Marketing, Photography
A man sleeping on a cake. An underwater nun. What are these stock photos even for?
“I don’t trust words. I trust pictures.”
— Gilles Peress
Everyone knows the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.” In today’s world of social media, inbound marketing, and the 8 second attention span, what does that really mean?
Well, it means tweets with images are retweeted 150% more than text-only tweets. Facebook posts with photos receive over 2 times more engagement than ones without.
It means that articles with images spaced every 100 words get twice as many shares as articles with fewer images. In fact, eye-tracking studies have shown that readers spend more time looking at images than reading the content.
I think we can all agree photos are a crucial part of creating an authentic connection between your viewers and your content. So why is it that so many organizations use stock photography?
A dog with a donut on it’s head, a child smelling a cactus, and a man pouring orange juice down his front. Why do we do this to ourselves?
What is stock photography?
Stock photography refers to the licensing and sale of photographs for use in print publications, web design, or any number of creative endeavors. Basically, photographers sell the rights to distribute photos to a company like Adobe, Shutterstock, or Getty Images. That company then sells licenses to use the photos in specific ways. Many free stock photo websites have cropped up over the years, as well.
The sale of stock photos started in the 1920s, when photographers started asking their subjects to sign model releases. This allowed the photo to be sold commercially, with the buyer not having to go through the trouble of finding the models to sign releases.
A major benefit of using stock photography is it can be much cheaper than hiring a photographer. It can also be helpful if your deadline is looming and you need an image fast.
This all sounds awesome, so what’s the problem?
A major drawback is that stock photos are not original. The same photos will appear in multiple articles, websites, and social media images. Your product or service is not going to look as vibrant or interesting if it’s paired with a photo your audience has already seen a dozen times.
It also can be hard to find good, relevant images, especially if you’re looking for a cheap or free option. What you save by using a cheap photo, you probably pay for in the employee hours required to find that photo.
Stock photos are also notoriously cheesy. The only thing worse than no picture is a bad picture, especially if you are selling customized products.
(Above) A stock image of a cutting board. It’s not terrible, but it isn’t necessarily on brand. (Below) A custom photo taken with the client’s brand in mind, of the actual product.
5 ways it pays to have professional photos
A good photographer will customize your photos to fit your brand or style. This, in return, will increase your brand awareness and increase sales.
- The photo will be yours, and it won’t appear anywhere that you don’t want it to.
- You can do whatever you want to the photo: crop it, re-color it, redistribute it, etc. Many stock image licenses forbid any type of photo editing.
- You also won’t have to pay a new licensing fee each time you want to reuse a stock photo.
- You will likely end up with more photographs than you will end up using. You will have a variety of options available to you, which is great for ecommerce sites. Your customers likely want to see the product from multiple angles, close up, and farther away.
How do I take good photos?
If a professional photographer just isn’t in your budget, you can still have sharp custom photography by learning how to do it yourself! There are tons of free articles and videos available to help you up your photography game.
- Use landscape/horizontal orientation
This will ensure your images will look great on mobile & desktop.
- Use a plain background
Busy backgrounds detract from the main focus of the photo.
- Be a human tripod
A common mistake of amateur photographers is to stand up and hold the camera at eye-height. Boring! Try moving around to get shots from different angles. Bend your knees, stand on a chair, or lie on the ground. Lock your elbows in at your side to hold the camera steady.
- Move in close
Detail shots are much more interesting to look at. Don’t be afraid to get uncomfortably close to your subject!
- Take tons of shots
The more photos you take, the more likely that you end up with some great ones.
- Use the rule of thirds
Make sure the subject is not in the middle of the frame. This will make your composition much more eye-catching!
- Use light wisely
Good photography is all about lighting. The subject should be well-lit and easy to see.
If you’d like help strategizing about what types of photos to use, get in touch!
Communication, Marketing
Have you ever played a game with a child? If not, I highly recommend it. I have a 3-year-old at home and playing games with her never ceases to be entertaining. The best time is when we play games that she comes up with herself. It doesn’t take a kid very long to figure out that winning is fun and losing is not so much fun. Amazingly enough, as we play the game that she has created, the rules suddenly change mid-game so she emerges the victor.
Working with your search engine optimization (SEO) on your website can feel a little bit like that sometimes. Just when you think you have it figured out, the rules suddenly change mid-game and you are sitting there wondering what happened.
Search engines are continuously changing the rules – the algorithms that they use to calculate page-rankings are constantly being altered and updated. What does that mean for you? That you also have to constantly alter and update your website so it consistently shows up on page one when your target market does a search online. That way you emerge the victor over other companies that are doing the same thing.
Here are some tips you can do right now to help you enhance your website’s SEO:
- Is your website mobile-friendly? Google is ranking mobile-friendly websites more highly than those formatted just for desktop reading. As more and more users search the internet on their phones, this is becoming more and more important.
- Does your website contain the content they are searching for? It’s not just enough anymore to have a have a few key words or search phrases here and there. Now, you need to have interesting and relevant content, and lots of it. For example, if you sell apples – you should talk about apples on several pages and in great detail. The more relevant content you have surrounding a search term or phrase, the higher your page will be ranked.
- Is your website design user-friendly? Can people find the information that they are looking for when they get there? What is your average user’s experience? Clicks and time spent on your website still matter.
- How is your website security? Are your plug-ins up-to-date and is your website free of malware? Security issues will affect your page ranking.
If all of this seems too complicated or overwhelming for you, considering bringing in some professionals to help you keep up with the constant changes in the Google search game. With help, you can continuously update your content so that you emerge the victor over your competitors in online searches.
Marketing
Today’s economy makes the task of marketing your business more difficult and complicated. There are literally thousands of places to invest your marketing dollars and it can be hard to know which avenues will lead to the most success for your business. Let’s look at how marketing has changed over the past 25 years.
Traditional Advertising
(Known today as Outbound Marketing)
Traditional advertising is all about selling. In the Industrial age, this was an easy way to market your business because there were a limited number of choices or competitors vying for the attention of the consumer. The problem in 2016 is that there are an unlimited amount of competitors, advertising channels, media and distractions. This is a problem because, “A wealth of information leads to a poverty of attention.” (Marty Neumeier, The Brand Gap, The Brand Flip)
Where has this aversion to being sold come from? It’s the result of a culture driven by mass marketing. Consumers now have an strong dislike for unwanted advertising, whether it arrives in our mailbox or inbox, commercials on TV, telemarketer phone calls, or newspaper and magazine ads. We instinctively ignore it, throw it away, or skip it.
“Almost no one goes home eagerly anticipating junk mail in their mailbox. Almost no one reads People magazine for the ads. Almost no one looks forward to a three minute commercial interruption on Must See TV. Advertising is not why we pay attention. Yet marketers must make us pay attention for the ads to work. If they don’t interrupt our train of thought by planting some sort of seed in our conscious or subconscious, the ads fail. Wasted money. If an ad falls in the forest and no one notices, there is no ad.”
Seth Godin, Permission Marketing
Companies and marketers want to take your attention away from what you care about, and put your focus on what they want you to care about. Large companies have spent more and more money on traditional advertising and have seen less and less return on their investment.
Now you know why those old ways of marketing your business just don’t work the way that they used to. So what is the answer? It’s called Inbound or Permission marketing.
Inbound Marketing
(Also known as Permission Marketing)
While traditional advertising relies on forcing a service or product on someone, inbound marketing focuses on attracting the interest of the right client and earning the right to be heard. Marketing works best today when it provides a value for the consumer, shows you are an expert in your field, and is not at all pushy.
The old methods of buying ads, buying email lists, and paying for leads have been replaced with a marketing strategy that focuses on the ideal client: what do they like, what do they want or need, how can you help them be the person they dream of being? When companies create blog posts, have engaging social media channels, hold seminars, or record podcasts that seek to teach, entertain, and/or delight their audience they attract loyal followers who become advocates for their brand.
Does inbound marketing work?
Is Google successful? Google grossed over $21 billion last year by leveraging permission marketing. They arguably have the simplest home page design on the internet, yet they are the most successful internet company in the universe. Why? Because companies pay them to run their ads, but they only show those ads to visitors once they have entered a relevant search term (or given “permission”). If you search for “website design adrian, mi” on Google you have given them permission to show you relevant ads and web pages about website design in the Adrian area. When you scroll past the ads on the first page, you find companies that have invested marketing time and money to create interesting and relevant content on their own websites, and Google rewards them for that by placing them higher than their competition.
In contrast, newspapers and radio stations offer a crucially valuable news service, yet they are struggling to stay afloat. Their business model is built on traditional interruption based marketing and it is no longer as effective as it has been.
“Permission Marketing is just like dating. It turns strangers into friends and friends into lifetime customers. Many of the rules of dating apply, and so do many of the benefits.”
Seth Godin, Permission Marketing
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Start Attracting the Right Clients
Marketing can be complicated but it doesn’t have to be expensive with a great marketing strategy. Find out how a marketing strategy can help your business grow with a consultation.
Strategy, Marketing
If a Pure Michigan campaign is coming to your area, it is more important than ever that you have your online presence ready. Once people find you on the Internet, it is crucial that you put your best foot forward to prevent potential clients from moving on to your competition. Here are a few ways you can get your business ready for the increased traffic the Pure Michigan campaign will bring to your area.
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DO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE?
Look at everything about your business through the eyes of your customer: website, social media, storefront, signs, customer service, customer experience, and more. If you can honestly complete this exercise, you can make improvements to the areas of your business that most affect your customers. The experience a customer has with your business will determine if they come back to your website, your store, or hire you again.
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IS YOUR WEBSITE UPDATED?
Is there anything on your site that indicates it has not been updated since 2011? Tell customers you are on top of your game with an update and earn their trust.
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IS YOUR WEBSITE MOBILE FRIENDLY?
A majority of people will visit your website from their smart phone, which is a prime reason to make sure your website is easy to use on mobile devices. But, Google is now factoring mobile friendliness into your search engine ranking, so mobile friendly sites will rank higher.
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IS YOUR WEBSITE WELL DESIGNED?
Great design instantly earns trust with visitors, while poor design makes visitors question your professionalism. Don’t make it easy for them to move on to someone else.
Great design instantly earns trust. Poor design puts your professionalism into question.
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IS YOUR PHONE NUMBER, SERVICES OR RESTAURANT MENU EASY TO FIND?
You have about 10 seconds to hook people before they push that back button. If they scan your home page and cannot quickly find the information they want, they will go back to the search results and click on one of your competitors.
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CAN PEOPLE FIND YOU ON GOOGLE?
If you don’t show up on the first page for the most basic search terms someone would use to find your business, you have a lot of work to do. It can take weeks for your site to start showing up on search engines once you have done optimization on your website.
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IS YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA CURRENT?
If the last post on your page is from Christmas, it’s time to invest some resources in your accounts. Visitors like to see active accounts, and it boosts your image in their mind, making it more likely they will use your product or services.
If the recent post on your Business page is from months ago, it’s time to re-evaluate your SocialMedia strategy.
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IS YOUR INFORMATION CORRECT EVERYWHERE ONLINE?
Do you have the proper contact information (address, phone numbers, website, etc.) set up on Google, social media accounts, city and visitor bureau websites, chambers of commerce, business groups, etc? You never know how people will find you, so having up to date information ready is important.
With some time and investment you can make sure you are ready when Pure Michigan brings a boost to your area of the state.
