The battle continues in the branding sphere of photography. The constant push forward to get your name out there. It may feel like a strain at times and there may be times where it is a losing proposition. “One step forward, two steps back.” as they say. However, I am here to encourage you to keep moving and seeking the potential excellence that your brand can attain. A few weeks ago, I gave you a strategic battle plan for building your brand. In the article, I discussed a handful of tactics that will broadly assist in the journey. This week I want to expand on one the points, the importance of professional photography. With that in mind, let’s dive into the topic!
1. The Impact of Visuals
Now, call me biased, but I believe a major component of branding is the imagery and visuals that you utilize. In the ever-advancing digital market, it is simultaneously easier than ever to create and establish unique imagery and visuals, while also finding difficulty breaking through the noise. These visuals can be the difference between falling into obscurity and rising above the competition. It is all a race to grab a potential customer’s attention, a valuable commodity in the age of social media. With attention spans only declining more and more, it makes knowing your audience even more important, because you know what stimulates them. For example, a brand as massive as Apple knows how to grab the consumers attention, using slick visuals with a specific color palette to infer the high-end nature of their products. Although there is an oversaturation of visuals in the digital sphere of branding, it isn’t going away anytime soon.
2. Key Elements of Effective Branding
The first steps of branding are to have a plan: long-term goals, short-term goals, and the objectives that will assist you in reaching these goals. But first you need a clear idea of what your brand identity is. The definition of brand identity is “the visible elements of a brand, such as color, design, and logo, that identify and distinguish the brand in consumers' minds.” Once you lay this out for yourself, it becomes very clear how you progress. But consistency is crucial in establishing your brand. Now, this is not to say you can never change the colors, the design, or the logo, but if you do, it should stay consistent with your brand’s identity. For example, I use white and orange for the website. Those are my brand colors. However, for social media, I attempt to experiment with other colors, namely light and soft colors as to compliment the brand. When I do this, I am still attempting to showcase the brand and the services I provide by not contradicting what I have already established. My brand colors create a resonance with my audience because of the nature of my business, which is namely wedding, elopement, and branding photography. These colors can represent multiple things: celebrations, professionalism, or simplicity. Knowing what each component of your brand elements will accomplish is crucial to effective branding.
3. Benefits of Investing in Professional Photography
There are a number of reasons why investing in professional photography will benefit your brand. Beyond the reasons mentioned in the previous two sections, they have the ability to lend a great deal of professionalism and credibility to your brand, which can only help you. In addition to this, professional photography tends to enhance the audience’s perception of your brand, which can build even build trust between your brand and the audience. As I mentioned previously, the race to capture a potential customer’s attention is a difficult task to undertake, however, professional photography can increase the potential for online visibility, engagement, and even potential leads for business. Needless to say, professional photography can only improve your brand, by bringing more attention and engagement, and keeping your name in the conversation.
4. Choosing the Right Photographer for the Job
Now, the most important task you have before you is to find the right photographer for the job. The first step in accomplishing that goal is research. Compiling a list of potential photographers, looking through their portfolios, and determining whether their styles align with the vision, mission, and identity of your brand. One you have selected your photographer, communicate with them and see what their understanding of your brand looks like. By gaining that insight, you know where you will have to guide them to accomplish your vision and where they may have some interesting ideas to add to your brand. Ultimately, the one thing that this photographer brings is something that cannot be undersold: experience. This experience that they bring should alleviate any concerns you may have as long as it aligns with your brand.
5. Tips for DIY Photography
One thing that cannot be undersold is the budget that may be required for photography. Sometimes photographers can run rather high rates per hour or project. It can become very difficult to find a photographer that is affordable. While I would encourage you to seek a professional if possible, I will provide a few recommendations about some do-it-yourself methods. In today’s world, everyone has access to a camera of relatively high quality via their phone. On modern iPhones, you can film in 4K or HD at 30-60 frames a second. Depending on the product or service your brand may represent, the lighting and angles will be extremely beneficial for this type of photography. If you play your cards right, most people will not recognize that these photos are DIY. Especially if you edit it properly and polish it up a bit.
At the end of the day, your brand identity is something that you need to be invested in, because only you will walk through every step of its journey. It is up to you whether or not this investment is worthwhile, however, I believe that it is abundantly beneficial. Your brand identity can only be improve by the use of professional visuals. I hope that this article has added something to your day and that perhaps my alternative suggestion will help you as well.
Warmest regards,
Logan Clark