Do you ever find yourself struggling to find content to post, wondering how to engage with customers over the internet, and feeling defeated by all the apps, expectations, and mixed messages on what you're supposed to be doing? I've got both hands raised. Our online identities as small businesses are SO important, but can also be SO hard to nail down.
Enter Brand Photography. Brand photography is a way to capture your businesses' identity through photography. It's a way to be intentional about the visual message you're putting out into the world, and a way to connect with the right people faster, because when they see your page they instantly know what you're all about.
Do you dread picking up your phone and clicking on the little Instagram app because once you get there it's an hour-long, agonizing process of trying to come up with something to say?
Do you keep using the same photos or graphics over and over again because you just don't have time between the million-and-one other tasks on your plate to take fresh photos?
Are you frustrated by the quality and consistency of your posts because you know that what you bring to the table is AWESOME?
Here's the thing. You are awesome. Small businesses, local food, and farmers markets are so important, and the things you're serving up need to be seen [and tasted, of course].
Brand photography is an awesome way to do that. So here are 5 things you need to know about the importance of great brand photography -
1. People shop with their eyes.
How many times have you bought a bottle of wine because it had a really cool label? Or followed an Instagram account because their photos made you feel happy? We cannot deny the truth that we shop first with our eyes, especially as our lives become more and more virtual. When we're browsing online, either specifically for something to buy, or just for entertainment, inspiration, and information, we're more likely to click on the pages, pins, and accounts that look good to us.
Your visuals matter.
The photos you post online are the first thing people notice when they come across your page.
2. Consistency and quality build trust.
Build trust with your followers by posting regularly, keeping your messaging consistent, and considering how your posts add value to their feeds.
Brand photography helps you accomplish all three of these things. By having a reserve of photos you'll be able to post more often. Your images will be consistently high quality and consistent with the visual story of your brand. And because your posts will be so top-notch, your followers will love seeing them.
The internet is chock-full of your ideal customers, you just need to reach them.
3. You can claim your time back by batch-working
As much as I would love it to be true, multi-tasking is never that productive. Instead of trying to do 15 different small tasks in an afternoon - switching from one to the other and spending half your brainpower transitioning - try blocking time to do focus on just one task. Batch-working is when you segment off a chunk of time to focus on a single topic - say, scheduling Instagram posts for the week. Instead of having "post on Instagram" as a daily item on your to-do list (that likely takes way longer than it should), block off time at the beginning of the week to write captions, select photos, and have your post-planning squared away.
This way, when it comes time to post, you've got a photo in hand, a well written caption ready to copy-paste into the app, and it takes all of 5 minutes to get a high quality, on-brand piece of content out into the world.
By blocking off time and creating posts in batches, your brain doesn't have to warm up to the task each time - thus saving you time and energy.
Seasonal brand photography sessions are a great example of batch-working. These sessions allow you to focus an hour or two on creating content with a photographer - they'll do the heavy-lifting, edit the images for you, and deliver a set of cohesive photos of you and your products ready to fuel your social media posts for the next few months. Sound amazing? That's because it is.
4. Showing your face builds human connection.
You've got something that shopping at the grocery store just can't offer. So show your face on your feed! And this doesn't mean grainy selfies - Brand photography sessions include awesome high-quality photos of you, in your element, doing what you love to do. No stiff shots of you sitting on a stool in a collared shirt.
5. High quality content will get shared.
Lastly, if you post high quality content it will get SHARED. Farmers markets are always looking for photos to share on their Facebook pages - and that’s free publicity my friends.
Here's an example. If you post a recipe using your product, paired with an awesome photo, chances are someone like me will see your post, go "Wow, that looks awesome" and send it to my best friend saying "Let's make this next girls night, it looks so good!" Then she'll click on your post, see your collection of gorgeous photos of the produce you grow, and hit 'follow', because who doesn't want gorgeous veggies showing up on their Instagram feeds? And done. You just grew your audience organically.
If you're ready to jump in and get high quality (fun, not awkward, and totally usable) brand photos for your business, I'm your girl.
I'm based in Somerset, WI and make it my business to offer affordable photography services to folks in the local food industry.
Why? Because it matters so much. Because I want small businesses like yours to succeed. Because I want more people to get excited about shopping local, about eating seasonally, and about prioritizing their communities over convenience.
For more info on booking sessions, what they cost, and how to get a hold of me CLICK HERE.
