Sourcing stock images is a common practice in today’s business world. People spend countless hours scouring the internet to find the perfect image amongst thousands. But representing your brand should be a personal and passionate experience, and the images you select should communicate your brand’s identity. Every time a client interacts visually with your brand is an opportunity to build a relationship. Your brand should be visually represented in a way that appears genuine and intriguing...A frustrating undertaking when your only option is sorting through pages of stock imagery.
But what if you could have a less stressful, more personal experience? Access to original content, without the hassle of licensing fees or mounting royalties; the power to build brand equity through authentic, vivid imagery, thereby fostering lasting relationships with clients. Hiring a commercial photographer can provide you with all of that and more, making it the most necessary move you can make to better your blossoming business.
Original Content
The use of original content is an increasingly important practice in owning a small business, and is an essential component to a successful marketing campaign. Using original content leads to better search engine results and helps promote your brand to your target audience on social media.
Companies that utilize stock images are often negatively impacted in search engine rankings due to their display of “duplicate content”, or content that is located at more than one web address. To provide an optimal browsing experience, search engines rarely display redundant content. So, high-quality original content that hasn’t isn’t posted anywhere else boosts your ranking on Google, which in turn generates more traffic to your website. Makes choosing the option of using your own content a no-brainer, right?
Engaging with viewers on social media is difficult, especially in the age of the dreaded social media algorithm. Based on customer behavior, this algorithm helps social media sites display imagery that they think the audience wants to see. Increasingly, we see that social media sites like Instagram are promoting content based on overall popularity as well. When you work with a commercial photographer instead of sourcing stock images, you’re capable of creating content that changes in real-time with the trending tides of social media. This will in turn increase the likelihood that you’ll reach your target audience on social media.
And as we mentioned, working with a commercial photographer like Debbie Rotman doesn’t come with the headache of dealing with “the fine print”. The content created together is yours to use as you please—marketing, advertising, ecommerce, social media—the sky’s the limit! Don’t ever worry about royalty fees or limitations on use ever again!
Building a Trusted Brand Identity
Using original content over stock imagery also shows that you have a vision and direction for your business, which is the best way to begin establishing client trust.
When customers see your brand next to your competitor, they’ll look at the quality of your images and your logo, and will want to see an element of continuity throughout all of your content. You will want your content to be distinguished from your competitor’s. When working with a commercial photographer, you can create a vision board, expressing the overall mood and tone you’d like to display in representing your business. Giving creative inspiration focused on your brand’s specific ideals, this vision board will help you establish a trusted brand identity.
Creating a brand identity is hard to do when each image has to be sourced, sometimes from various locations. But not when working with a professional. In hiring a commercial photographer and visual artist like Debbie Rotman, you’ll gain a team member who understands the way you’d like your brand represented; she can help you develop a marketing campaign that aligns with your brand’s identity, and make sure each subsequent campaign follows suit.
Having a recognizable style for your brand throughout each marketing campaign helps to build up your brand’s integrity over time. Brand integrity is the way customers perceive your company through your products, services, and images. In other words, the content you display communicates your mission statement to your customer base; and once customers trust the integrity of your brand, they will recognize your unique representation, and make a purchase, knowing that each product or service you put on the market can be trusted.
Debbie Rotman Photography
The experience of hiring a professional is preferable to the painstaking process of sourcing stock images. You’ll have access to all of your own content to use as you please, and get to work with a person who is a creative springboard capable of turning your visions into realities. But, not all professional photographers are the same. If you want the experience of collaborating with a professional visual artist, creating a brand consumers will recognize and trust, you want to hire Debbie Rotman Photography for all of your marketing collateral needs.