Using Slideshows to Grow Your Photography Business

by Mastin Labs

You know how to create beautiful photographs. But when you think about presenting them to your clients in a compelling way, many photographers hit a wall. Do you create a blog post? Post a few highlights on Facebook? Upload images to Dropbox or use a gallery service? It can be difficult to know which solution will give you the best bang for your buck.

If you want to ‘wow’ your clients, nothing compares to presenting their wedding images in a video slideshow. Slideshows mix photos with music to create impactful, meaningful, and emotional storytelling.

Why Wedding Slideshows?

Wedding Slideshows Help Differentiate You

In a saturated industry, it can be hard to make your work stand out. With over 8 billion video views per day on Facebook alone, it’s undeniable that video is the most engaging type of content these days. But why? Videos make great storytellers, and what better way to showcase your brand than an attention-grabbing slideshow! Instead of endlessly scrolling through a blog post, your images come alive to create a narrative that’s easy to follow.

Bonus Tip: Stand out on social media with “year-end” or “best-of” slideshows that showcase your best work to potential clients.

Wedding Slideshows Are More Shareable

The next time you’re getting ready to share a recent wedding, try presenting your images with a video slideshow. Post your slideshow to Facebook, Youtube, and even Instagram, making sure to add relevant keywords and tag your clients. There is nothing that helps your business grow more than referrals from excited clients sharing your slideshow on social media.

Bonus Tip: Try creating a same-day slideshow immediately following the wedding as a sneak peek! Sending your clients a video to share on social media will have more legs than photos alone.

Wedding Slideshows Are More Emotional

It’s no question that music is effective in triggering emotions and memories. Music and photos paired together give your clients an emotional experience that brings them back to the moments of their special day, making a big impression. When you get to choose the music you can help curate the emotional response you'd like to pair with your photos. A slideshow paired with the perfect music track tells a story in a unique way that draws the viewer in.

Wedding Slideshows Are Easy to Make

Making a photo gallery is a lot of work and it is time to consuming to post it to your blog. If you use slideshows, you can post a smaller photo gallery and put the full gallery in a slideshow to help save yourself some time. We have tried out some of the most popular wedding slideshow software out there and found our favorite is SmartSlides by Pixellu.

They call themselves the world’s simplest slideshow maker, and for good reason. The interface is beautiful and easy to use, and the smart features allow you to make a slideshow in just 3 simple steps:

Select a song
Add your photos
Customize your slideshow

Re-order your images if needed, adjust the song length, add additional music tracks if you want to separate images by mood, change the transition effect between slides, etc. For an ultra-sophisticated touch, use the SmartSlides’ new Beat-Matching feature to automatically match your photos to the rhythm of the song. Automatic beat-matching is available on all songs included in the SmartSlides' music library and can be enabled with just a click of a button.

And just like that, your slideshow is finished within minutes and ready to be shared with your clients and across your social channels. Don't believe us? Our founder Kirk Mastin made a slideshow from a real wedding client in just over 10 minutes and you can watch him build his first slideshow in the video below.