If you’re investing in a professional photography shoot, you want to make sure you get the most value out of it. To do so, it’s important to plan ahead and be prepared.
From experience I know that the memorable and talked about websites tend to have best visual content.
There are many reasons for this but neuroscientists explaining it very simply will tell you people remember visuals easier than text.
On the World Wide Web we know to get our message across quickly that the quickest way to communicate with a human being is using visuals.
With this in mind, photography and video has become incredibly important in marketing, so many of us now find ourselves hiring photographers and their crews to illustrate our product lines and brand stories.
Simply put, if we want to elevate ourselves above the marketing chatter, it is important that our brand is memorable so people talk about it.
Here are a few points to get more value out of your investment when planning a photography shoot.
- Defining what brand story you need to convey is important in order to ensure that your photography shoot aligns with your overall branding and messaging. This will help to ensure that your images effectively communicate the values and identity of your brand to your target audience.
- Considering what brand visuals you need to use consistently on social media is important for building brand recognition and consistency across all of your visual communications. This will help to ensure that your images are cohesive and easily recognizable as belonging to your brand, even when viewed out of context.
- Considering who your customers are is important for tailoring your visual communications to your target audience. By understanding the demographics, interests, and behaviors of your customers, you can create images that will resonate with them and be more likely to drive engagement and conversions.
- Considering where your customers are most likely to encounter your images is important for ensuring that your images are seen by the right people. This may include social media channels, websites, or physical locations where your target audience is likely to be present.
- Considering the time of day that your customers are most likely to be on social media channels or reading newspapers is important for ensuring that your images are seen by your target audience when they are most likely to be engaged.
- Identifying what newspapers your customers read is important for reaching them through print media. By understanding which publications your target audience is likely to be reading, you can submit your images to be featured in those publications, potentially reaching a wider audience.
- Which images do you have that may suit those publications? It’s important to review the images that you have available from your photography shoot, and consider which ones would be most suitable for the publications you are targeting. This could include images that are particularly high-quality, visually interesting, or that align with the themes and content of the publications in question.
- Identifying key journalists in your niche is important for building relationships with individuals who can help to increase the visibility of your brand and its products or services. This may include journalists who write for publications that your target audience reads, or who cover topics that are relevant to your business.
- Being polite but having some “grit” when communicating with journalists means being professional and respectful in your interactions while also being persistent and tenacious in your efforts to secure coverage for your brand. This may involve following up with journalists multiple times and being willing to negotiate to find a mutually beneficial solution.
- Being consistent with your communications is important for building trust and credibility with your target audience. This means ensuring that your messaging, branding, and visual communications are consistent across all channels and platforms.
- Try and make your visual communications useful for your clients, this means considering what your clients would like to know and what is useful for them when putting together your visual communications.
- Being memorable is important for making sure that your brand and products or services stand out in the minds of your target audience. This may involve using unique or unexpected imagery, creating a strong visual identity, or developing a memorable tagline or slogan.
- Having clear and consistent calls to action with your published images means including a clear message or instruction for your audience on what they should do next, such as visit your website, make a purchase, or sign up for a newsletter. This helps to increase engagement and conversions from your visual communications.