.
- Acquiring the right technology
- Preparation
- Promotion
Acquiring the Right Technology
1. Ecommerce store
The most crucial tech investment you need to make is in setting up an eCommerce store. That is the online face of your business and allows potential customers to discover you online, browse through your suite of offerings, and place orders with you.
Gone are the days when you needed a brick-and-mortar store to survive. Now your buyers can choose their product, share their preferred customizations, and make a payment online through your online shop.
Design’N’Buy’s All-In-One web2print offers a fully responsive, easy-to-browse website and has friendly navigation. With superior web-to-print capabilities, it takes care of everything – from order to delivery, with minimum hassles.
2. Add a photobook designer to your storefront and start selling online
That is a vital component of any photo product business, as an online photobook editor allows your customers to test what the final image will look like before it gets printed. Choose a modern editor that allows for advanced image editing options.
Several companies offer top-notch editors at reasonable plans – pick the one that best suits your budget and business requirements. Design’N’Buy’s photobook design software allows customers to create print-ready designs to order on your website, within a few steps.
3. Infrastructure
You’ll need secure, high-capacity online infrastructure where you can host your website, your templates, and your designs. There are several quality website builders available at affordable rates that you can choose from.
It is best to work with a professional web designer who can set up your site for you and ensure that it is securely encrypted. Otherwise, you can always set up your print storefront in minutes, that too on Magento, in a matter of minutes.
Design’N’Buy has developed its design studio keeping requirements of photoproduct printers in mind.
Setting Up Your Photo Product Business for Year-Round Success
To attract and retain customers throughout the year, it is important to invest time and effort in setting up your photo product business for success. Keep the following points in mind when planning out your preparation.
1. Online store
Just as an attractive physical store encourages people to walk inside and browse through the products, a beautiful online storefront is what will help potential customers to get hooked with your offerings.
Be sure to use a clean, eye-catching layout that displays your logo prominently. Your eCommerce website should be easy to navigate and feature only high-resolution images everywhere.
2. Mobile-friendly eCommerce
In today’s mobile-first world, your eCommerce website must be a responsive one, i.e., it loads quickly on different screens. 52% of respondents in the recent Iron Paper report said that they would not engage with a business that provided a poor mobile experience, so ensure that yours is above average.
3. Online store categories
Most of the customers who visit your eCommerce website will be looking for something specific. You should thus sort your photo products into different categories and subcategories to make it easier for them to find what they want.
For instance, you could sort our photo books according to paper type, orientation, size, mail options, and more.
4. Perfect product descriptions
Each of your products needs to include a catchy description that provides the right amount of information and convinces your customers to make a purchase. In a world where options abound on the internet, the correct product description can sometimes make all the difference. Don’t you think?
5. Showcasing high-quality products
Personalized photo products are usually not cheap, and you need to showcase the fact that your products are worth the expense. Use high-quality images that showcase your product details up close. Include evocative product descriptions and deliver your products in quality packaging to make a good impression.
From Clicks to Customers: Boost Your Photo Product Business with Online Promotion
No business can thrive without adequate and timely promotion in the best manner possible. Keep the following points in mind to make sure that your promotions create the right impression.
1. Use attractive images
In a world where there is no shortage of options, the first impression you give your customers is often the last. Be sure to use top-quality images with creative calls-to-action that encourage your customers to click.
It helps to work with a professional product photographer who can showcase your offerings in an ideal manner.
2. Create a sense of urgency
Promotions that include a time-sensitive element help to create a sense of urgency in the mind of the customers and encourage them to buy now rather than later. For instance, you can use a promotional offer about a special discount and include a countdown to indicate the time left for which the discount code is valid.
3. Showcase bestsellers
You can help your customers choose their final order by highlighting your best-selling print on demand products. Use your sales data to determine which products are most popular on your eCommerce store to showcase them on the homepage.
4. Customer reviews
Positive testimonials from your previous customers are an excellent way to convince new customers that your products are worth the buy. Include a Reviews section on your homepage that your site visitors can scroll through to see what previous buyers have said about your business.
5. Open space design
Leaving a few blank areas on your website page between the images and blocks of text helps to create a cleaner look and is easier on the eye. Too many pictures and text blocks on a single landing page could end up confusing your customers and discouraging them from buying from you.
6. CTA buttons
Your calls-to-action should be displayed prominently on the website and be easy to understand. You can use both text and images for this – for instance, you could have a button that says ‘add to cart’ or you could use a button with a picture of a shopping cart on it. Doesn’t it sound simple?
7. SEO and PPC
When it comes to getting your photo printing service noticed, there are two things that you can’t ignore:
● The good old SEO strategy that helps businesses climb up the search rankings over a period of time.
● Running PPC ads on Google, and Facebook or LinkedIn – wherever your target audience is.
To make things work, make sure you have a proper strategy in place, one that is reviewed periodically.
Common Mistakes to Avoid in Your Photo Product Business
Your online business needs to look as professional and appealing as possible so that your customers are motivated to browse and buy. Keep an eye out for these common mistakes that end up affecting your online store’s appearance:
1. Poor website and Design Templates
Out-dated or confusing website design will turn off your customers almost at once. Use a clean, simple layout that is easy to navigate and loads quickly on a mobile screen.
2. No clear brand identification
If your branding, logos, and text are inconsistent across your site, users will get confused and turned off. Be sure to employ a fixed branding for your business, including one logo and specific types and colors of the font.
3. Poor quality product representation
As a photo product business, nothing will turn your customers off as much as poor quality images. Be sure to use high-resolution pictures that showcase product details.
4. Not showing your previous work
Your customers expect to see pictures of what you sell, and they will not wish to buy from you if all they see are stock images. Hire a photographer to click the types of photo books you offer on the website. Bring out some authenticity on your website.
5. Lack of a mobile-ready design tool
If we haven’t said it before, we will say it again. It is very important for your online store to be responsive across devices. Not only this, you should also give your users a seamless experience on the phone when it comes to customizing their products and place an order.
Selling personalized photo products online made easy with ALL-IN-ONE DESIGNER. Design’N’Buy’s online photo album designer offers a fully-responsive, easy-to-browse website and mobile tool. You can literally edit your photo on your smartphone – on the go!
Are you ready to start your online photo printing business?
Photo books are never going to go out of style – no matter how digitally-savvy we become. There’s always going to be a part that will want to hold a cherished memory in the physical format – whether in the form of photo books, t-shirts, or mugs!
Since, Design’N’Buy is a prime web-to-print solutions provider, we can build a platform for you that comprises of features such as design studio, print MIS, one-click checkout and what not!
If you want to set up your online photo product business quickly, get in touch with us at [email protected] and we will provide you with a customized solution that will work only for you. Speak to you soon!
FAQs:
Q1: How can Design’N’Buy help with my online photo book business?
Design’N’Buy offers a web-to-print solution for creating and customizing photo products with an intuitive design tool and e-commerce functionality. You can easily manage orders, track shipments, and sell your products online.
Q2: What are the benefits of using Design’N’Buy for my online photo book business?
Some benefits of using Design’N’Buy for your online photo book business include:
User-friendly photo book design tool for customers to create personalized photo books
- Integration with multiple printing vendors for smooth order processing
- Responsive and mobile-friendly design for a seamless user experience
- Customizable templates and designs to enhance creativity
- E-commerce capabilities to manage orders, payments, and shipping
- Regular software updates and technical support to ensure smooth operations More for you
- Top 8 Print MIS Software in 2024…Read More→
- Top 10 Wholesale Promotional Product Suppliers in the United States…Read More→
- 9 Best Screen Printing Machines of 2024…Read More→
- Top 5 Print Estimating Software…Read More→
- The Best Large Format Printers of 2024…Read More→
- The Top
10 DTG Printers (Direct-To-Garment) With Prices...Read More→
*This post has been updated on Dec 2023.
