Getting in a funk with imagery to represent your brand?
So, in our crazy, visual, online world, it should be no surprise that I need to encourage you to be as
creative, standout, and not reliant on the generic fluff, its way to easy to grab and run with these days!
If you have a website/blog or social media platforms, its super important that your imagery reflects the
quality of your brand online. Remember! Quality!
Time to be brave!
Of course! The best route, by far, is to hire a talented photographer, however not all of us have the funds
for this shizzazle especially if you are just getting started, or you are an existing biz and desperately need
a refresh.
Whether you are building out your website, your blog, creating some new landing pages, or just want to
strengthen your visual brand online, this info should help you cover the basics!
Here are some quick pointers:
1. Hire a professional photographer.
This is the best option. It is also the most expensive, but if you really want to invest in your online
presence, eventually you are going to have to hire a professional for something, whether that be shots of
yourself, your products or general content imagery.
While not all businesses need to hire a professional photographer from the beginning, many should. It should
go without saying that if you have a product, you need to hire a pro. If you want to show off your unique
company culture, you should hire a pro. If you have a team you want to highlight, you should hire a pro.
Professional, high-resolution images should really showcase your brand online. All
photographers are not the same. When hiring a professional, there are some hard and fast rules
that you have to abide:
1. Always ask to see a portfolio first. Always!
2. Ask to see photos in your related business area, i.e. Don’t hire a baby photographer to shoot your
product pages!
3. Get the brief of the job in writing first.
4. Make sure you have the full rights to any images you plan on using. Important!!
5. Ask questions. If in doubt, don’t hire. There are a lot of photographers out there. You need to find the
one that fits your brand and business.
6. Don’t copy everyone else! Just because your competitors are shooting in a certain way, why follow?
You gotta STAND OUT! So, its time to unleash your inner creativity, your businesses’ super power and
remember your values, your mission and your WHY!
2. Get some good photos from free resources and sites on the web – but remember don’t go for the obvious or what’s trendy! They are likely to have been used a gazillion times, go for clever meaningful imagery that represents the point you are trying to make.
If you do use any images from free sites, you do get an option to thank the photographer, which is always a good thing to do.
If you are looking for brand-specific images, it really is better to hire someone to showcase your own
products in the best way poss!
Final Thoughts
Have a clearly defined brand identity before you start selecting images.
Sounds obvious, but many brands don’t take the time to define their imagery, even if they have spent
money on having a logo and website produced.
They get to their website (which they’ve outsourced) and have no clear guidance on the type of images
they should be choosing, or how they can communicate their message, their story, their USP and their
products.
When you are creating a brand online, you need to take the time to think about how you want to be
visually represented. Are you a hip, young, urban brand? Or are you high-end and luxury? Who are you
wanting to attract?
Make sure your visual story is your story.
Don’t pick the generic option that you see so much of around. We are all a little tired of the stock photos
that are doing the rounds. Just because you go down the stock photography route, does NOT mean you
have to look the same as everyone else. Stand out! Find a way to convey your ideas, your message and
your brand with intrigue and uniqueness.
Get creative and get people thinking. Don’t go for the obvious. Go for the un-obvious. It’s all about
creating conversation.
Think ahead!
Create a story, a compelling story at that. Take your soul mate clients on a journey of discovery. Have
some logic and strategy behind the imagery selection.
Don’t leave it till the last minute, randomly pick an image “cause that’ll do!”. Take your time. Really think
about choosing a series of images that can be dropped in throughout your posts/promotions or your
website. Top tip, if you find a photographer on a stock imagery site that lights you up, see if they have
produced a “series” of images. These are a fab way to keep it consistent, reinforce your story which will
attract and intrigue your ideal clients.
Always go high-resolution
Nobody wants to see blurry, out-of-focus images. Choose quality every time. With that being said make
sure they are optimized correctly so you save the pain of your audience waiting half hour for each image
to load (!)
Don’t overload a page with images, unless it’s intentional.
Take a good look at your site. Clean is always best. Think of the user — what do you want to them to
do and how do you want them to feel? Sometimes images can get in the way of a conversion on your
site if you are not careful.
When in doubt, edit it out.
Today’s websites have to work on mobile first. Mobile really does favour clean, uncluttered design. If
you feel that you are too ‘image heavy’ then you are probably right. Stick to the basic design principles
and when in doubt, edit it out.
To DIY or not to DIY, that is the question!?
Ok if you are just starting out and have a product based business for example, grab your iPhone, get
some “flat laying” tutorials under your belt from YouTube and do some test shots.
If you are gonna DIY product shooting to get you started at least research some super easy techniques
before you get going!
If you are a personal brand for example, and you are needing images of yourself, avoid grabbing and
editing your favourite photos from “that holiday with the girls in Spain!”
Avoid the “trends”, they are just that, “trends”. They come and go. If you base your whole imagery on
trending styles, they will fade and soon your brand will look and feel completely outdated.
Stand out from your competitors!
This is where you need to be unique.
Good luck!
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