Business photo shoots are not a new trend. They have been there since time immemorial, and businesses have been using them for branding and marketing purposes, among others. Usually, you can always take the photos yourself, or even use stock images and skip organizing for and hiring an expert for a professional shoot.
The only downside with using stock images or taking the photos yourself is that chances are high you’re going to end up with crappy images that may toss you in the center of social media ridicule. The images may also misrepresent your company’s values and missions. In today’s post, we explore some of the reasons businesses prefer to organize professional shoots and why doing the same may be right for your business too.
You’re Assured of Grabbing Your Customers’ Attention
It is estimated that visual representation of a brand can increase customers’ retention by over 80 percent. Now by taking the time to organize for professional shoots, you’ll be able to spot the critical aspects of your business that you’d like your customers and the general public to know.
This is important because the company images on your social media pages and your website are what your target client base will most probably interact with first. In essence, they act like the brand’s ambassadors and may influence their perception of your brand.
You get all the Time to Choose the Right Talent for your Project
If you hold a business shoot without any proper planning in place, chances are high you’re going to end up with amateurish photographers. Such talents enjoy taking risks and won’t mind gambling with your project to see whether they get it right or not.
On the contrary, if you pick an experienced talent with longer resumes and plenty of accomplishments, you get some sense of surety that the project will be completed per your expectations. Most brands prefer older talents because they know that they’ve worked through different work cultures and understand what different audiences would be interested in and what would be a turnoff for them.
Besides, they’ve also documented their achievements and background in simple and easy to follow formats, so it is easy for you to assess them. This will help you get rid of uncertainty from both the sessions and what you will place online.
Authenticity
As a brand, your customers expect you to hold incredible levels of integrity. This includes being transparent and totally honest with them.
The images about your brand online will do the most work for you in this case. If the consumers think that you are faithful towards yourself and true towards them, they’ll be more than willing to invest their trust in you.
One of the primary factors that can break this trust is using images that don’t truly represent your brands. One would think, “If you don’t really believe in yourself, why would I trust you with projects that are dear to me?”
When you organize for a professional shoot, you won’t be attracted to stock photography, which anybody can buy and use anywhere the way they like. Instead, you’ll wait to get original images about your brand and remain authentic to your client base.
The Competitive Edge
Companies are always competing with the competition. In a rush to win the lion’s share of your client base, you need something that will help you stand apart from the crowd.
Here’s where organizing a professional shoot for your business comes into play again. Organizing and planning yourself for the sessions will put you in a better position to make the right decisions.
You’ll be able to anticipate the needs and potential problems that you can solve and identify the best way to visually present to your customers the choices you have for offering solutions to their pain points. The high quality images you use in such scenarios could make the difference when clients engage with content on your business website or social media channels.
Therefore, professional photography will put you with your clients on the same page outright and show the potential clients that you can provide them with the quality service or product they need. This would also pave the way for continued business growth.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engine spiders today crawl even images when displaying contents on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Interestingly, over 62 percent of millennial customers and Gen Z fancy visual search compared to other technologies.
This implies that if you can get high quality photos of your business, your search engine visibility will improve significantly. Besides high quality images make the content on your company’s web pages and social media more appealing to consume and easy to share.
This is more practical considering that social media posts that have images after every 100 words get shared twice as high compared to posts without quality pictures. With that being said, it would make sense to conclude that professional photographs will not only increase your rankings on SERPs but also increase your brand’s visibility on social media.
How Can I Find the Best Photographer for a Professional Shoot for Business?
It’s important to note that the market is also a little saturated with professional and amateurish photographers. Ideally, you’re not looking for a risk-taker or someone who is still discovering themselves. To get a reliable photographer for your company, here is a summary of some of the most important factors you may need to consider.
- Technical Competency: A photographer may have high end and latest photography equipment, but then he/she doesn’t quite understand how to use them to bring out the quality that their clients demand. To ensure they’re technically competent, be sure to check their past projects. Have a look at the shots they took in different business locations as well as conditions.
- Creative Competency: The line between an average image and a stunning professional image is very thin when it comes to creativity. To leverage creativity, a photographer must not only be experienced but also knowledgeable and have a burning desire to continue learning and produce exceptional images. To check for this, you’ll still need to review of their portfolios. You should be able to pick positives from the photos; the photos should display consistency in terms of creativity and style.
- Commitment: Finally, a reliable photographer should show commitment to your project. He/she should be able to arrive on time on the agreed date and let you know alternative options if anything goes out of the plan.
Do you need Help with Professional Shoots for Your Business?
Getting the perfect snaps for your business isn’t all about posing for pictures. It demands a lot in terms of preparation and competency to get the desired results.
However, if you don’t have the required equipment and editing software required to make outstanding images, you may need help from reputed photography experts like Classic Memories.