A picture paints a thousand words

The Why

We all know that a picture paints a thousand words. And we know that images are important to business and personal marketing, particularly our online presence.

Why is it then that often the most important images that we should have, are non-existent or at best average?

Which images?

Images of you, whether they be headshots, full length shots, images of your people or group photos.

Because people buy from People.

Usually people they like but most certainly people they trust and know something about.

There has been a lot of testing and research that confirms a human face on a website about page, for example, increases trust.
When you have trust, the more likely visitors are to stick around and consume your content and/or buy your stuff!

If you don’t have a picture and some sort of bio, you are telling visitors to your site that you are “anonymous”.
We as human beings instinctively don’t trust “anonymous”.

If you don’t have a website or business you almost certainly will have a social media presence, whether it’s LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or anything else.
With today’s digital social interactions, it’s important to control your personal image and make sure any images in the public realm are a true representation of you and your business.

That’s right, ‘you’ not your dog, kids, motorbike, or picture taken on holiday in a bar in Bali.

Once you understand that, you then need to decide what types of images you think represents you and your brand best.

The How

So now think about your brand and your industry?

A financial adviser or lawyer may want a more conservative head shot.
Or they may want a full-length portrait with more formal clothes like jacket and trousers.

A social media site may wish to convey a trendy relaxed image.
They may decide that, rather than have a headshot, an image of its employees being active may be better.

A tradesperson may want to have an image of themselves in working gear with a tool as a prop.

Real estate agents tend to want half body (torso and head) shots.

There are no rules except to be true to yourself

The What

What are you going to be using these images for?

The type of image can be a point of difference like a black and white or sepia (a reddish-brown hue that resembles the effect of aging in old photographs).

If you have a team then make sure they too are on the “about” page of your website or on a separate page underneath the about page. E.g. About —–} our people.

Social media profiles are also important. They show the human touch and are more likely to attract engagement.

Then there is printed marketing material like flyers and brochures.

If you have been featured in publications, then you need a great head shot.

Most publications, primarily due to the cost, are moving away from using an in-house photographer.
Therefore, having your own portfolio of images can save you both money and time.

Maybe you’re thinking really big and looking to get your face on a billboard.

Whatever you are using it for make sure you get plenty of images, with different poses in, if possible different locations.

And by the way, there’s no rule that says you must use the same images across all platforms and marketing material.
For example, you may want to convey a different image on your social media accounts than your brochure or website.

OK, so hopefully now you can see the importance of making sure that you have images of you and your business that help you promote your brand.

The Who

But they also need to stand out!

Much as we all think we can take great selfies with our phone there is every chance that they won’t be of the standard that’s good for your marketing.

Remember that you usually only have one or two chances to make an impression with any potential or even existing customer with your marketing.

So, you have got to make it count.

How do you do that?

Employ a professional photographer that specialises in providing corporate and personal branding images by conducting business or corporate photoshoots.

You are reading this on my site wantaheadshot.com so I’m guessing that you would already know that I can help you.

I specialise in corporate and personal branding images and apart from travel photography, it’s the only genre I specialise in.

In addition to my photography skills I have 30 plus years of sales and marketing, so I have experience in what works.

And as the progressive guy that I am, I keep up to date on the latest marketing tactics that use images.

So, if you are taking my advice and looking to get a photographer to take some quality images of you and your brand please contact me and we can have a chat.