If you’re a seasoned business owner or entrepreneur, you’ve probably tried your hand at a little bit of white labeling — a product or service you claim that’s actually manufactured by another business.

Note the word “service” here. White labeling goes further than shampoos, keyboards or the Costco-sized boxes of off-brand food in your pantry. The term also applies to everything you’re doing with your Scopio account, from sending out messages to eager photographers to the licensing agreements they receive for their work.

In tech, the practice is especially useful. If you’re looking to license photos and videos from social media, for example, it wouldn’t make much sense to “reinvent the wheel” and develop your own platform or system for doing so.

Forbes’ Drew Gainor reminds eager entrepreneurs that by doing so, they’ll “miss out on resources and expertise in the specific space where you need a focused solution.” In other words, you’ll just spend copious amounts of time and money looking for solutions to problems that have already been solved. And in the process, you’ll lose out on valuable time to build on what you already have, let alone improve it.

That’s where white labeling comes in. Why waste your days developing and fine-tuning a platform that already exists? Since 2012, the Scopio team has perfected a real-time image search engine and licensing platform. And as a Silicon Valley-backed startup, we’ve spent countless nights drafting up solutions to vexing problems and discovering the best way to reach out to photographers across the globe.

All of our clients are on the hunt for authentic content, so finding a way to enhance our platform isn’t just a top priority — it’s a specialty. Here’s how Scopio’s white labeling capabilities will help you on your journey with the world’s most authentic photos and videos.

Custom Messages

The beauty of Scopio’s image search engine is that you can request permission to use photos from your very own social media accounts.

Just authorize the Scopio dashboard to use your Twitter or Instagram handles, and each custom message you send out to photographers will come directly from you.

They’ll be more receptive to your message if they know both who you are and what you represent. That’s why we’ve also revamped our messaging system to be more customizable.

1. Ensure that your Scopio account is hooked up to your Twitter and Instagram feeds. Check this by hovering over your account name in the top right hand corner. Then, select “my profile” and “social accounts.”

2. Under “campaigns,” select the Scopio campaign that you want to license photos and videos from. Find a post you’d like to license.

3. To send a message, hover over your desired photo and select the envelope icon. Customize your message to the photographer to increase cooperation. Each time you edit a message or add a new one, your work will auto-save. Don’t worry about drafting up new messages every time you log onto your Scopio dashboard!

4. To add more template messages or go back and forth between custom messages, just click on the arrow icons.

After the photographer sees your message and agrees to license their photo, you’re able to distribute it on your social media feeds, website, blog or advertisements.

In addition, all of our licensing agreements allow modifications and don’t require companies to credit the photographer. Feel free to add a logo or quote on top of the image to really make it yours. The power is in your hands.

Licensing

With a Scopio account, you have the option to white label each photographer’s licensing agreement. This puts your brand name directly in front of them and lets them know that you’ll be using their photo to promote your interests.

In the example above, a mid-Missouri newspaper requested this photo for a gallery of a nearby state park. The photographer was excited that their work would be featured and confirmed immediately. But here’s the exciting part: Other photographers submitted their photos directly to the Missourian after the story was published.

When you incorporate user-generated content, readers, fans and customers know you value them. How’s that for brand outreach?

Engaging Galleries

The savviest visual marketers know how useful galleries are at amping up engagement. And when you throw user-generated content into the mix, you’ll create even more interest in your website.

Scopio’s platform makes this process easier than ever, generating a custom HTML code that you can embed directly onto your page.

To create a gallery, just log on to your Scopio dashboard and select a campaign. Hover over each image you’d like to include and select the plus icon. When you’re done, click “publish gallery” and select from either a carousel or a grid design. We’ll supply you with a custom HTML code for the gallery.

Folks with tight schedules can breathe easy; no permission is required to use social media photos in a gallery, so everything can be done instantly.

Scopio is the industry’s premier search and licensing platform for images and videos on social media. We help companies find and use the photos and videos that matter to their audience, from capturing content to evaluating the analytics on campaigns. Wondering about what we can do for your digital marketing strategies? Request a demo with the button below or email [email protected] Featured photo by Elena Krumlowsky.

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