Sports Best Practices: Memory Mates

There are a few options for offering Memory Mates within GotPhoto. Currently, we do not support multi-pose products, however, you can build them on your end and upload them to your photo job. You can either handle memory mates through manual self-fulfillment or automate the process and send the final product straight through GotPhoto and to the lab.

There are several ways to proceed, here are a few workflows:

Option 1: Create a memory mate for every athlete in the job after the photoshoot (recommended)

This can be time-consuming, but if you don't mind the effort, you can upload the final memory mate image to the subject's gallery with the rest of their images, and customers can then see the final product in the shop.

This is our recommended approach because it creates a much nicer ordering experience for the customer, as they can see the final product before they order it. Having the final product displayed in your shop also tends to lead to more sales, as customers are more enticed to buy when they can see the cool graphics along with their athlete, rather than a random stock image.

Pros:

Better ordering experience / less complaints
Better advertising in the shop (leads to more sales!)
Once the Memory Mates are built, the workflow is entirely automated

Cons:

More time upfront to build a Memory Mate for every athlete
Extra spend (time /money) to build, when everyone may not buy one

You can easily build Memory Mates and export them directly to your GotPhoto job, when using QMate Learn more here: QMate Software- Memory Mates and More: Create Your Custom Products In GotPhoto

If you are NextGen user, please check our Nextgen integration: NextGen - Step By Step

Option 2: Use a 8x10 or 5x7 placeholder print from your lab

Most of our partner labs have additional 8x10 and 5x7 placeholder products in their catalog for you to use. When you click on the details of the placeholder print, you can customize the product name. Rename it to "Composite" or "Memory Mate". This name will then be displayed to customers in your shop so that they have a clear understanding of the product they are ordering:

Manual Revision: With this setup, you need to enable Manual Revision in your job so that you can add the memory mate image to the order before it is transferred to the lab. You can enable Manual Revision under the Advanced Settings of your job (Navigate to Photo Jobs → Select job → Actions → Advanced Job Settings → Revise orders manually → Enable).

To filter for orders with a Memory Mate, go to the job's Statistics tab, then do an order export and filter the file for the product:

The upside here is that you don't need to build every memory mate in advance and can save time and money (if you're using a third-party service to build them). On the other hand, Manual Revision will be activated for the entire job, so whether or not someone has purchased a Memory Mate, the order will first go to Manual Revision where you must approve the order before it is sent to the lab.

Product Image: Another downside is that the product image that the customer sees in your shop will be of a single-pose stock image (this is set by the lab and can't be changed). A workaround to this is to include the Memory Mate placeholder in a product package, then upload a package image that includes an example of the Memory Mate:

Pros:

Save time and money upfront to only build the Memory Mates that are ordered

Cons:

Customers can't see the final product of their child with the graphics
Manual order processing
All orders go to Manual revision, not just the orders with a Memory Mate

Option 3: Create a three-pose composite where the customers select the place of each selected image and add their name (advanced)

For a three-pose template, you will need to create two custom products under your Production tab. Then, create a package with the two custom products and add a print product from your lab (e.g. 8x10), which will be replaced by the final composite so that the lab can print it and you don't need to self-fulfill the order. If your own lab has not been activated yet, please reach out to our customer success team at support@gotphoto.com for help.

Here is an example of a package with two custom items and an 8x10 print from a partner lab, where the customer can select the 3 poses that go into the composite.

The customer can decide where (right, middle, left) the selected picture should go, and they can also add a name that will be added to the template (in the event that your template also has a place where the name is included):

You are able to customize the lab's product, which makes sense if you would like to give your customers the option to not only select their images but to define where the images should go. In this example we have the right, middle and left position of the composite, therefore, we named the 8x10 from the lab "3 Pose Composite Left". Click ‘Details’ next to the lab’s product name in order to change the product name:

Under the Production tab, we create two products for the middle and right positions. Make sure the "Manual Revision" box is checked so that the order is held back from the lab:

For one of the poses, we've also included a custom field for the subject’s name, ‘Attributes’, in case your template needs the subject's name and you would like to give your customers the option to use their name / nickname:

Here is how the package will appear in your shop:

Here is a sample of the composite:

Once the customer clicks, ‘Add to Cart’, they will need to enter their name before they can continue to finalize their purchase:

The order will then go to your Manual Revision tab, where you can replace the 8x10 lab print with the final composite.