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Why Photos Matter For Your Business

A picture is worth a thousand words. It’s a common phrase we’ve all heard. It is a popular saying because pictures are important — especially when it comes to digital and visual marketing for your business. Think of it as “a picture is worth a thousand clicks.” 

The Benefits Of Using Images

business photographyThe right image can make all the difference in successful visual marketing to reach your market with your message. We are all under a constant barrage of messaging and advertisements. Whether someone is scrolling through social media or just surfing the web, a good photo is much more likely to grab their attention than any written text you might want them to see. Once you have gotten the attention of the reader, you will keep their attention longer if your website or blog post contains attractive imagery. When you bring someone in only to offer them a plain block of text — they are as good as gone. On the other hand, when they see high-quality and interesting photos, your chances of getting some to open and engage with your content goes way up. It is the same with your social media content. BuzzSumo reported that Facebook posts that have images earn more than double those without. They also found that more pictures in your article mean more shares for your article. Whether you are marketing for a product, service, event, or something else, the images you use are going to help make sales. Especially now. Online shopping has never been more popular. Think about your own experience when you are looking online. You’d want to actually see what you are paying for before hitting the checkout button. Well executed visual marketing will bring in more revenue!  Take a look at these statistics. 67% of consumers say the quality of each product image is very important when choosing and purchasing products. Customers also think that product image quality is more valuable than product information (63%), a detailed product description (54%) or customer ratings and reviews (53%).

Images To Avoid

As helpful as images can be, using the wrong ones can be bad for business. Some are just not going to interest readers. Others can actually get you into trouble. Here’s a look at some images that you should avoid in your visual marketing efforts.
  • Posed images — Obviously posed images aren’t going to draw much interest. Photos of people in the act of doing something — real life moments — will help readers relate to your message.
  • Avoid stereotypes — Traditional roles are becoming scarce. Try not to use too many images that fit the cliché stereotypes of age, race, gender, or anything else. You want your business to appeal to people of all ages, races, and genders so use images that will reflect that.
  • No cheese please — Authenticity can go right out the window with photography that is nothing but cheesy, and clearly fake smiles. You’ll get much more engagement with photography of people looking natural and authentic.
  • No creativity — The competition for your audience is not going away so do something to stand out. Even when you have a stock photo, there are ways to be creative with it. This is where a program like Photoshop can come in handy. Find a way to weave your brand into the photo!
  • Forget perfection — We would all love to be perfect with our business, right? But that may not make the most effective photos. The audience will likely recognize a “perfect” photo as an advertisement, whereas an imperfect photo may resonate more naturally.

Stay Out Of Trouble

business photographyThe most important thing to keep in mind when it comes to photography is to make sure you don’t do something that can get you into legal trouble. This means knowing the copyright status of any image that you use. We’d love to help you prevent this from becoming a problem, so here are a few tips to keep you out of trouble.

Use royalty-free images

There are lots of places you can do this. Be careful to make sure the source is reputable. Remember, even if it is unintentional, using photos that you don’t have permission for can leave you vulnerable to fees, lawsuits, or maybe even both. One way to make sure you find usable images is with a Google image search. Here’s how: When you do a Google Search, you can filter your results to find images, videos, or text that you have permission to use. To do this, use an Advanced Search filter called “usage rights” that lets you know when you can use, share, or modify something you find online. Follow these steps to find images, text, and videos you can reuse.
  • Go to Advanced Image Search for images or Advanced Search for anything else.
  • In the “all these words” box, type what you want to search.
  • In the “Usage rights” section, use the drop-down to choose what kind of license you want the content to have.
  • Select Advanced Search.
Note: Before reusing content, make sure that its license is legitimate and check the exact terms of reuse. For example, the license might require that you give credit to the image creator when you use the image. Google can’t tell if the license label is legitimate, so we don’t know if the content is lawfully licensed.

Take Your Own

When you take your own photos, there is nothing to worry about when it comes to copyright. And taking your own photos has never been easier. You probably have a phone with the capability of taking some pretty high-quality photographs. Plus, when you do your own photos, you know that they are going to be unique to your business and brand.

We Can Help!

business photography Quality photography is more important now than ever before. Maybe you aren’t comfortable taking your own photos or how to use them. Don’t worry. We’ve got your back. We specialize in architectural, product, portrait, and travel photography. Have camera, will travel. We thrive on making the ordinary appear extra-ordinary. We’re pretty good at capturing the extra-ordinary too. Events, architecture, portraits, food, product, travel, adventure, and lifestyle are our areas of expertise. Contact us today for more information about how we can help you use imagery to grow your business. Don’t feel like you just have to take our word for it. Here’s just one of many testimonials. “Arcane Marketing recently provided a great collaboration opportunity for several local video producers, like myself, to team up on a large-scale production for Idaho Steel’s Centennial Celebration. This was both enjoyable to shoot and highly appreciated by the event’s attendees – and the client. This was a win-win!” — Steven Vest
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