What Professional Photography Does For Your Business

Imagine this: you’re scrolling on Facebook and you see two businesses pop up in your feed. They’re both restaurants and one has two pictures: a decadent looking chocolate mousse cake with a delicate strawberry swirl and a couple sitting in the restaurant, toasting two glasses of red wine. The other restaurant has a photo of their takeout boxes, and then an image of burgers you could have sworn you saw elsewhere. Which one is more appetizing to you? If you chose the first restaurant, then you were successfully lured in by professional photography. It shouldn’t be a surprise either — consumers want the real deal before they buy something. That means they’ll want to see the real food with real people in the real environment. Stock imagery can only do so much for building that level of interest and trust. Professional photography encompasses all of that and more.

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The Positives of Professional Photography

A picture is worth a thousand words, right? Well, professional photography makes sure it’s a thousand good words. How?

Your Photos Represent Your Brand

Let’s play another round of “which is more appealing.” Choice A: a staged photograph that focuses on the model’s face instead of the product, or B: An in-focus action shot that puts the emphasis on the product. B is the correct answer every time for marketing campaigns. You want people who see your product photos to think “this is professional and well done,” instead of “Wait, what am I looking at?” The more professional shots you have, the more trustworthy and credible your brand will be. After all, you only get one shot at a first impression, so make sure it’s a good one.

Customers Get To Know YOU

While stock photos are a decent alternative to professional photography in some cases, you shouldn’t rely on them for everything. Why? Because they’re not photos of your business. When potential customers see your website or ads, they want to see you. They don’t want to see stock photos of animated people, they want to see photos of your product or service, as well as the people they’ll be working with. The best way for potential customers to get to know your business is by showing them actual photos of your business, your team members, and your products. Let's say your Scottsdale architects, for example. You'll want to show off real before and after shots that are crisp, clear, and in focus. You won't want to share stock photos or give any sort of false promise to customers. They'll want to see the real you and the real work you do. If you don't show it, then they'll likely pass on you and pick some other architect that does.

Better SEO and Searchability

If you’ve followed our blogs in the past, then you know we’re all about optimization. SEO, search engine optimization, is the key to making your website findable online. Everything you put online helps with SEO, including photographs. Unique professional photography that is taken and uploaded with SEO in the mind is the perfect way to make your business more findable online. Basically, optimized photos can help your website get found in the image results like Google Images and perform better in the overall search results. They can also help to engage customers and keep them on your site for longer, or encourage them to choose you over a competitor.

Professional Photography Creates Versatile Assets

If you have an entire arsenal of photos, then you have so much more you can use that will be beneficial to your cause. Company photos? Slap them on your website. Product photos? In your product pages and ads. Action photos with models? Use them (once) everywhere. And we mean everywhere. Your website, printed pamphlets, traditional and digital ads, banners, social media posts — everywhere.

Don’t Believe Us? Believe The Data

One of our clients — yes this is real — is a perfect example of all of this. When they first launched, they were using stock imagery and didn’t have professional product photos. A few months later, they decided to enlist us to help fill their asset library with professional photos and models. The company? Doggy Brace. Here’s the impact professional photography made on their business.

Social Media

180%. Our new photos and video helped increase social user engagement by 180% in the first month of having new assets. The growth has only continued since.

Their Website

Organic growth jumped 73.91%  in the first month of having new assets. It’s green across the board, including a 14.85% drop in their bounce rate and over 150 new users. [caption id="attachment_9607" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]

Doggy Brace organic growth before and after professional photography was taken for their business.[/caption]If you want the same kind of growth, then turn to a professional photographer. If you want the whole package — professional photography, professional ads, and professional digital management, then turn to Helix House. Give us a call and we’ll show you the difference our services can make.