10 Reasons you should sell yearbooks
…and why they matter more than ever
In a world where everything lives on phones and disappears in feeds, yearbooks remain one of the few things that last.
For schools, yearbook advisers and studio partners, selling yearbooks isn’t just about generating more revenue…it’s about creating something meaningful that students will hold onto for years.
Here are 10 reasons why selling yearbooks is still one of the most valuable opportunities in education today.
1. Yearbooks have endless value
Games end. Seasons end. Friend groups change.
Yearbooks preserve those friendships, achievements and milestones in your school. Students don’t realize the value until the book comes off the shelf 10-20 years later and they start reminiscing to their own children about all their great experiences in school. There’s more value in the book years down the road.
2. They create a reliable revenue stream
Yearbooks can:
Fund programs
Support clubs and athletics
Offset school costs
A well-run program becomes predictable, repeatable revenue every year.
3. They strengthen school culture
Key conversations and meetings held by principals in schools is about how to improve their school culture.
The questions principals try to solve are:
How do we make students feel more part of our school?
How do we showcase students better so they are proud of their school?
The yearbook is the obvious product built by students and other volunteers to capture what principals are trying to solve.
4. They build long-term relationships
This isn’t a one-time sale. On average, when you get the yearbook account in a school, you keep the yearbook account for 13-15 years. Many studios and/or independent yearbook representatives will keep an account far past 15 years. The yearbook sale builds stronger trust, loyalty and long-term partnerships.
This is a relationship-driven business, not a transactional business. Therefore, having a yearbook in every school you work in, builds a stronger bond with your accounts.
5. There’s built-in demand every year
Every new kindergarten class = a new opportunity. The demand is still there and since the covid pandemic, buy-rates have held steady better than prior to the pandemic.
You don’t need to create demand, you just need to capture it effectively.
6. Creativity and educational experience
Yearbooks combine a number of lifelong skills such as taking pictures, writing stories, marketing a product and selling the product. The creativity of the books come with learning some basic design skills when using Memento or PLIC Books software.
It’s one of the few opportunities where creative expression drives revenue.
7. Reliable technology
Yearbook software is always a “hang-up” for yearbook advisers to make a change. As someone selling yearbooks, you have to feel confident in having software that is comparable from where that yearbook adviser recently came from.
Memento (K-12) and PLIC (K-8) both are solid yearbook platforms you can feel confident in selling in any school.
8. There are multiple growth levers
Selling one yearbook isn’t the only way to get more revenue out of each sale. You can sell personalization, recognition ads, more pages and more copies to increase your margins.
The opportunity is much bigger than just the one book.
9. It’s more than a product, it’s a moment
When yearbooks arrive, there are typically distribution events at most schools. Many schools still make this a big deal where it becomes a big yearbook party.
In some high schools, they bring in food trucks, a band and other fun activities for students in a 2-3 hour yearbook signing party. Students gather to sign books reminiscing about all the events from the year coming to life the second they open their yearbook.
That moment is something very special
10. It’s one of the few things that still lasts
Social media posts get lost and feeds are always refresh. But yearbooks are the one thing that outlasts everything.
Years later, people don’t scroll…
They flip through pages and relive their story.
Interested in getting started with Captura Yearbooks? Book a demo today.