Photographs are of massive importance to your business. They can influence your customers buying decisions, dictate the market you sell in and the price point you sell for. But what types of photographs do you actually need to market your business?
1. PHOTOS OF YOU
Every business, especially those with a personal brand, need photographs of you and your team. These are especially important if you’re service-based where people will be dealing with you directly. If they’re coming to you for your knowledge and expertise, photographs of you will help them to get to know you and create trust which is more likely to convert into sales. If you are a product-based business where your products are handmade by you, or you’re sourcing the products yourself, it’s also important that customers feel like they can get to know and trust you. Remember that people like to buy from people. You are what sets your business apart from competitors.
2. PHOTOS OF YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE People won’t buy what you’re offering if they can’t see what it is. Good photographs of your product can have a massive influence on what market you sell in, what price point you sell it for and your conversion rate. Whether it’s simple photographs of your product in a studio style set up or in a lifestyle environment you need to show your product off at its best. Photographs of your product in use are also really important. Lifestyle images of your product allow your audience to more easily imagine the product in their own life. If they can do that they are more likely to convert into a sale. And combined with the trust they’ve already gained from getting to know you through your images, they are likely to become repeat customers. Photographs of a service can be more difficult depending on what that service is. If you provide a tangible or physical service like party planning or massage. Your photographs of your service are going to be photographs of the finished thing, customers enjoying themselves at a party or you performing your service. If your service is more mentoring or coaching style then your service is you. So your images will be more about showing who you are and building that trust.
3. PHOTOS OF YOUR CUSTOMER JOURNEY OR TOUCHPOINTS Photographs of your customer journey are important for setting expectations and boundaries. You need to show what the process of working with you looks like. If you have a physical shop customers will be visiting, what does it look like. If you are service-based what are the touchpoints where you connect with clients, is it via Skype, do you work with them in person, what does your process look like. You can include other people in your images to demonstrate this and again that allows them to put themselves in that process and imagine what it would be like working with you. Your touchpoints also include things like images of your website in use or your packaging. You put so much time and effort into every aspect of your business. Your brand isn't just your product.
4. BEHIND THE SCENES Behind the scenes elements are one of the best ways to tell your story. If you’re a handmade business, show that off. Show your skills and the expertise you have, show your audience why you are worth working with, why your product or service is of value. Think about all the aspects of your job, do your customers realise how long your processes take. You might sell a digital product, but do they realise you design it yourself. Showing them the behind the scenes allows them to feel involved and instantly more connected to what you do.
5. FILLER IMAGES Filler images also come in handy for your business. These could be photographs that aren’t necessarily directly related to your business but they fit with your colour scheme. They could be things that your customers are interested in. Or they could be images that are mainly empty allowing text to be easily overlayed. Stock images can sometimes be really useful to use as filler images. Find out what your stock photography style is and get free stock images by completing this quiz!
Got questions about photography for your business? Then let's chat lucyhannahphotography@gmail.com