How important is professional photography for business? The quick answer is very. With current marketing trends focusing on websites & social media, establishing a strong visual brand identity online is crucial for a business wanting to succeed in a digital-savvy world. Professional photos help to establish your brand’s identity & communicate its message to your clients & customers.
Many people now make large buying decisions, both services & products, based purely on what they see online. Often, the first thing they see, are photos. Consequently, high-quality photography is an important marketing asset for all businesses. From sole traders to large international brands.
In this post, I look at how important professional photography is for business, why you need professional photos & how I can help.
It’s all about you
Your headshot is one photo used to identify you, whilst your brand photography is about creating a portfolio of professional images that bring your brand to life. The headshot shows who you are; the brand photos tell your story.
It’s not just a photo though.
First impressions count
What’s the one thing we all do when we look for a new supplier, a service or a business contact?
We look at their website, social media pages & LinkedIn profile to check them out. We want to SEE who we are connecting with before we meet or speak with them.
In the 1960s, behavioural psychologist Dr. Albert Mehrabian researched the importance of non-verbal communication.
His studies show that 7% of all communication is verbal (the words that are spoken), 38% vocal (the way the words are said) & 55% non-verbal (expressions & body language). Known as the 55/38/7 rule, his theory is that less than 10% of human communication is made through spoken words.
What relevance does this have to photography?
The photos you use online are often your first introduction to a potential new client. The Harvard Study of Communication states that the first impression only takes seven seconds to form.
“You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.”
Now that we know how quickly people form an impression of us & the important role nonverbal signals play in communication, we can begin to understand the importance of professional photography in a business context.
Without a single word being spoken, people will form impressions of you & your business based almost entirely on what they see in your photos – your clothes, hairstyle, smile, expression & how you carry yourself.
The halo effect
They may decide that you are confident or weak, interesting or boring, friend or foe. These quick impressions can be lasting.
Known as the halo effect, this is a type of cognitive bias in which our impression of a person can also influence how we feel & think about their character. We judge someone’s educational level, career competence & success, personality & trustworthiness based almost entirely on what we see.
This is fine when the first impression is a positive one; not so fine when the first impression is negative. Linking back to photography, amateur photography will reflect poorly on your business. If your website has poor-quality images, potential clients may assume your services are poor too.
Applying the research by Mehrabian & Harvard, we have just seven seconds for the photos on your website to communicate your characteristics, personality & values to a potential client. If the images don’t immediately form a connection & appeal to them, you may never get the chance to speak with them (verbally communicate).
Business photography is so much more than a simple photo. These photos form part of a bigger brand identity that represents you & your business to the world.
So the next question is how do we ensure that the photos present you at your very best & give that all-important great first impression?
Aligning your photography with your brand identity
To fully engage with your target market, you need your photos to complement & fit with your brand values, personality & tone of voice. If your photos are at odds with any of these three elements it will add confusion to your communications & risk diluting the initial great impression.
Brand Values
Your core brand values are the beliefs you stand for as a company. They serve as the compass that guides your brand story, actions, behaviours, & decision-making process.
Building your brand around your core values allows you to grow a business that you can be proud of & passionate about. Having well-defined values helps to create a clear sense of purpose and direction for your brand.
Brand Personality
Brand personality makes your business human in the eyes of your clients.
It refers to human characteristics associated with a brand that are expressed as adjectives to convey how you want people to perceive you. For example, fun, cheerful, playful, responsible, serious, and sophisticated.
If you think about your brand as a person with unique personality traits, you can begin to show up in a way that allows you to connect with people on an emotional level.
Tone of Voice
The tone of voice is how the character of your business comes through in your words, both written & spoken. It’s not about what you say, but the way you say it.
Lorraine’s brand personality is fun, lively & colourful. The choice of background & what she wore fitted perfectly.
Why is this important?
To form visual cohesion across its brand collateral, a fun, lively & cheerful brand wants fun, lively & cheerful photos. Whereas an earnest & serious brand wants earnest & serious photos.
If your values, personality & tone of voice exude seriousness, intellectuality & professionality, bold, bright fanatical images will create a disharmonious & disjointed impression.
Going back to Mehrabian’s 55/38/7 communication theory, if people make judgements about you based on what they see, they will make judgements about your brand personality & whether it is the right fit for them, based on the tone & personality presented in the photos you share.
Mark works with high-level business executives & needed his headshot to exude professionalism, seriousness & reliability. The fun yellow background photo Lorraine’s photo would not have matched his brand.
Are we beginning to see how important professional photography is for businesses?
It goes further.
It’s all about your client
I’ve talked about creating photos to attract & impress your target client. But who is your client & why is knowing this important?
You know who you are & what you do. You know why you do it & how you do it. When you book me to photograph your business I’m not taking photos for you. I’m not telling you your own story.
I’m shooting photos for your client. We’re introducing you to them & telling them your story. You want your photos to attract & connect with them. To do that, we need to know who that person is. What do they do & what do they like?
We then take photos that communicate who you are to them in a way that they understand.
It’s not about me, the photographer or about you, my client (despite what I said in a previous paragraph). It’s all about them, your clients. Knowing who your client is will help guide the tone of your photos.
Betty Bramble’s clients are women with young families. She needed her brand photography to attract & appeal to them.
How important is professional photography for business?
To summarise so far, professional photography will…
…identify yourself & tell your brand story.
…help you make a great first impression on potential clients.
…communicate visually with your target market.
…show your client who you are & what you do.
…complement your brand identity.
…portray your brand values, personality & tone of voice.
We’ve discovered why it’s important to have professional photography for business, but how do we put all this into practice & apply it to our imagery?
How I help you get the photos that make a great first impression & attract your target client?
As a photographer, I have two main areas of expertise. Firstly, I create dynamic, high-quality & creative headshots for all business professionals. From the start-up sole trader through to large international brands. Headshots that help you & your team to make a great first impression.
Secondly, I specialise in brand photography; helping you tell your brand’s story. Communicating to your clients who you are, what you do & how you do it with creative imagery.
I don’t just take photos.
You hire me for my ideas, creativity, knowledge & expertise, but in reality, when hiring me you get so much more than just a photographer. I work with you to plan & prepare for your shoot.
We delve deep into your brand, answering those questions. Explore your vision, brand values & personality to ensure that the photos that we take work alongside your existing brand collateral. We look at the who, what, when, where, why & how. Who you are, what you do, why you do it, how you do it & who you do it for.
As we’ve already explored, you want your photos to cohesively fit with your brand values, brand personality & tone of voice. All elements need to work in harmony with one another. Your photos need to express not only who you are & what you do, but your values & your personality.
I want a clear understanding of you & your business before I pick up my camera.
One of my brand values is to build positive, friendly, relationships. Relationships deliver results, and we make a difference by working together.
Because…
Photography is all about relationships
There are two relationships in every photo. The relationship between me (the photographer) & you (the subject). Then there’s the relationship between you (the subject) & the viewer (your client).
The relationship I build with you helps me to capture your authentic being. The photos we create together help you build a relationship with your clients.
Human connection is an energy exchange between people. It has the power to deepen the moment, inspire change & build trust. One of the most powerful elements in photography is capturing emotion to connect the viewer to the subject.
Through the organic shoot planning process, we get to know each other. The more you tell me about your business, the more I learn about you & the stronger the relationship becomes. At the shoot, you’re not standing in front of a stranger’s camera feeling awkward, you’re standing in front of someone you know’s camera feeling comfortable & relaxed. This results in comfortable & relaxed photos that capture the real you.
Photography is more than just a photo
You may think you just need ‘a photo’. Any photo. My goal is to make sure it is the right photo(s) because when it comes to business photography, there’s a big difference.
The right photo(s) will:
- Raise your online profile (and I haven’t even talked about how photos can boost your SEO, I think that’s a whole other post!)
- Help you to make a great first impression, (remember, it only takes 7 seconds for someone to form an impression of you).
- Communicate non-verbally who you are & what you do, (remember, 93% of human communication is non-verbal).
- Complement your brand values & personality.
- Match your tone of voice.
- Create a connection & relationship with your target client.
- Attract & appeal to your target market.
That is why it is important to have high-quality, professional photography for business!
About me
I have over 15 years of experience in corporate photography. Specialising in creative, location-based photography I help businesses create a great first impression whilst communicating their business & brand values to their clients.
Located in Croydon, I am ideally placed for corporate & business photography shoots in London, Kent, Surrey & the South East.
Think of your business photography as a first face-to-face meeting with a client. What message does your imagery give?