Top 7 Ways Using Professional Photography Will Help Grow Your Business
Covered in this post—Reasons to use a professional photographer:
In today’s world, everything is digital and virtual is the new normal. Whether in our professional or personal lives, most of our time and effort is spent online. Using professional photography across your website, social media channels and other digital platforms can make a huge difference in not only capturing attention for your product or services, but also increasing your visibility online. Literally every business, no matter the size or industry, can benefit from hiring a professional photographer and utilizing corporate photography across both online and offline channels.
Still having a hard time justifying investing in professional photography? Here are the top 7 ways using a professional photographer can make a real impact on your business.
1. Your photos reporesent your brand.
Low quality, unprofessional photos and images on your website and social media will portray the same about your company and the products or services you offer. Often, the pictures you have online are the first things people see when researching your business. First impressions mean a lot, and if you cut corners with the images you use you might not be able to get a second chance with potential customers. Having quality corporate photography as an important part of your digital strategy for this year is a smart move towards reaching new customers and growing your business. Pictures can show potential customers what exactly your business has to offer instead of just telling them. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so make sure yours are saying the right things to your audience.
Mark Campbell Productions recently helped CJBS, a Chicago-area accounting firm, give some personality to their brand by shooting some photos for a website refresh. Check out all the details in this case study.
2. Professional photos are versatile and can be used in many ways.
One of the best benefits of hiring a professional photographer to capture the essential images you need to market your business is how versatile they are. There are so many ways to use the corporate images a professional photographer provides, both online and offline. They are the perfect way to refresh your website and also build your brand on social media. They can also be used in blog post, thought-leadership articles or papers, or in webinars and presentations. Offline, they can be used in product brochures, billboards, manuals and more. The opportunities are literally endless, and the photos will provide you so many ways to build your brand and engage with your customers in meaningful ways.
3. Customers want to know you (NOT stock photos).
Once you decide to make imagery a core part of your digital presence, whether it be on your website or social media, you may start to consider just using stock photos or taking the photos yourself. After all, this will be less expensive than hiring a professional photographer, right? The problem is that stock photos are very generic and do not say anything about your business. Using professional, corporate photography will give an authentic image of you and your business – what you stand for, who are the faces behind the company and actual images of your products. Your customers want to know YOU, and if you simply use stock photos that anyone can use, you are missing out on a real opportunity to connect with your audience and engage with them on a whole other level. One great way to let your audience get to know you is through corporate headshots so actual faces get associated with your company.
Mark Campbell Productions makes it easy and can schedule on-site corporate headshot sessions for groups that are convenient and efficient. Learn more about on-site sessions here.
4. Using corporate photos will take your online presence up a notch.
Now more than ever, people go online to make purchases, research a product before buying it in person, or get to know a company that they are unfamiliar with. Having professional images showcasing your products and your business can be an effective sales tool as they can show all the little details and visual features that text alone simply cannot. If you have an online store, having professional product photos are essential in securing the sale and leading people to those purchasing decisions. Or maybe you work in real estate and want to showcase a new property tour or architectural design. There really is no substitution for professional photography to catch all the thoughtful details. The bottom line is that having poor quality or unengaging photos will not only hurt your potential online sales in the short-term, but it may also deter a person from ever coming back to visit your site which will hurt your sales in the long-term.
5. Professional photography will help you get more out of conferences and events.
Planning in-person conferences and events is a great way to connect with your current and potential clients and engage with them in a real way that is hard to do virtually. Hiring a professional event photographer to capture all the action is essential in not only capturing the excitement of attendees and helping them relive the memories, but professional event photos are also perfect for post-event thank you emails, event summaries for sponsors and in collateral and promotions for the event the following year. You may think someone from your staff will be able to just snap a few pictures, however having a dedicated event photographer who knows the best angles and who is able to capture your event attendees, sponsors and speakers at their best moments is crucial. Try considering the following:
Candid, photo-journalistic images captured throughout your event, whether it’s a conference or trade show to a gala or golf outing.
Well-posed photos of your speakers, award-winners and attendees.
Experiences including headshot stations, slide shows, and step + repeats with on-site printing.
Wondering what it might look like to hire a professional photographer for your event? SilkRoad Technology brings Mark Campbell Productions along to their user conferences to capture all the details. Check out all the details in this event case study.
6. Images can make it easier to find your company online.
By now you’ve probably heard of SEO (search engine optimization), which basically is the process of improving your website to increase visibility when people are searching for your company or your products in Google or other search engines. SEO is the practice of optimizing certain areas of your site to help it perform better in search engine ranking results. The better visibility your pages have, the more likely you are to stand out and grab the attention of your prospective customers. One of the elements of SEO is images and having professional corporate images can help your site get found by people searching for your services and will also rank your website higher in search results. Having optimized images can not only get your site found, but it can also keep prospective customers on your site longer and keep them engaged with your content.
7. Professional photos will help you stand out.
Corporate photography can give you the competitive edge you’ve been looking for and help you stand out from all the other businesses providing the same products or services as you do. Professional photos can help strengthen your brand and articulate why you are better than your competitors and what makes you different. We live in a very visual world, and beautiful corporate images can go a long way in making sure people remember your business and what you stand for. Don’t miss this opportunity to showcase your brand in the best way possible and differentiate your company from everyone else.
When it comes down to it, investing in professional corporate photography is simply a smart business decision and will pay off dividends in your marketing and social media efforts in the coming months. You may think you don’t have the budget or resources to spend on it, but for all you will get back and be able to use the images for, it just makes sense. Professional photos reinforce to your clients and prospective customers that you value quality and professionalism and are the type of company they would want to do business with.
Still have questions or not sure who to reach out to? Mark Campbell Productions can help. We are a team of talented Chicago professional photographers and commercial video production professionals ready to take your brand to the next level. We will partner with you to create engaging content and professional images that will stand out in your marketing campaigns, enhance your digital presence and will showcase your brand in the best way possible. Partnering with MCP means having access to an established team of creative minds and talent at your disposal. Let us come up with fresh ideas to incorporate professional photography and corporate images into your marketing plan for this year. We can make your marketing budget go further and help you create compelling content that will make a real impact to your business.
Give us a call or contact us today!