You spend months working on each event, prepping your crates, creating new mixes, practicing your craft, all to have a killer night and make the crowd go wild. But how can you harness all of that hard work, that dedication, that feeling of being unstoppable, and use it to bring in new clients?
Creating these moments and then capturing the content go hand-in-hand with filling your books with future gigs. Getting specific shots and videos of your clients and their guests for promotional content is crucial.
If you haven’t already been doing this, it’s never too early to start gathering content, even if you don’t use it right away. I get asked for images all the time of packed dance floors, certain styles of weddings, or what makes my company stand out. Having a hard drive full of different venues, setups, and floor plans makes visualizing your team as a part of their day that much easier for clients. Here are my top three shots to capture, so you can also begin to create the content that will fill your calendar.
1. Showcase your setup and enhancements, everything from uplighting, specialty lighting, media, Co2, sparks, photo booths, etc. If you sell it, get pictures of it immediately! Giving your potential clients the ability to picture you and everything you offer at their event or wedding is what could close the sale. And if you’ve got those same shots at different venues, even better. Clients need to be able to see what they are getting, and if you can show it to them in a way they haven’t thought of yet, you could be changing their minds from maybe to “hell yes!”
2. Capture the formalities. First dance, parent dances, speeches in front of your video booth while it slides through pictures of the happy couple — clients want to be able to see themselves in your photos. People are constantly bombarded with images on social media showing how they could look, but most people know those are staged. How many brides have shown you something that they saved on Pinterest, hoping to recreate it for themselves? Couples want to see what their most valued moments will look like in real life, and having images from your own events might be just what they need to book. This is also an excellent opportunity to tie into the first type of image and upsell your enhancements. Who doesn’t love a first dance on a cloud, breaking out into surprise sparks for the ultimate wow-factor?
3. Show off what you do! You’re still in business for a reason, so show these prospective clients why that is. This is where video footage is key. We are DJs, we throw amazing parties, and we need to capture those fantastic celebrations. Everyone’s greatest fear is that no one will dance and their event will be boring. Grabbing the content of a packed dance floor, a picture of the couple shouting at the top of their lungs to their favorite track is the KING of marketing material. Nothing else beats these – they’re the most marketable images of this entire article. And it’ll prove that you’re not only skilled at what you do, but you’ll be able to alleviate that fear. If you don’t implement anything else, at least do this! You’ll thank me later.
So, I’ve talked up all the content you need to capture at every event, but how do you do that exactly? Honestly, there are a lot of ways you can go about it, but the easiest place to start is with your phone. Every time a new phone model is released, they harp on how awesome the cameras are. Use that to your advantage!
Another trick I use is to build relationships with my other vendors. I ask my couples who else they’ve got on their vendor team, and I contact the photographer and videographer ahead of time to let them know I’m interested in receiving a vendor album after the event, or if we’ve already got an established relationship, if they’re willing to also capture a couple photos or videos of me and my team in action. Nine times out of ten, I get an “ABSOLUTELY.”
It’s important to emphasize “a couple” because their focus should always be on the client, but who better than to give them those amazing dancefloor shots than the DJ? And whatever they send you, make sure to always tag that photographer when you use their images. Not only will they be grateful for the credit and exposure to your clients, but you will also get exposure to their clients as well.
When executed correctly, capturing content can be a fantastic way to help build and strengthen your marketing. Between letting your potential clients envision themselves using your services, or establishing partnerships with other vendors to get those awesome professional images, capturing the right content is always key to keeping your calendar filled.
If you have any questions, connect with me on Instagram – check me out at @dawson.high
Dawson High is Director of Operations & Events DJ at High Class DJs in Saint Peters, Missouri.
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