What is Brand Photography?
Brand photography is a collection of professional photos that represent your business visually through the use of colors, sets, props, and more. This helps keep your branding consistent and looking it’s best across all of your marketing materials. It also allows you to make human connection through your marketing efforts by showing pictures of yourself and ones that best represent your personal brand. When someone makes the decision on if they should use someones products or services they want to feel like they resonate with them beforehand. Once they feel that connection a relationship is built and once that relationship is built sales happen.
Here are some ideas on what your brand photo shoot would showcase and where you can use these photos.
What Photos Are Taken at a Brand Photo Shoot
You and Your Team
When owning your own business you want others to feel connected with you as much as possible. What’s the best way to do that? By showcasing you and your team, of course! Showing your face and personality is going to help others feel like they already know you which will help with building a relationship. It's also going to show what the company culture is like and how awesome it would be to work with you and your brand.
Your Products & Services
Not only is it important to get to know you and your team more but also seeing your products and services as well. When people get to actually see examples of your products or services they have a much better understanding of what you can provide them. Demonstrating how to use your product or how your team provides your services is exactly what they want to see so they know if it’s a good match.
Your Work Space
If you provide a service where clients come to you then it’s a great idea to give them a sneak peak of where they would be using your services. It helps give them a taste of your space and a feel for the atmosphere that you provide. If you don’t have clients come to your location, that’s okay! It’s still a great idea to show off where you handle business and spend most of your days.
Who You Are Outside of Your Business
The best way to connect with others is to show them who you really are outside of your business. Even entrepreneurs have a life outside of their business. ;) What are your hobbies? What do you do on the weekends? What speaks to your soul? If they see that they have a common ground with you then they’re instantly feel that connection. And that’s what brand photography is all about! Making the human to human connection. If I were to see someone doing yoga or going on a hike I would instantly think, “that’s my girl!”. ;)
Where to Use Your Photos From the Brand Photo Shoot
Website
The first place everyone goes to when looking up a business is their website so it’s most important to show your best images there. You can’t have pictures from a cell phone on your website! Professional photos make such a difference and are instantly noticeable to the viewer. Using your photos from the brand photo shoot in your “About Me” page, “Services” (hence taking photos of you doing the work), and even the “Pricing” page (to help lighten up the context a bit) can really provide value to your website. They want to see you, who you are, and what can you provide to them.
Social Media
The next place everyone goes to is the business’ social media pages. Again, it’s all about connections and that’s exactly what social media does for people… it connects them. Conversations build from posts which then leads to relationships which then (again) leads to sales. Having all of your posts consistent with each other really showcases your brand in the best light and creates engagement on your pages. That engagement is exactly what you’re looking for when building your personal brand. It’s a domino effect!
Educational Resources/Blogs
Putting together a new ebook, blog post, or presentation? Having the right photos to highlight your brand is exactly what needs to be added into those resources. Since these pieces are very text heavy, having the right photos to break up the text will keep your readers engagement and continue reading through. Doing a brand photo shoot will give you a whole collection of photos that will give the right context to these resources so the reader can, not only, read it but also see it.
Email Campaigns
Once you have your list of contacts you need to stay top of mind to them and one of the best way to do that is through email campaigns. Whether you’re sending out your latest blog post, newsletter, or educational resources you’ll want to include photos there. Photos are eye catching and will intrigue your reader instantly. Therefore, YOU and your brand have to show up.
Thank You Notes
Sending your clients thank you notes is a great way to give them an awesome customer experience. It makes them feel appreciated which will make them want to continue to come back to you. So send them a picture from your brand photo shoot to really add personality to it.
PR/Media/Press Package
Being a business owner means you have to put yourself out there more and spread the latest news of what you're doing. Whether you’re looking to do a podcast episode (like my Inspired by HERstory podcast), get a published article, or be a speaker for an event you’ll need to have the right head shot to provide for advertising for the event. If you keep using that corporate head shot you took years ago people won’t believe it’s really you!
Final Thoughts
Being an entrepreneur means you have a lot on your plate but you still need to show up in the best way possible in order to bring the right clients to you. Doing a brand photo shoot allows you to take something off of your plate and have a whole collection of photos to use throughout all of your marketing efforts. Every time you get that new blog post done, create content for your social posts, or put together a new email campaign you'll already have the perfect photos to add right into it.
Allow yourself to continue putting efforts into building your business and doing the projects you really want to work on and allow me to take something off your plate by doing your brand photo shoot.
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