The Power of Authentic Brand Photography
In today's visually driven digital landscape, the power of brand photography cannot be overstated, especially for small business owners in the skin, beauty, health, wellness, and fitness industries, where making that personal connection and best first impression with your customers is crucial. Our first interaction with a brand is often through imagery, and these visuals can make, or break, customer perception.
As a small business owner in these sectors, it's critical to understand how the right visuals on your website can set you apart, and give you a competitive edge. Imagine a brand photoshoot not just as a photography session but as an exploration of your brand's identity and ethos. It's an experience that brings forth the personality of your business, mirroring the authenticity you offer your clients. Let’s explore why your brand needs to utilise the power of authentic brand photography.
The Importance of Visual Branding
Visual branding is more than just a logo or a colour scheme; it's a comprehensive language that communicates your brand's story, values and promises to your audience. In industries centred around personal care and well-being, this becomes even more pertinent. The right brand images can establish a connection, evoke emotions, and build trust. They reflect the quality and professionalism of your services, making your brand relatable and aspirational. Visual branding provides the first insights of what it would be like to work with you, what to expect in your space to look like, and how your customers will feel throughout the experience.
Brand photography example: showcase the space your clients can expect to experience, with action shots of you working with clients. Credit: The Body Method | Hayley Williamson
The Necessity of Authentic Brand Imagery on your Website
We live in a physical and digital world, and when searching for products and services to meet our needs, we almost always drive down the internet superhighway searching for what stands out to us. Your website is often one of the first touchpoints potential customers will have with your business. Authentic brand imagery plays a pivotal role in engaging and retaining these customers. It's not just about the visual appeal; it's about creating a sense of familiarity and trust. Each image on your website acts like a window into the soul of your brand, offering glimpses of authenticity that invite visitors into your world. They are the vibrant colours and strokes that paint a picture of trust, the comforting scenes that reassure your guests they have not only found but stepped into a space where their desires are recognised and can be fulfilled.
Custom brand images speak volumes about your dedication to quality individuality and serve as a visual testament to your commitment to providing a unique and personalised experience for every client.
Stock vs. Custom Photography
With platforms like Canva, and plenty of free stock photo sites, photos to use on your website and in your brand materials are a great, readily accessible resource. However, it's a double-edged sword. While convenient, stock photos lack the unique touch that sets your brand apart.
The images that represent your brand should be as distinctive and special as the services you offer. This is where custom photography steps in. A dedicated brand photo shoot ensures that your visuals are tailored specifically to your brand's narrative, providing authenticity that stock photos simply cannot match. Custom photography can provide that extra level of individuality, showcasing your business’ physical space, or your personal vibe more than any stock photo ever can.
Custom photography also allows your entire website and brand visuals to look and feel cohesive, rather than a conglomeration of different photo styles and tones that you’ve collected from a range of free stock sites.
Brand Photography Example: This photo showcases Andrea, the face of The Skin Manifesto and gives potential clients an insight into what a treatment might look and feel like, and the relaxing and inviting space they’ll experience. Credit: The Skin Manifesto
Brand photography example: In contrast with the above, this is a stock photo that provides no personal connection with the skin therapist, looks clinical and inauthentic to the space a client can expect to experience.
Smart Usage of Stock Images
In certain situations, stock images might be necessary. The key is to use them smartly. When searching for free stock photos, incorporate keywords that align with your brand's aesthetic and values. This approach helps in finding images that, while not unique, don't clash with your brand's identity. Kaboompics, a free stock site we love, also lets you search by colour. While sites such as Unsplash and Canva can be searched by photography collection, allowing you to select an array of images from the same photographer, keeping the style similar throughout your visuals.
When possible, modify these images to blend seamlessly with your custom photos, be it through colour adjustments or adding brand-specific elements, always adhering to licensing agreements.
People Connect with People
Behind every brand, are the hardworking people that either created it, or are working to keep the brand alive. These are the people your customers and clients are going to be engaging with – so it’s important you showcase them on your website. No, not just in your team page, but throughout your site.
If you’re a solopreneur, you are the face of your brand. Don’t hide behind your logo, or pretty graphics – authentic brand photography means showing your face, and connecting visually with your audience.
If you’ve got a team, get them involved. Showing your team helping and engaging with clients highlights that it’s not just you that they’ll be dealing with – there’s a whole team to support them.
Brand photography example: Showcase your team, such as this coaching staff member training a client. Credit: Bod Squad | Framed by Lauren Heath
Essential Brand Images for Your Website
Choosing brand images for your website demands thoughtful consideration. You need a mix of high-quality, wide-angle shots for website page banners, detailed close-ups of your products or services, and candid images that showcase your team and workspace. Variety is the key to ensuring you’ll have plenty of material for different needs throughout your website, social media and brand materials. Change things up with a few different outfits, switch up the location of where your photos are taken, and play around with doing different things relevant to your business.
If you could take just one piece of advice from this article, it would be that you can’t underestimate the need for big wide-banner images, with plenty of white space, for your website, so that text can be added, and it fills the width of your website screen on a desktop screen. Remember, you can always crop an image down, but you can't add to it later.
It’s a good idea to plan what pages you’ll have on your website, prior to your photoshoot. That way you can know roughly how many images you’ll need, so as to not be repeating the same images throughout your site.
Brand Photography example: make sure you plan enough wide photos, with ‘white-space’ to be used as banner images with text over them, so as to not detract from the photo or make the text hard to read. Credit: Wealthy Wellness Business | Stephanie White
Practical Considerations for Brand Photo Shoots
Planning a brand photoshoot requires careful consideration. Budget for quality, as these images are an investment in your brand's future. Communicate your vision with your photographer – discuss the types of images you need, the mood you want to capture, and how they'll be used on your website and marketing materials.
A successful photo shoot is a collaborative process that results in images that are not just beautiful, but purposeful. This doesn’t mean that you have to always hire a professional. Sure, hiring a professional can give you a polished edge and an experienced eye, but sometimes, the charm and authenticity of a DIY shoot, with a sprinkle of creativity, can capture the essence of your brand in a uniquely personal way. Who says you can't grab a friend, a camera and position yourself within some good lighting and turn a DIY photoshoot into a fun and fabulous masterpiece.
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Whether you DIY your photos, or hire a professional, you’ll want to get your hands on this.
If you want your business and brand to stand out, then stand out with the power of authentic brand photography. Reflect on whether your current imagery aligns with your brand’s values and narrative. Whilst it’s ok to use a scattering of stock photography throughout your brand imagery, ensure it matches your brand aesthetic and feels cohesive.
If you’re planning a brand photoshoot for your website, take some time to think about the types of images you want to use; think about what you want people to see, think and feel when they come in connection with your business. Use this exercise as an opportunity to redefine and strengthen your visual presence. Once you have a clear idea of how you want people to see, think and feel about you, you will be able to determine the right images that will enhance your website's appeal but also deepen the connection with your audience.
