Simon Sinek, one of my favorite thought-leaders, said: “People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.”
There is one vital question:
What makes you different from another business that does the same kind of activity, maybe cheaper?
YOU.
You make the real difference.
Brand photography: a powerful business tool
Businesses everywhere need to create a brand that clearly communicates why they do what they do. But how do you do that?
You can visually represent your business through brand photography and personal branding. Professional images establish and enhance your brand. They show your character, what it’s like to work with you, and what makes you and your business unique.
Brand photography and personal branding make it easier for customers and future clients to know you and your brand.
Why investing in brand photography?
Investing in professional brand photography can seem an unnecessary expense, but it might be more crucial for growing your business than you think.
Photography is one of the main tools to connect with your audience strategically. It boosts performance, engagement, and sales because people are wired to value images. They especially value beautiful, well-crafted images. You can use stock photos, but studies show that we pay attention to people who look like real people! Eye-tracking research shows that we treat photos of real people as important visual content, and we tend to ignore stock photos and “filler content” images. As a result, not having high-quality photos can be a deal-breaker for your clients. Studies show how investing in branding can make a difference.
How can you use your brand images?
The options are limitless.
You can use your images to improve your online presence on your website, social media (LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest). Also, in email campaigns, newsletters, and email signatures.
You can also include them in traditional print marketing materials: business cards, brochures, direct mail, sales sheet, flyers, magazines, newspapers. Even in sales pitches or presentations, and press releases.
Numbers don’t lie
Here, some statistics taken from MDVAdvertising and Meero that show how vital brand photography is:
- People remember only 10% of information three days after hearing it, on average. Adding a picture can improve recall to 65%.
- Images rank as the most critical content type, ahead of text and video. 68% of marketers say they plan to use images more in the future. Consumers are significantly more likely to think favorably of ads that emphasize photography over ads that emphasize text.
- Articles with relevant images get 94% more views, on average, compared to articles without images.
- Images on Facebook receive 20% more engagement than videos and 352% more engagement than links.
- 60% of consumers say they’re more likely to consider or contact a business with an image show up in local search results.
- 67% of consumers say that a product image’s quality is “very important” in selecting and purchasing a product.
- 78% of online shoppers want to see the product as if it’s part of their own daily lives.
- 50% of online shoppers say, “large, high-quality product images are more important than product information, descriptions, or even reviews.”
- 90% of online buyers say that photo quality is the most crucial factor in an online sale, according to Etsy and Justuno.
- Using a larger product photo size on category pages increased sales by 9.46%
In The Effect of Mere Touch on Perceived Ownership, UCLA researchers found that vivid and detailed object imagery increases perceived ownership of the product.
FINAL WORDS
My advice is: use compelling imagery to build your story brand.
Brand photography has the power to tell your story: what your brand is about, what it means to your clients, and why they should care about it. High-quality images build trust and help clients connect to your message.
You can DIY your brand and product photography, but if this isn’t the most effective approach, you can always hire a professional branding photographer.
This article was first published here.