Tune-Up Tips: Photography Edition
August 19, 2019(Editor’s note: This is part of a monthly series about tuning up different aspects of marketing activities.)
Words can only get you so far-93% of all communication is non-verbal. Pairing information with a relevant image enables people to retain 65% of that information up to 3 days later. To put this into perspective, people are only likely to recall 10% of information that they have only heard.
That’s why powerful images are so important. In honor of World Photo Day, the day founded to celebrate photography, we compiled 5 tips to help you take better photos for your marketing and advertising materials.
Tune-Up Tip #1: Think of Your Audience
Taking family photos are quite different from taking pictures for your marketing and advertising materials. When preparing to take a photo, ask yourself these questions:
• Who is going to see this?
customers, vendors, etc.
• Where is this photo going?
on social media, in a print product, etc.
• What am I trying to say with this photo?
showcasing a product, showing off an endcap display, etc.
Bearing these 3 points in mind will help you frame your photo best. A close-up photo of a new product makes sense to feature in a print ad but that same photo probably wouldn’t go over as well on your Facebook page (a photo showcasing what’s inside the product or showing someone using the product would play better on social media).
Tune-Up Tip #2: Stage Carefully
Some tips to stage your product:
• Put your subject in a well-lit area
• Put your subject against a white background (if it’s a product shot)
• Stand it up properly
• Avoid using flash (it can create a glare and/or wash the image out)
Tune-Up Tip #3: Quality Control
So you’ve planned your photo thoughtfully and staged it carefully. But it’s not ready yet!
Review the photo to ensure it’s not blurry or cut off. Don’t just rely on looking at the photo on your camera or smartphone. Give your image a test run. If you will be putting it on your Facebook page, post it to see what it looks like first (be sure to select the “only me” option before your test post).
Tune-Up Tip #4: Take Photos with Social Sharing in Mind
Speaking of social media, take pictures with social sharing in mind. What kind of images tend to get shared? Images that are easy to skim, share an emotion and convey a simple message.
• If showing a product, also show part of a person, such as a hand interacting with the object—this helps consumers imagine themselves using the product
• Use bright and clear images
• Be original—stock images tend not to do as well
• Understand that different types of images do best on different social media platforms
Instagram: bright images with white/clear background space, 1 dominant color, blue end of the color spectrum, low saturation and lots of texture
Facebook: tells a story, has an emotional impact, makes people laugh
Tune-Up Tip #5: Beware of Copyright
If you take your own photos, you own the right to use those photos however and wherever you wish. But if you are using photos from anther source, be sure that you have the right license to use that photo.
For example, if you Google “cute pet food pictures” to sell pet food and then use the image you found on your business’s social media site, you could land in legal trouble for doing so. Always make sure that the image you use is licensed for commercial use. (If you need a primer on image copyright, you can read our Image Licensing 101 blog here.)
Final Thought
Effective ads hinge on eye-grabbing pictures that pop. Our creative services at Fisher include on-site photography to showcase your store and products as well as our extensive image library that we use to create stunning assets for our clients. Contact us today to get started at 1-877-9PRINT9 or info@gofisher.net to get started.
Editor’s note: This is another entry in our monthly Tune-Up Tips series. Look for our next Tune-Up Tips: Data Analysis Edition on September 16, 2019.
Read the previous entries in our Tune-Up Series:
Tune-Up Tips: Social Media Edition
Tune-Up Tips: Digital Marketing Edition
Tune-Up Tips: Websites Edition