The internet is being taken over by social media content. Twitter’s audience grew 29% year-over-year to 187 million users, tweeting over 500 million daily times. Every minute, YouTube users upload 400 hours of content. 2.8 billion people use Facebook every month, spending nearly 20 hours there. Social media has changed the internet and society.
Psychologists state the main drivers of this need to ‘share’ our lives are:
To Convey Our Identity
To Nurture Relationships
For an incentive
To Feel a Sense of Belonging
To Advocate Great Content
But what is the future of sharing content for the user?
One man who should know is Marc Elkiner. He is one of the men behind the multi-million dollar photobooth experience company sharingbox.
The installations have revolutionized the business model that was once mom-and-pop shops.
Elkiner says: “By sharing content, it is just like you as the individual are becoming the product aggregator. The influencer is already the advertiser. But any individual is now the advertiser.
‘We are also moving into the realm of video. Print and photos will always have a home, but video is the future. We, as a company, are looking to harness this ourselves. The future will involve instant downloads and instantly shareable content.”
Sharingbox began a few years ago. Fast forward to today, and it is in 10 different countries and has achieved revenues of over USD 20,000,000 in six years.
Much of this is down to Elkiner’s expertise in a field revolutionized by his knowledge.
He was the first to develop the idea of cloud-based software to share images from the once humble photobooth.
And he and his co-founder Sidney Valenta designed a slicker and sexier photo booth experience than any of his predecessors.
With Elkiner’s concept of visual installations for products, businesses flocked to him.
The interactive photo booth method became highly sought after, and he established relationships with brands like Zadig and Voltaire, Maybelline New York, and the US Superbowl.
Those relationships have created a wealth of benefits for companies in the United States.
Elkiner has spoken on multiple panels, including at the world’s most prominent photo booth expo held in Las Vegas.
He is lauded for his forward-thinking approach and is asked to offer his judgment and expertise.
So when it comes to shareable content for businesses, where is the money to be made?
Elkiner says: “From a business perspective, the skill is to harness this in the best way possible.
“It’s also about business partnerships. If you look at other entities that have the time to focus on this one product in the distribution of their product, we have a more extensive reach to sell. That’s where we’re going and what we’re doing more and more.”
He adds: “Now we focus on shared business revenue. And interactive installations we do with brands.It is a way to offer unique shareable content where the user can be creative. Creativity and storytelling are the bottom lines, in an immediately shareable video format.”
Anthony Coppers knows this method of sharing a content experience works, even if it still needs to be in an instant download video format.
As the Founder and Head of Innovation of Gradient Experiential, he has been involved with some of the most well-respected and high-end brands in the world.
Coppers has worked with Elkiner on multiple events for high-profile brands, including Yves Saint Laurent, Clinique, and Louis XIII french cognac.
He says: “Marc is incredibly appreciative of a multicultural standpoint and understands the unique dynamics of the market. That’s why he has been so successful. With his knowledge and expertise at our disposal, we have increased the success of our events for clients.”
Tina Malhotra, the CEO and CXO of The Color Factory, a diverse experiential arts company has also seen the effect of this revolutionary kind of strategy.
She says Elkiner’s systems have changed their company’s profitability: “”Mr. Elkiner led the development of a unique integrated digital photo booth solution that was implemented in each of our U.S locations.
“Since we implemented the systems in 2021, our guests have taken over 1.2 million photos. Thanks to Mr. Elkiner, we now have a strong new revenue stream. His leadership and contributions have positively impacted our organization.”
