Install photos are your shop's content engine. The shareable gallery you send AFTER the install is the difference between a 5-star review and an Instagram post that tags your shop.
What's in a great gallery
The 6-photo standard: 1. Pre-install full vehicle (front 3/4) 2. Tape-down or prep shot (shows craftsmanship) 3. Mid-install (tech actively working) 4. Detail panel close-up (shows the work) 5. Post-install full vehicle (matches photo 1 for before/after impact) 6. Customer with keys / hero shot (optional but high-conversion)
For PPF, add per-panel before/after pairs (hood, bumper, fenders, headlights, mirrors).
When to send
Within 4 hours of pickup. The customer's excitement is at peak right after they drive away. Wait until tomorrow and the moment is gone.
How to send
SMS link to a branded gallery page hosted on your shop's portal. Subject: "Your [vehicle] install gallery is ready 📸"
Why SMS + link rather than email + attachment: - 95% open rate on SMS vs ~30% on email - Link landing page can include "Share to Instagram" and "Leave a 5-star review" CTAs - Mobile-first format is how customers actually consume photos in 2026
The link landing page
Three things every gallery landing page needs: 1. All photos in a clean grid (not a slow PDF download) 2. One-tap share buttons for Instagram, Twitter/X, Facebook 3. A "loved your work?" CTA pointing to Google reviews
The CTA placement matters — make it the second-most-prominent thing on the page after the photos themselves.
What 3× shareability
A small touch most shops miss: include the customer's name in the gallery URL slug.
Compare: - yourshop.com/gallery/abc123 (anonymous, technical) - yourshop.com/gallery/sarah-chen-tesla-y (personal, brag-worthy)
The personalized version gets shared 3× more often. Customers screenshot the URL and post it. The shop's name is right there.
Auto-trigger via shop software
In SalesThumb, this is configured at Settings → Automations → Post-install gallery: - Trigger: job marked COMPLETE - Delay: 4 hours - Channel: SMS + email - Content: branded gallery link with their car
Set once, runs forever.
Tracking results
- Gallery views (your software should log this — every link click)
- Social shares (UTM params on the share buttons)
- Google reviews collected from the gallery CTA in the 7 days post-send
Healthy benchmarks: 80%+ of customers view their gallery, 25-35% share to social, 15-25% leave a Google review when prompted from the gallery.