Every business relies on a brand to help them get their message out there, to make the right impression on their clients and customers, and to foster recognition and loyalty. A big part of your brand is the imagery that you use to represent the business. To that end, a commercial photographer can play a key role in making sure that the imagery you use is of the best quality.
Here, we’re going to look at why it’s the best option to go with the pros when it comes to your brand imagery and how a commercial photographer can help your business.
What is commercial photography?
First of all, let’s get specific about what services, exactly, a commercial photographer offers. In broad terms, they will work with companies to help take any manner of photos that are designed to be used for branding purposes, be it for adverts, the website, press releases, and more.
Some of the more specific services that are considered to be commercial photography include the following:
- Corporate portraiture
- Product photography
- Event photography
- Media + PR photography
- Architecture + Design photography
- Branding + Marketing photography
To these ends, commercial photographers will use all manner of methods to enhance their photography. This includes set design, working with stylists and models, using drone photography, and more to help capture the perfect picture.
But what are the benefits of working with a professional to do this instead of taking those photos yourself?
Mel Trebilcock
Making the best impression
The difference in terms of quality and composition when you work with a professional, compared to when you take the DIY approach, is insurmountable. Your branded imagery is often your opportunity to make a good first impression with your customer. Clean, well-composed, and engaging photos are going to do a much better job at grabbing their attention and convincing them that you are a professional business, the “real deal,” rather than an amateur. Amateur photography simply isn’t going to cut it.
You want to make sure that your brand elicits a positive response when the customer or client first claps eyes on it, to make it easier for them to go down the funnel towards the point of conversion.
Work with those who know how to tell your story
Commercial photographers understand that the role of a photograph is to do more than look pretty. You’re trying to craft your brand story, the narrative that underpins why your brand is valuable. Perhaps you’re trying to demonstrate particular values, to show the pedigree of the people in your business, or to highlight special events such as product launches. Commercial photographers work with the understanding of how to frame their pictures so that they do tell your story.
This counts for your products, as well. Well-staged and detailed photos of your products are going to play a big part in telling the story that helps them get sold, whether it’s from the pages of a magazine or from an e-commerce website.
They establish credibility with your crowd
A good picture is a good proof that your business is the professional outfit that people want it to be. Having high-quality images of your staff, your workplace, your products, and the events that you host or attend serve as evidence that your business is up, running, legitimate, and puts the effort into representing itself in the right way. Simply put, if you want people to take the legitimacy of your brand seriously, then you need to invest in it to some degree.
This credibility that you get by putting high-quality images to your name makes it easier for customers and clients to trust your brand. With trust comes a higher chance of converting, and eventually loyalty if you’re able to foster it correctly.
They’re highly reusable and highly shareable
One of the best things about good photography is how versatile it can be. When it comes to shots of your team, individual staff members, your business property, and your products, they can be used in a variety of ways. They can serve as images for insightful blog posts, for social media messages, for advertisements, for press release imagery, and much more. As such, you’re much more likely to get a better bang for your buck with high-quality commercial photography than you would with a hastily-made amateur shot.
Furthermore, it has long been proven (time and time again) that posts on social media that use photography and pictures tend to get shared and engaged much more widely than posts that are just text alone. People flock to engaging imagery and this effect is going to be only heightened if you’re using the kind of quality photography that a professional and offer you.
Lilly Fontana HMUA
Photos are a valuable organic marketing tool
Now, to look to uses that are a little more specific, high-quality photos also have a distinct use in the real of search engine optimisation. Effectively, you can optimise the photos that a professional takes for you, meaning that your website is more likely to be found on search engines such as Google.
Search engine optimisation, or SEO for short, has become a key factor in much of modern online marketing. Making your brand more discoverable in the online world means that more people are going to find your website. SEO makes sure that you’re focusing on attracting those who are most likely to convert and become your customers.
Add that to the fact that high-quality product imagery can already be used on your website and other e-commerce portals to promote your goods, and it’s easy to see how commercial photographs can be used as a multi-pronged marketing tool. This can make them one of the most cost-effective and versatile marketing assets at your disposal.
What can a commercial photographer do for you?
Hopefully, the above points have given you a good idea of what commercial photography can do for you and your business. Whatever type of photographed images you need, don’t hesitate to get in touch and we can make it a reality together.
