A picture is worth a thousand words. That’s the saying that we are all familiar with. When it comes to your brand and how you visually market it, do you find yourself asking how can you strategically take this photo to best portray your business? This question boggles all business owners but Isabel Media Studios during our first Local First Workshop, How Photography Drives Visual Marketing, shared with us 4 key factors that we can all note to improve our visual marketing tactics.
The first step discusses why it’s important to strategically plan your visual marketing of your brand. Analyze the engagement, campaign, or advertisement that you’re going to share. Isabel shared that “we should ask ourselves if we post this photo, what will that say to your community?” Diving in deeper to the message behind the visual creation is important to the longevity of your brand. “An effective photo gives a strong message” and Isabel is right in saying that because we process images 60,000 times faster than text (Williams College) let alone our attention span across the digital marketing side knows that consumers need to be engaged with content in less than 7 seconds. We need to be savvy when it comes to planning and Isabel encouraged us to write out a plan that organizes your project from start to finish.
As your planning your project, Isabel recommended that we should be purposeful and intentional when it comes to shaping your project. Ask yourself “what is the message you are sending and how is it created? Who do you want to take that picture?” Finding your best photographer to capture your brand campaign or advertisement is crucial to the message you are portraying. Do you as a business owner have the assets to capture your ad or campaign correctly? Isabel recommended that we consider the 28 different types of photographers that could elevate your branding. It’s important you hire the right person because there’s a vast difference between a photographer that specializes in newborn photography vs. gastronomy photography.
The third step to consider is to ensure that your strategy is engaging. When considering what kind of engagement you are hoping to get from your visual marketing ad or campaign, Isabel reminded us that it’s important to recall your consumers. What are they consuming digitally and in person? “You have to match the energy of what is being consumed today.” So, wherever your business is located, who are your consumers? What would they respond well to?
You’ve managed to get to the last step of your visual marketing ad or campaign. Congratulations! The final step is ensuring your ad or campaign is action oriented. During the hands on activity in the class, Isabel challenged us to create a meaningful ad for one object found in the classroom: chocolate bar, La Croix, and tissue paper. As we were all showing our results, we realized that each visual ad had a call to action behind it. One of our workshop attendees was sharing her photo of herself drinking a La Croix. It made us feel the need to respond by grabbing a La Croix or other favorite beverage! So, what response are you hoping to invoke from your ad or campaign?
Isabel Media Studios provided four insightful facts on creating one great photo: ensure that it is strategically planned, purposeful, engaging, and action oriented. When leading with these four facts in mind while creating your next visual marketing ad or campaign, you will see better results. Check out our full virtual class listed on our Channel!
