2021: Year In Review
In order to serve you best, the Instaproofs team focuses closely on a few core principles:
the quality of the service and product we offer,
the highest standard of customer care, and
commitment to your business growth and your bottom line.
As we kick off a brand new calendar year, we remain focused on growth and improvement in every aspect of Instaproofs, which translates into growth and improvement in YOUR business and YOUR bottom line. That’s our #1 focus, always has been.
As a staff, we recently had a blast looking back at the new features and improvements that happened in 2021. On average, a significant change was made every two weeks! How have you put these tools to work for you and your business? The sky is the limit!
Afraid you missed an update or two? Take a look at the list, and keep in the back of your mind: what great things are sure to come in 2022?!
2021 Instaproofs Growth
Marketing
We can’t emphasize this one enough: an entirely new, built from the ground-up, "Booking" module has been added. This allows your clients to book their sessions right through your Instaproofs account! This area is PACKED with functionality, and it has been continuously updated since being introduced in September. Seem to good to be true? Somehow it’s not. We literally added an entire new service to Instaproofs without raising our price at all (available at the Pro level and above).
Some of the newer updates in the Booking area include: Client Tipping options, Discount Codes for session bookings, a "Calendar View" option, Google Calendar integration, and the ability to attach digitally-signed Contracts to each booking.
Another huge addition, Marketing Automations were introduced—and enhanced several times throughout the year!
Email addresses that are given permissions through the Gallery Edit screen are now automatically added to the visitor page and receive email notifications (if enabled). Marketing upgrade!
Selling
The Sales & Coupons page has been reorganized to more easily view and manage your sales and coupons. You may not have noticed these changes; the updates are so intuitive.
The "Email the Buyer" functionality from the order list view is now attached to a customizable email template, which allows you to save your default response and not have to re-type it out each time you use that functionality. Once again, time saver!
Single Image Packages were upgraded to allow non-print items to also be included within the packages (for example, digital images can now be added to the single-image packages).
An additional full-gallery download size (2800px) was added as an option, bringing the total option list up to Web Size (1280px), Small Print Size (1800px), Medium Print Size (2800), and Full Size.
Aesthetics
Contracts & Invoices were redesigned with softer colors, more elegant fonts, and enhanced layouts.
So you can keep your aesthetics the way you like them, softer color palettes were introduced throughout the admin site.
A new default theme has been added on all accounts; the new theme includes neutral colors, modern fonts, more white-space, different image sizing and spacing, and an alternate login screen. If you haven’t checked this out yet, we recommend you do so immediately. A few clicks to get a whole new gorgeous look—certainly worth your time!
The corporate site was fully redesigned and rebuilt from the ground up. If somehow you’ve missed it, you’ve got to check it out—it’s gorgeous and full of information.
Your Admin Options
Private Notes functionality was added to the order details page. This means you can attach your own internal notes to individual orders. Our studio customers are especially pleased with this option!
Several customization options were added to the Invoices. Make sure your invoices fit your business perfectly!
The admin site gained a Gallery Search option. You can now search for a specific gallery based on the gallery name, city, or any keyword attached to the gallery.
The Gallery Visitors page was updated to allow photographers to correct email addresses that were mistyped by their clients. Your customer service abilities just got a major glow up!
The "Highlights" category that's created within your galleries can now be downloaded through the admin site. This is an update specifically requested by a few photographers, and many have been enjoying the option.
Contracts
To expand your communication options, contracts were updated to include shareable links, which can be copied and sent to your clients outside of the automated notification system.
Big time saver: you may now create and save your signature within the contracts area, and auto-apply your signature to your contracts after your clients have signed their portions.
Contracts with a "Draft" status have been given a "preview" option, which allows photographers to view the contracts as their clients would, before sending them out. Measure twice, cut once.
Reports
We know Instaproofs is a huge asset in tracking your business finances, so multiple reports were updated to provide the option of displaying offline payments (from invoices, booking, etc.) in their cumulative numbers.
Additionally, multiple reports were given additional customization options to display totals for just the items that you've specifically selected (storefront payments, invoices, booking payments, and offline payments).
A new "Client Order Summary" report has been added to the reports area. This new report breaks down your transactions on a per-client basis, and displays the number of transactions made and the total amount spent by each of your clients. It also links you to the complete order details for each of the orders that your clients placed.
From Your Customer’s Point of View
To help your customers make informed decisions, multiple example images can now be added and displayed for products, add-ons, print sizes, single image packages, etc. So, for example, if you have a framed print listed as a purchase option, you can now include multiple example images of the frame from several different angles.
The galleries have been updated to allow print size comparisons, complete with over 40 selectable room/scene options. This is especially helpful for clients who like to make quick, well-informed decisions. Make sure this option is enabled and your clients know about it!
You can now arrange your photos in a random sequence (at the click of a button) after your gallery has been uploaded. This makes a lot of sense for product and portrait shoots! Non-sequential images tell a different, possibly more powerful, story.
Client receipts have been updated to include a way to download all of their single-image digital purchases with a single click. (For example, if you purchased 15 digital images, you can now download them all at once rather than having to download them one at a time.) Your clients are going to love this one!
Additionally, we’ve started in a new direction with our social media platforms. From the blog to email newsletters to social media, there’s so much helpful information and community interaction to be had! Join us!
Our team has a blast building out a flexible program that continually meets the needs of our customers. So many of these ideas came from you! Discussions of potential features happen on our VIP Facebook page regularly, and our customer service also fields requests. From small tweaks to huge module creations, we’re eager to hear how Instaproofs can serve you even better.
What are your ideas? Let us know today!